Honest Burger, Brighton - The return of a chilli and whisky-laced beast

It’s on the menu at the Duke Street venue until the end of July, after a previous popular outing across the group’s restaurants in 2022.The burger is the result of a collaboration between Honest Burgers, Leed-based Thicc Sauce and Kentucky bourbon whisky brand Maker’s Mark.Honest developed the burger by creating two sauces from scratch – a bright red sriracha hot sauce and a smoky chipotle barbecue sauce – and blended them together with a dash of Maker’s Mark bourbon.We had a taste of the new whisky-chilli burger beast at a recent visit into town.

The first thing to note is it’s not quite as ferocious as the Brighton Hot burger, which is a permanent part of the menu in BN1.

We tried that burger in 2021, and very much enjoyed it at the time but was less enamoured the subsequent stomach cramps the following day (unfortunately your reviewer doesn’t have the strongest of tolerance to chillies).

The Bourbon BBQ Sriracha Burger isn’t nearly as much of a chilli brute and its habanero and ghost-chilli laden Brighton cousin.

Given the ‘robust’ ingredient of a whisky-laced hot sauce it’s clearly no shrinking violet and it’s accompanied by some other rich and flavourful elements which stop the sauce from dominating the burger and conspire to create a great taste combo with Honest’s familiar fat juicy beef patty.

There’s a good serving of crispy onions and candied bacon, made by frying smoked streaky bacon with golden syrup (something Elvis’s personal chef might have considered putting in a burger if he’d run out of peanut butter and bananas), which adds sweetness (obviously), and a double serving of American cheese, and confit garlic mayo gives enough creaminess to dampen the chilli heat.

We also took up the option of an additional Bourbon Peach Iced Tea, a refreshing and relatively light canned cocktail which takes its inspiration from the Kentucky iced tea, and, of course, a side portion of Honest’s awesome fennel flecked onion rings.

The Bourbon BBQ Sriracha Burger is on sale until July 31 and is priced at £14.50, served with homemade rosemary salted chips for dine-ins and collection or £15.50 with a side when ordered via Uber Eats. The Bourbon Peach Iced Tea is £6.50 for a 330ml can.