Grace and Flavour

I'll never tire of eating in London, a city where the sublimely fine never sits far from the sublimely ridiculous. If you're weary of those uppity, exclusive spots where one needs to make the manager godfather to your first-born to get a table (and even then it's from 6pm to 8.15pm, facing the toilet) you'll love the back-to-basics rawness of Lucky Chip. It's not a bistro, or a diner, or an emporium, just a burger van that pitches up at various sites in the East and North West of the capital, serving burgers so fine that when a Lucky Chip 'frying tonight' tweet pops up on my timeline announcing a 'burger of the week', I find myself floating involuntarily from my sofa like a Bisto kid, mumbling 'rosemary fries, cheeeeese burger... mmm... chilli cheese fries... and maybe a can of lager' (BYO).

In fact, despite being dispatched to Michelin star-laden spots right through 2011, I ate some of my best meals here, perched on a wonky dining chair beside an overflowing bin, wearing a bobble hat, scarf and thermal knickers, huddled beside an outdoor heater, eating juicy bacon burgers, and wiping ketchupy, mustardy fingers down my 60 denier tights. It's an experience more hobo than gastronomic, but the queues prove that there are many others like me who couldn't give a stuff about cutlery, cruet and a mid-course sorbet.

The wait for your burger may be a while, because it's always cooked fresh from square one, but you can busy yourself eyeing up hipsters, listening to the Lucky Chip playlist, or bickering with your friends over who is making the next booze run to the nearest minimart.

The specials menu changes frequently. Last year we demolished the 'Scrooge McDuck' burger, a veritable orgy of a dinner featuring a duck, veal and marrow patty, foie gras, truffle aïoli, tarragon butter and Pedro Ximenez figs. Other highlights were the 'Bill Murray Life Aquatic Surf 'n' Turf', laden with soft-shell crab, guacamole and a spicy ginger and sweet chilli mayo, and the gloriously innovative 'Daryl Hannah Fillet of Fish'. But even go just for the simple, unbeatable cheeseburger. And the fries - oh, the fries! It's the most fun I've ever had with all my clothes on.

LUCKY CHIP
Netil Market, Westgate Street, London Fields, E8 (luckychipuk.com)