"How long have you been open?" I asked the very friendly front of house staff.
"About an hour," came the reply.
Yes, I'd inadvertently stumbled into Byron on their opening night, and you've no idea how excited I was just to see this burger restaurant in the first place.
I'm already a confirmed Byron fan, so short of a disaster, I was never going to dislike their latest chain. And after my quick visit, my fandom is very much confirmed.
The food was as good as I'd come to expect. The burgers were delicious and nicely pink in the middle with crispy bacon on top and the famous courgette fries, which, if possible, I love even more than the burgers, were perfect. And skin-on chips were delicious.
But what really impressed me was just how much effort had gone into the restaurant. The staff were all friendly, helpful, chatty and knowledgeable. At one point, when we realised the courgette fries weren't wheat-free (my girlfriend is allergic to wheat), our waiter immediately offered to replace with another side dish, free of charge. And even though we didn't have much of a wait for our food, they apologised for the first night slowness. We didn't mind.
The decor is fun and typically Byron - a hamburger joint that makes you feel a little like an extra in Grease. But there was no cheese on the stereo. In fact, the background music of Pulp, Suede, British Sea Power and others made me wonder if they'd swiped my iPod when I wasn't looking.
It's exactly the type of place that the bottom end of Putney High Street has been calling out for - a decent, fun, quality restaurant that has staying power (there's been a couple of failed places in this location since I've been living in the area). Judging by the packed seats on the opening night, profits won't be a problem.
At the end of our meal we had to rush off to the cinema. The maitre d' asked if we had time to give some feedback - sadly we didn't, but it feels only fair to give some given how good our meal and overall experience was. Byron Putney is fantastic. read more