The Advisory

It’s one of those places I wanted to love because it’s cool, independent, I’ve seen photos of my friends eating there on Instagram etc. But sadly it was quite disappointing.
Although there’s been a lot of complain about the décor I personally love it. It’s rustic, old and lazy cosy looking. It even has an old Chinese sign still saying ‘beer’ which is probably left there from the previous place. If you’re looking for a more modern sleek cool looking like Byron or Honest Burger then you’re in the wrong place.
I don’t know if it was an one off but both of the burgers we ordered were burnt, the bun that is. It couldn’t have been because the kitchen was busy as we were the only customers there plus one other customer who was finishing off.
So they told me that the mushroom bacon and cheese burger I was ordering was actually lamb. The burger was stacked tall, almost impossible to eat my hand. But I didn’t dare to try and use that knife and fork instead (the uncool way) mainly so I could avoid the burnt bun ruining the taste of the generous filling.
I love mushrooms in burgers and here it was able to give the burger more flavour and wetness which it needed. Although the lamb patty was flavoursome, it was slightly dry and on the coarse side. Not the best burger I’ve had.
The Shrimp Po Boy was a much better choice. I love the filling of beautifully battered shrimp that was light and plump. The seafood sauce and lettuce accompanied it well, adding different levels of texture. It was cheaper too. But another problem with the burger bun was that it was too thick and dense, taking a lot of moisture away and because it was a ‘lighter’ burger, some flavours got lost in there. But it had potential.
We also ordered a side of onion rings that were battered perfectly. But sadly there were so bland they became uninspiring and boring.
The poutine was also unseasoned and bland. There’s no point adding salt as it didn’t flavour the inside of the chips. I did enjoy the addition of the goat’s curd and the lamb gravy was lighter and less synthetic/​generic tasting than other poutine I’ve had which was nice.
But there is one reason I would return to The Advisory for and that’s for their amazing coffees. The flat white we ordered was one of most aromatic, smoothest and creaminess I’ve had. My boyfriend said it was very similar to Turkish coffee so the beans they used were probably very finely grounded. My hot chocolate on the other hand was forgettable.
I was planning to give The advisory another chance on their food but looking at other reviews it seems the problem of bland food seems more common than an one off. I think with Patty and Bun round the corner I’ll stick to that next time for my burger fix.

One of the best burgers I’ve had in London. I don’t live far so I come here quite often. The burgers are cheap, delicious and they have the perfect selection of beers to wash them down with. I’ve had my sides mixed up a few times now, but that’s not enough to stop me coming back. Lovely vibes and good cocktails to end a usually great time here.

Was excited reading the menu but The place definitely didn’t meet my expectations.
I don’t eat beef so can’t talk for those burgers but my sweet potato haloumi Avo burger was disappointing and lacked flavour. The patty was luke warm and had some bizzare ingredients in it. I only got one piece of tiny haloumi which was rubbery and a quarter of an avocado was just thrown on.
Wouldn’t recommend it. There are definitely better places around.

American themed menu. Perfect for hangover eating. 6 pound bloody mary with a generous amount of spice and vodka. Didn’t try a coffee.
The menu is predominately burgers. Highlights include a breakfast burger with avocado, one with blue cheese and bacon and a sweet potato and haloumi number. And of course the more traditional cheese burger. There are some new york style sides such as mac and cheese with cauliflower, greens with garlic and chilli as well as onion rings. The brunch menu is relatively restricted and pretty bread heavy. There is about 6 items to chose from including eggs benedict, blueberry pancakes and a salmon bagel. They also serve a few different sandwiches, again, quiet NY style. The pastrami one looked pretty good but didn’t try any myself. And if I went here again I really really want to try the shrimp po boy.
Service was a little slow BUT the waitresses were super lovely so that made up for it. I love the space and the whole room styling. The bar is fully stocked with everything you would possible need to start off an accidental saturday/​sunday session. Sides are around 3pound and burgers/​sandwiches/​breaky items are around 5 — 8 pounds.

My favourite burger joint. They serve the tastiest of burgers and have good service skills.

I am always put off by a place like this when the coffee tastes instant. I’d expect that in a greasy spoon caf where it costs 80p, but not when they’re charging £2.50 and call it an americano. I’m the only customer in here — how hard is it to get some fresh ground coffee? Also there’s a hair in my tap water.
To be fair that made me certain the food would be equally low standard, I got smoked salmon and poached eggs. Yeah it took 40 mins (again — I’m the only person in here, I was tempted to go to the kitchen and ask them to make my food). But it was not too bad in the end, how far wrong can you go by poaching an egg?

Some unjustly harsh reviews. I’ve been here a few times now and always come out satisfied.
It’s great value and food has never let me down. Also the staff are lovely too. To be fair it is usually on a Sunday that I come down so not as busy on a Friday but I keep coming back.
Eggs Benedict is great and so are the pancakes with Bacon. Great tastin value.
Oh and the coffee is really easy to drink.

The Advisory is the perfect example of the «new Hackney» restaurant: Up on the food trends (a burger joint) that even brings in the next food trends (buttermilk fried chicken! American southern shrimp po’boys!) Cool, but trying just a bit too hard to be cool. Overworked and overly disgruntled staff. The works.
We came here on a Saturday night and it was busy, but not packed (we got a table for eight people without a reservation.) The downstairs is a collection of tons of tables put together and too few staff running around to get to all of them as quick as possible. We were lead upstairs to the smaller, second room, which was as bare as it could be — white walls with quirky sayings on them (Things like: 96 percent of people enjoy burgers when coming to The Advisory), a window with frosted glass so you can’t see out and individually hanging lightbulbs. Smooth rock jazz through the speakers. It’s a hip, hip place.
We ordered a ton of food for the table and it came… slowly. This is not a place to be rushed. The incredibly passive waitress also wanted to do that thing where she stood at one end of the table and took everyone’s orders from there, so you had to scream to her if you were on the other side. I hate that. Don’t make me do that.
When the food came out, it was… OK. The shrimp po’boy was nicely sauced but the shrimp was bland. The poutine, which I usually absolutely love, was as bad as has been written about here. Soggy fried with tons of awful gravy and creamy cheese curds on top. Not poutine, just a mess. The burgers were good but not outstanding from the one bite I had.
However, the service took a nose dive when they brought us the buttermilk fried chicken burger and the chilli cheese dog, both charred burned black on top. I’m not talking crispy or looks burned but tastes delicious — burned. And I’ve been told time and time again by restaurant owners and chefs that if there’s an issue, don’t eat and be passive about it later — send it back and let them know. So we did. The waitress gave us this burning hate look and asked what was wrong with it. When we literally showed us the charred black mess of chicken, she rolled her eyes and took it back. When she brought it back, it was better. Still not great buttermilk chicken but not burned to the core either.
The price of the food here is decent. Most burgers are £7 (without sides), chips are £3 and poutine was £5 (seriously, stay away from the poutine).
I love a good burger joint in London and I’m not sure I’d come back here.

The food is bizarre — we too were victims of the poutine. Well priced at least. Service is friendly, but comically slowwwwwwww. When our mains came out, they didn’t give the right food to the right people which caused an awkward moment halfway through the meal.
Then, when we ordered dessert, we waited for an hour, only for the waitress to come back and tell us she’d forgot our order and would have to take it again. When we asked for the bill instead she got stroppy and slammed it down on the table in front of us.
Great atmosphere on a Friday night, but VERY noisy — I struggled to hear my friend sitting directly opposite.
I wouldn’t be back on a Friday, but it could be cool during the day or on a weeknight.

Ehrm no.
I can’t wait for this place to go out of business and I can’t think of anything positive to say.
I feeble attempt to try and create something fun, cool and hip out of a silly gimmicky setup themed around «advise». It is mostly insulting to the visitor.
We ordered poutine, classic Canadian grub. We left the plate untouched after trying just one bite. It’s like the curry dude got completely wasted and accidentally poured his lamb curry on top of chips instead of rice. Yes, poutine involves fries but that doesn’t mean you can make disgusting random combinations of foods that doesn’t go together.
Second up was a Philly cheese steak. I’ve lived in Philly and once again… putting the toughest random meat on a piece of dry bread doesn’t make it the dish you think you are making.
Apart from serving up two of the most uneatable dishes I have ever been served at a restaurant, the waitress left us gobsmacking when we inquired what the prawn dish was and she started to explain that prawns were a small animal that lives at the bottom of the sea.

Had a great Sunday Evening visit to The Advisory a few weeks back. Read great things and I wasn’t disappointed. It was a little quiet, (expected for a Sunday evening), so it was somewhat lacking in atmosphere but the food was the main attraction. Very generous portions and the burgers we had were delicious. Cheesburger & Bacon and Mushroom Burger — tasted quality, flavorsome and FILLING! As its a close to home, we’ll be returning for sure.

This place is amazing, we went last night for dinner at about 7:30, there were a few people in, but it wasn’t rammed so we got to pick our table, we sat at the front, next to the door, which isn’t the best place to sit as you get a draft from the door… Even in this weather.
The lady that served us was really friendly and helpful, we had a bottle of Argentinian Malbec, which at £18 was a steal… We ordered a cheese, bacon & onion burger & a pulled pork sandwich with a side of Poutine (a Canadian dish of little pieces of melt in the mouth lamb in gravy & goats curd served over chips).
The food arrived fairly quickly and was absolutely amazing the burger was so succulent and juicy that it was dripping all over the place & the pulled pork sandwich was really tasty & flavourful… They were both served in brioche buns & were pretty sizeable. The Poutine was a real taste sensation, one definitely to be repeated regularly, it’s a dish in itself though so best to go on a very empty stomach if you want to be able to fit everything in. The bill came to a really reasonable £36…
I’ll be making this place a regular haunt.