Since it opened in 2021, Milk Bun has made a name as one of Bristol’s go-to burger restaurants. What started as a pop-up called the Bronx Burger Co. has turned into the city’s premier place for beef patties.
Brothers Matthew and Tom Demichele ran a popular Italian restaurant in Wiltshire before opening their first Bristol venture. And now people travel for miles around to try their high-end burgers.
Apart from burgers made from 30 day-aged local beef, the other USP is the fact they even make the milk buns themselves.
Speckled with sesame seeds, these buns are so light and airy, it’s like tucking into a cloud. They are also slightly sweet like brioche buns and utterly delicious.
And Milk Bun is still as busy as it was when it first opened. Had we not booked, we wouldn’t have got a table even on a damp and cold Wednesday evening in the middle of February.
The place was packed and there was also a constant stream of delivery drivers waiting to take orders to locals who couldn’t be bothered to leave the warmth of their homes. And who can blame them.
The short menu of burgers starts at £14 for the Bronx (30 day aged beef blend, American cheese, pickles, grilled onion, mustard and ketchup) and rises to £16 for the Chicken El Chapo (buttermilk fried chicken thigh, chimichurri mayo, shredded lettuce, chilli cheese and fresh chilli).
There was a special available on the evening we visited. The cheekily named JFC (£14) comprised a milk bun layered with jerk brined chicken thigh, jerk seasoning, pickled Scotch bonnet chilli, pineapple jam, curried slaw and coriander.
I went for the new addition to the main menu, the smashed burger. The owners have apparently added it to offer customers a slightly more affordable option but using the same high quality ingredients.
The smash burger is just £8.95 for a single, but I ordered the double for £12.50. The two 30 day aged beef patties were thinner than the usual burgers but caramelised on the outside, properly seasoned and juicy. There was a generous blanket of melting American cheese, shredded iceberg and tangy burger sauce.
The accompanying house fries (£4.50) were piping hot and salty. Other sides include the Bronx fries (£8.95 – fries covered with a house cheese sauce, crispy bacon, Parmesan, crispy onions and chives) and fried pickles in tempura batter with sriracha mayo dip (£4.95).
From the specials, we also tried special oxtail taco (£6). The toasted tortilla was topped with soft and tender braised shredded ox cheek with rich and dark oxtail sauce, fiery pickled Scotch bonnet and coriander.
Although there are vegan alternatives on the menu, this place is all about the beef and chicken. The smell of sizzling meat greets you as soon as you open the door.
In fact, the room seems to be infused with the aroma of the burgers and that’s my only complaint. I’m not sure how effective the air conditioning is in the small basement kitchen but our clothes and hair were still perfumed with fried meat by the time we got home.
Not that it wasn’t worth the extra load in the washing machine and unplanned shower. The food was spot on and Milk Bun is still serving the best burgers in the city – perhaps that beefy aroma is simply the smell of success.
Milk Bun, 25 The Mall, Clifton Village, Bristol, BS8 4JG.