Positioned unassumingly at the bottom of one of Brighton’s busiest streets is The Fountainhead pub. A long-time favourite of locals and visitors, you could easily pass by without noticing its resident kitchen: Boysterous Burgers. Push the door just a touch further and you’ll find yourself face-to-face with some of the most intriguing and indulgent burgers in the city. Look out for the joyful pair painted on the windows – the burger-and-oyster logo that quickly became their signature, and a promise of a very good meal.
What You’ll Love
- Outrageously indulgent smashburgers
- Creative flavour combinations
- Dirty fries, hot honey tenders and deep-fried desserts
- A cosy pub setting in the city centre
- Big portions and big flavours
Big burgers, big decisions
The menu lists a glorious selection. Beef burgers dominate, all with the cheeky option of a double or even triple patty for anyone feeling especially ambitious. A crispy chicken burger, a fun fish number, and the Moving Mountains burger also make an appearance for the non-beef crowd, though after reading through the menu, beef seems impossible to ignore.
Everything sounds so good we have to hunker down before making any big decisions.
The Fountainhead strikes the balance between cosy pub and bustling hub – it’s the perfect place to pitch up for a dirty burger dinner. There are tucked-away corners, outdoor benches, and windows all the way around, great for letting in the early evening light as we move into warmer months. As enticing as the cocktail menu is, we keep drinks simple with a glass of white and a Heineken Zero. After a lot of thinking, deliberation and a few suggestions from an incredibly patient server, we finally order.
Hot honey heaven
We spy a pile of Hot Honey Chicken Tenders coming from the kitchen. Thick strips of chicken dripping in sticky, deep red chilli-flecked honey covering not only the tenders, but pooling across the entire tray. Beside them, juicy pickles cut through the richness, alongside a creamy, tangy house-made ranch. The batter shatters audibly with every bite, leaving tiny morsels definitely worth hoovering up.
Smashburger supremacy
Next come two totally stacked double smashburgers stamped with the iconic Boysterous Burgers cattle brand: the Juicy Zeus and the Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
The Juicy Zeus leans closer to a classic cheeseburger – if a classic cheeseburger squeezed out molten fondue. Pickles and mustard are at the forefront, but the beef shines right through, its lacy caramelised edges contrasting the rich, oozing cheese. If you’re after a good old-fashioned burger with something extra, this is the one for you.
The Peanut Butter Jelly Time sounds ridiculous on paper, with quite literally peanut butter and jelly. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but trust me, it does. Peanut butter coats the mouth before fried onions arrive with a welcome sweetness. Maple and bourbon jam rolls in as a luscious, molasses-like element, before being sliced through by sharp pickles.
If you’re like me, you believe any burger is made better by bacon, and while this one would’ve been stellar without it, the smoky streaky bacon only adds to the burger’s outlandish American-ness. Fried perfectly until charred while still keeping that ideal chew, it absolutely earns its place.
Don’t skip the dirty fries
As if we weren’t already stuffed enough, we added the Steak Dirty Fries. Crispy skinny fries drowning in smooth, mild peppercorn sauce, with shredded cheese threaded into every crevice. My advice? Let it sit for a minute or two before digging in. The cheese settles into the fries and rewards the eater with a dramatic, albeit messy, cheese pull.
I’m not usually a steak lover, but the 28-day dry-aged bavette laid politely on top brings a welcome meatiness between mouthfuls – this dish could easily be a meal in itself.
Dessert chaos
Unsurprisingly, we need a short intermission before dessert. We briefly consider whether we even have room (of course we do). We’re told the Boysterous Brownie is a must, but a deep-fried chocolate bar is far too tempting to miss, so naturally we go for both.
Faced with yet another decision – Snickers or Mars? With a handy third opinion, Snickers it is. I’m yet to try the original version of a deep-fried chocolate bar, but let me tell you, this isn’t a bad place to start. Gooey chocolate, mere seconds out of the fryer, served with vanilla ice cream and encased in the same crunchy batter as the tenders – there’s no way it could miss.
The brownie takes the cake for me though. Brought to our table hot and soft, with ice cream puddling slowly around it. Too many brownies are dry, bitter, underbaked or plain rubbish. This one, however, is none of the above. It’s uncomplicated, fudgy in all the right ways, and gently pushed into excess by the cookie dough on the bottom – another one of my many weaknesses.
The ultimate comfort food fix
Look – if you’re after restraint, health, or greens, this probably isn’t the move. If you want a joyfully naughty dinner, Boysterous Burgers knows exactly what it’s doing.
Messy, decadent, delicious burgers and all their ideal sides are well within reach, so make sure you visit when the craving for proper comfort food kicks in.
