We try the must-book Bristol restaurant serving the best burgers in the city

The irresistible smell of sizzling meat hits you in the face as soon as you walk into Milk Bun. 

On a wet Friday night, this small burger restaurant in the heart of Clifton Village is fully booked and there are a few table-less hopefuls waiting outside on the off chance.

The windows are steamed up, the music is pumping and there’s a genuine buzz in the air as well as those meaty aromas.

In a city blessed with some great burger joints, Milk Bun is still something of a best-kept secret among Bristol’s ‘burgerati’.

But although people don’t talk about it as much as, say, Oowee Diner, Asado or Squeezed, Milk Bun is widely regarded as the go-to place when it comes to gourmet burgers.

Milk Bun was launched by bothers Matthew and Tom Demichele, who started out with a popular Italian restaurant in Corsham before turning their attention to high-end burgers. What started as the Bronx Burger Co. pop-up, eventually became Milk Bun.

The USP here isn’t just the burgers but the buns, which are made on the premises each day, which must make it the only place in Bristol making its own buns as well as burgers.

A heavy velvet curtain at the entrance immediately adds a touch of class to Milk Bun, which is well positioned on the corner opposite steak chain Cote and across the road from the Royal Oak pub.

The bar in Milk Bun offers expertly made cocktails (the Negroni is excellent), carefully chosen wines (I went for the delicious Wolf Rouge Languedoc red) and a small but thoughtfully curated choice of beers and ciders from England and France.

As well as beef burgers, there are chicken and vegan alternatives. These include the Triad (£16 - buttermilk fried chicken thigh, Asian slaw, orange chilli marmalade, hoisin glaze, sesame seeds and spring onion) and, for the Vegan Pablo (£15 for a vegan patty in a vegan bun with vegan cheese, chilli jam, pink pickled onions and peanut butter).

Sides include crispy chicken strips (£7.50) with pickles, lemon and chive mayo, and the decadent Bronx Fries (£8.50) - fries with cheese sauce, crispy bacon, Parmesan, crispy onions and chives.

I went for the signature Bronx burger (£13) and my friend went for the Carolina (£16), the daily special. We shared a bowl of the crisp, greaseless house fries (£4.35) and there was plenty for both of us.

Both burgers were faultless. The Bronx was a milk bun layered with a 30-day aged beef patty, American cheese, pickles, red onion, mustard and ketchup. The Carolina was a much bigger burger with a beef patty, pulled pork, smoked bacon, double American cheese, slaw and BBQ sauce.

Both were messy, juicy, deep-flavoured and utterly delicious - the soft, delicate seeded buns were so light it was like biting into a fluffy cloud. 

I know people who drive from the other side of Bristol and from as far as Bath just to eat burgers at Milk Bun and it’s not hard to see why.

In a city with so many great burger options, I still think it would be hard to find a better one.

Milk Bun, 25 The Mall, Clifton Village, Bristol, BS8 4JG.