Above average burger, seriously steep price, unlikely to become a regular haunt

It's not just the UK that's gone burger crazy recently. What the hell's going on in Paris? There's suddenly a burger to be had on almost every corner. Can the words 'burger' and 'gourmet' really go together?

Depends what you call 'gourmet' of course. GBK makes a lot of the provenance of its ingredients (100% Aberdeen-Angus steak the menu chimes relentlessly against its myriad options) and with some justification - it does taste like decent meat.

But to qualify for 'gourmet' status a restaurant surely has to go further. At GBK the energy's been poured into that endless list of dishes. Trouble is, there's actually very little variety in what they serve. Whatever the choice, you're likely to get a (fairly average) sourdough bun, a (pleasantly rare) burger, probably some tomato-based relish plus one or two random ingredients. It's all done to a reasonable standard, but I doubt anybody would be able to distinguish more than 4 or 5 in a blind tasting.

And for most serious eaters 'gourmet' surely stands for more than ingredients and concept, something to stand the taste buds on end perhaps. Here GBK has little to offer. Everything seems to be assembled to template, without any passion, and perhaps not with the greatest of care. You certainly shouldn't be surprised to find all the ingredients lumped together on one side of your bun. Both our Pesterella (pesto, mozarella) and Mexican (sour cream, avocado, salsa) were so afflicted. The atmosphere's not that great either. Terrible music reigns, the seating's quite cramped, and once you've paid up-front at the bar there's a definite feeling you're on a time limit.

Having said that, if you want fast food, and you're prepared to pay for a bit of quality, there are plenty of worse places to go.