An ode to the McDonald's Double Cheeseburger

A trusty burger in trying times

Last week I collected my five favourite burgers in London, but truth be told, there was one omission, one burger that’s got me through good times and bad, drunk times and hungover, late night binges and mid-afternoon snacks. I could only mean the McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger.

This is, for me, the ur-burger, the form that all others should take their shape from. Not every burger out there needs to exactly follow the Double Cheeseburger format — several of my favourites from last week don’t — but it’s the starting point, the template from which you should only veer with damn good reason.

Let’s start with the basics. This is, quite simply, the standard McDonald’s Cheeseburger with an extra patty and extra slice of cheese. It comes in a small, plain bun — no garish sesame flourish here — and is topped only with ketchup, mustard, a few pickle slices, and a handful of raw, diced onion.

If you’ve eaten a burger in London in the last couple years, odds are you’ve eaten one built on the same set of principles. The current craze for smashburgers was built on the backs of countless Double Cheeseburgers, the slim patties and simple condiments providing the blueprint for every Hackney burger pop-up and steakhouse off-menu option of the last decade. It needs no additions or alterations, and some of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten have been almost slavish recreations that use better beef and softer buns and leave the rest to Ronald’s grand design.

That means it also sets the standard for others to meet. And, scoff though you may, they often don’t — when I finally tried the none-more-hype Supernova earlier this year, I followed it immediately with £2.29’s worth of McDonald’s’ finest as a litmus test. Let’s just say I’ve never been back to Supernova since.

This purity of construction is part of what makes this comfortably the best of the beef burgers on offer from the Golden Arches. While in my youth I dallied with the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, maturing helped me see it for the second stringer that it is. It’s only fractionally larger than the Double Cheese, but almost double the price — and thanks to its larger bun and wider patty, tends to run a little drier to boot.