The best burger in France 2024 is in the Yvelines!

Would you like to taste the burger of the Champion de France 2024? We've been salivating in anticipation. So we set off to discover La Ménagerie du Roi, the new craft beer brewery that has set up shop in a new zone on the outskirts of Saint-Cyr l'École. Ideally located on the outskirts of Versailles, in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the Paris 2024 Olympic equestrian site, the spacious location, which is admittedly a bit out in the middle of nowhere, enables the pub-restaurant to combine its brewing activities with a lively atmosphere without disturbing the neighborhood. Indeed, at Brasserie du Roi, you can enjoy home-brewed beers, delicious burgers, concerts and festive entertainment.

And so it was thatAnthony Pautrat, winner of the French Burger Championship last March, came to La Ménagerie du Roi to (finally) treat us to his winning creation"Ruminez-moi", as well as other burgers and delicacies.

France's Best Burger 2024 at the Menagerie du Roi on video :

At first glance, the Brewpub looks like a warehouse in the middle of the Champs-Elysées. After all, it's here that the company's organic craft beers are made (and you can buy them on the premises to take away). That said, once through the doors, you'll discover a warm and trendy place. A large bar, a beautiful mural that takes you on a journey, cosy wooden tables and benches, a concert area and video projector for sports evenings, and a view of the kitchens, all reveal themselves to us.

Outside, a large terrace with pallet-benches and large tables awaits us to enjoy the sunshine.

We sit down at the table to discover the à la carte menu. The menu is displayed large above the bar, and can also be accessed via a QR code, so you can order directly, whenever you like. It's practical and saves you the wait.

The menu includes the famous Winning Burger, a Veggie burger with breaded mushrooms, a Smash burger, a Crispy Poulet, a regressive poutine, cheddar fries, a Thai salad of the moment, a burrata, cheese and charcuterie boards and delicious homemade desserts that change with the seasons and the mood(giantprofiterole, brioche perdue and pavlova were on the menu when we visited).

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Anthony Pautrat, the Burger Master in the kitchen, started out as a pastry chef in Versailles. He then switched to CAP Catering, and worked at Lenôtre and in various tea rooms in Paris. He gave it all up to go and work in Australia, notably in a tea room, doing French pastry. With the arrival of Covid, he was forced to return to France and eventually found a position as a cook in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, his first experience as a chef in the kitchen.

As luck would have it, in 2023 he received the invitation card for the Coupe de France du Burger. Attracted by the challenge, he finished 3rd in Ile-de-France for his first participation. A big disappointment for him, given that the preparation had been quite extensive. Although disappointed by his first participation, he decided to take part again in 2024. This new participation was made all the more difficult by the fact that his company did not support him. He therefore trained at home, on his own, in his spare time, and obtained the help of acquaintances at the CFA in Versailles to train in competition situations.

First he won the Ile-de-France trophy, then the national final with a perfect score. He then left the restaurant where he was working to settle down and see what doors were opening to him. After a month's reflection, aware that he couldn't set up his own business in two weeks, he decided to accept Hugo's proposal from the Ménagerie du Roi, with whom he had a good rapport, and joined the restaurant in April, where everything still needed to be done.

So it's only recently that we've been able to taste this year's winning burger. And what's so special about this burger? To make it, Anthony used his pastry-making skills. First, he imagined a bun inspired by Lenôtre's bostock mousseline brioches, baked in a cylinder mold that allows the brioche to rise to the top. The bun is filled with blue poppy seeds, giving it a crispy mouthfeel. For his burger, Anthony decided to avoid the bun's cap, which is a little drier, and composed his burger exclusively with internal sections toasted with clarified hazelnut butter.

As the theme of this year's event was"Beef Spirit", the chef decided to take his inspiration from beef: corn, hay and grain. Unlike all the other participants, he decided to create a hot sauce made with cream of corn and whisky. To this is added a salad mix on top of which are roasted and vinegared cereal seed pickles.

The minced steak is then cooked in smoked hay butter, on which Anthony places a slice of 100% natural, additive-free Basque cow's milk tomme, cooked with a blowtorch to give it its opaline caramelization. A sprinkling of red onion, parsley, a crispy IGP coppa chip with Espelette chilli pepper and voilà, you've got Ruminez-moi. We've tried it and highly recommend it. It's crunchy, crispy, soft and smoky, with flavors that are a little off the beaten track, so you can have a good time.

We finish with some of the chef's delicious pastries. The excellent French toast with seasonal strawberries and the generous profiterole are our specialties. Don't forget to book in advance, as the restaurant, a victim of its own success, is often fully booked and you may not find a seat.

How about a trip to the King's Menagerie?