One of two things usually happen when chefs try to tart up and upsize something that’s already really good: Either the enhanced version doesn’t measure up to the original or it’s so good there’s no going back.

The Opera Tavern Deluxe BurgerMonday Pop-Up proved to be an exception.

To my knowledge, no one at any of the five sittings felt the deluxe version of the Blackfoot Ibérico pork and foie gras burger chefs Ben Mulock and Ben Tish created as a one-off was in any way inferior to the tapas-sized original served daily at the Covent Garden restaurant. Conversely, most were already planning a trip back to Opera Tavern for its acclaimed mini burger – or possibly two or three of them – even before the pop-up dessert, an orange and manteca pudding with a “Tip Top” of saffron creme anglaise, had been served.

Ben and Ben adorned their Opera Tavern Deluxe pop-up burger (seen below in photos by Paul Winch-Furness) with flat, lightly crisped strips of jamón ibérico and draped the entire production in melted truffle pecorino. It was a beautifully juicy, pink burger that stretched your fingers and mouth and made you weak at the knees. For this BurgerMonday exclusive to have been any more, as the Spanish say, de lujo the chefs would have needed to insert a pair of first-class round-trip tickets to Sevilla under each and every bun.

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slideshow photos by Paul Winch-Furness