Exploding onto the burger scene in 2007, Byron burgers have become a dominant force, proving a popular choice with diners. With over 60 restaurants dotted across the country, including on George Street in Oxford, it is impossible to ignore them, especially for a burger enthusiast like myself. Marked by an approachable atmosphere, friendly staff and an accessible menu, there is much to recommend the eatery, even if it is one that produces a rather formulaic meal.

Needing a pre-theatre meal, my partner and I dived into Byron and perused the menu, quickly deciding on our choices. We started our meal with a huge mound of halloumi fries, a perfect treat on a hot summer's day. While they are (as can be expected) mostly about the burgers, Byron do offer a range of sharers to kick your meal off, ranging from mac & cheese balls to chicken nuggets. They're not essential to the mix but they do make a flavoursome start, leading nicely into our mains.

I opted for the restaurant's namesake burger (beef patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, Bryon burger sauce) whilst my partner went for the Big Smoke (beef patty, pulled BBQ beef brisket, Cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce). They come out suitably flavoursome, with the Byron sauce thankfully used to just the right amount. Years of practice have honed the burgers offered here down to the point where they are technically flawless. The only real issue is, as with the rest of the meal, there's no personality to a burger at Byron. They draw off of what is comfortably in the zeitgeist - a dab of avocado here, a wedge of beef brisket there - without ever threatening to innovate. But they don't need to. You come to Byron for the familiar, and on this front our burgers deliver resoundingly.

We end our meals on a decadent treat, the restaurant's 'soul-soothing milkshakes'. They are thick shakes, with the restaurant generous with their ice cream. If anything, after the halloumi and burgers, too much - regrettably, I found myself full before finishing.

Byron does exactly what a chain restaurant needs to do. You are unlikely to have the greatest burger of your culinary life at this establishment, but you are also not going to leave without your hunger quenched. The brand's formula has been tinkered with and perfected to the point that leaves little room for personality. But it does lead to a perfectly satisfactory meal out.