Wednesday 16 November 2011

MEATLiquor: Dirty Pretty Burgers

Just north of Bond Street Tube Station, sat slap bang in the middle of Welbeck Street is a permanent home for The Meatwagon. Named MEATLiquor on account of its two simple menus, one for Meat, the other for Liquor.
MeatLiquor Dead Hippie burger
It may be new, but it is still serving many of The Meatwagon's classic burgers, albeit in brand spanking new, and painstakingly designed surroundings.




Anyway, enough of the pretty restaurant pictures already, let's get to the Meat Liquor burger. In this review, I'm going to give you the lowdown on MEATLiquor's classic Bacon Cheeseburger. In the same sitting, I also had a Dead Hippie, and deep fried pickles, but more on those later!
Meat and Liquor. Like two peas in a pod.
A heart-stopping list of Meat Liquor burgers
Price:
Bacon Cheeseburger - £7. Dead Hippie - £7.50. Deep fried pickles - £3.

Presentation:
In my view, Meatwagon burgers have always been some of the sexiest burgers served in London. Similar to the Lucky Chip burger, they look sloppy, dirty, and juicy. The buns glisten, wrapped around their substantial fillings and there's nothing uniform about these hand formed patties, decorated with mountains of melted American cheese. They look bloody amazing.
Form an orderly queue please: Dead Hippie at the front, Bacon Cheeseburger behind.
Bun:
What can I say about the bun? It is the perfect complement to the burger. Dense sourdough is wrapped lovingly around its meaty centre, glistening with fat and moisture from being steamed onto the burger. It is an exceptional bun.
Ooh you cheeky Bacon Cheeseburger you.
Toppings:
The MEATLiquor Bacon Cheeseburger is topped with rashers of thin, crispy bacon, and drenched with american cheese. The cheese is so melted, it's run like a cheesy river into the cavernous imperfections of the patty. Beneath the hulking beast of a patty are thick sliced gherkins, a red onion, iceberg 'slaw, and lashings of ketchup and French's mustard. All were fantastic, but if I'm honest the amount of sauce slathered on the bottom bun was a little too much for me. A few mouthfuls were completely sauce dominated.


Meat: 
Yianni's chuck patty is executed brilliantly. Cooked perfectly medium rare, and charred on the outside, the thick, coarsely ground beef is up there with the best patties in London. Simply brilliant beef.


Accessories:
This burger comes toute seule, but I ordered some deep fried pickles to accompany it. And boy was I glad I did. They are perfectly crispy slices of battered gherkin - mixing the sweet pickle with the savoury batter - and they're bloody delicious. In fact, I'd be back just to get more of these!



Overall Score: 9.5/10
Once again The Meatwagon team score just shy of the top marks for their burgers in London. Everything in the MEATLiquor burger shouts fastidious attention to detail, disguised by the misshapen bun and patty. A little less sauce overpowering the meat and this bacon cheeseburger would get 10 out of 10!

You've got no excuse now they are slap bang in the middle of London, just a two minute walk north of Bond Street tube. Don't wait. Go!

MEATLiquor can be found on the corner of Henrietta St and Welbeck Street, W1G 0BA


Here's a little bit of bonus material - here is MEATLiquor's Dead Hippie. For those who haven't been fortunate enough to sample it, this burger combines the same fantastic bun with not one but TWO mustard fried patties (a la In-N-Out 'animal' style), double gloopy American cheese and an iceberg/red onion 'slaw with chunky chopped gherkins. It's bloody brilliant, and it's only £7.50. 
MEATLiquor Dead Hippie burger



Meat Liquor on Urbanspoon

Square Meal

11 comments:

  1. I worry for your cholesterol but it does look like a tasty little burger.

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  2. Loved Meat Liquor too, but I thought Lucky Chip's bun JUST edged out Meat Liquor. Dunno why - just a little squishier but lighter at the same time.

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  3. Kept reading about this mysteriously named place but didn't click on anyone's post until now, and I really wanna get back to London! (am about 2 hours way from it now ... a little too far to travel for a burger - no matter how good it is)

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  4. What a great review, definitely does the burgers justice! I was fortunate enough to finally make my first solo trip for lunch yesterday - had the fried pickles, cheeseburger, and the buffalo chicken burger, which I can't recommend enough....is it too horrible for me to consider going back today?

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  5. Looks quite empty compared with the other reviews I have read. Will try to go for lunch this week, hope the queue is not mental

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  6. Its outstanding, thanks for the tip. Where next?!

    See our writeup here:
    http://bbqfanatic.blogspot.com/2011/12/meat-liquorburger-heaven.html

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  7. Will - I, too, worry for my colesterol but the burger was just too beautiful!

    Culinarycreep - You're right. The buns are pretty closely on a par, though for me the Lucky Chip bacon cheese did pip the MeatLiquor one.

    Monchichi - 2 hours you say. It's worth it.

    Steampie - Thanks for your comment! I hope you did go back the next day, that is almost the law. I went the following Thursday night and had four (4) burgers over the course of the evening. All very, very good.

    Odo - It was dead when I was there Tuesday lunchtime - go for 12pm on the dot and you'll be ok - let me know how you get on!

    Ben - tbc next, I still need to confirm Bar Bouluud's status as a top establishment so maybe I'll break my duck and finally make it there...

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  8. Nick thanks for the tip, got a little bit later but still pretty empty, a couple tables and that's it... Nice burger but not sure I think is not quite the same of the original I tried long time ago in the Florence pub... BB is quite good! have been twice not being able to try the piggie one which apparently is the best one! will be in NYC the weekend thinking going to the original BB

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  9. I loved the dead hippie burger so much that I've done my best to recreate it at home! you should check it out and give it a go for your next dinner party :) dotrytheseathome.wordpress.com/meatliquor

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  10. Nice work - now enhance that by making your own American Burger Cheese: http://bit.ly/K2OPzK

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  11. burger fanatic29 May, 2013

    This is certainly the best place in London to get a burger. I absolutely love it. If you are curious about just how much I loved it feel free to check out my review of it http://ticklethetastebuds.co.uk/2012/10/31/meat-liquor/

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