Category Archives: American

Dip & Flip

September 26, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

After sampling the Green Chilli Cheese Burger at Burger Fest 2015 a few weeks back, the hunger to find out what Dip & Flip is all about has led me to their battersea branch.

As soon as you walk in you get a very homely and friendly vibe. The staff are laid back, charming and up for a bit of banter which always makes a meal more enjoyable. They explained everything about their menu and the concept of the gravy soaked burger.

I loved the Green Chilli Cheese Burger and told the waiter of my first experience of it. I wanted to stay safe and have another but the waiter convinced me that if I had made the pilgrimage there then I had to try the Dip & Flip Burger itself. You have two options of beef or lamb and on the waiters recommendation I opted for lamb.

Omg. It was massive! I mean tall and fat. Brioche bun which I adore with a large pattie, pickles, mountain of cheese and cuts of lamb. On the side you get a bowl of gravy which you dip at your own leisure which is a wonderful idea as you get to taste the burger before gravy fest as well as control the flavours and textures. The pattie was beautiful and I love when you are asked how you want it prepared which is a lost concept in a lot of burger places. The pattie was well seasoned and you could smell how meaty and flavoursome it was. The cheese was that funny American cheese that is uber gooey and there is a real explosion of it in this burger, it’s almost like a volcano is erupting, yummy, cheese heaven. The cuts of meat at the top are such good cuts that they just melt in your mouth.

This burger is massive so it’s best to get a side to share. We had the poutine or to the common folk, chips with cheese and gravy. Well, we thought we would go all out and I’m glad we did. It was amazing.

To go with the meal we were told we had to have a milkshake. Love milkshakes. Now, I have to be objective about the milkshake as I wasn’t a fan but I can understand why it was the way it was. It was really runny. I love my milkshakes thick and I could tell there was more milk than there was ice cream so I wasn’t a fan. However, I can understand the reason for making them so runny as it would just be a bit much with heavy burger and sides.

I loved my trip to Dip & Flip and can not wait to return with Elena to sample the rest of the menu.

Dip & Flip
87 Battersea Rise, London SW11 1HW

American, Burger

Ed’s Diner

August 25, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Ed‘s Diner reminds me of my college days. When I would bunk off and head down to Soho to grab one of the best milkshakes known to man. I was chuffed they opened one in Angel as it allows me to reminisce about the good old days of zero responsibilities and the government paying you to go to school. How I love England.

So on an evening when I was taking Elena on a hot date to watch Magic Mike XXL (not my idea, she likes to openly watch seedy stuff), we decided to have a dirty meal before the show to wrap up our dirty evening.

We loved the interior of this places. So playful and fun. It really encapsulates a 60s American diner style with the extensive use of primary colours, photography of the stars of that time, space age shapes with the first moon travel happening around that time and crazy neon lighting. They have done wonders in converting that space from what used to be Tinder Box.

I was rather excited as I had not been to one of these for over a decade. Ed‘s have this amazing deal of either getting the burger or meat dish on its own or you have the option to get a plate for a couple of pounds more for which you also get fries, onion rings and coleslaw. Naturally we went for the plate. We also decided to go for bottomless cokes to really round of this American burger meal experience. All we needed now was a cow girl outfit and it would have been complete.

I ordered the Blue Cheese Burger and Elena ordered the Chicken Goujons, all with Ed‘s plates.

The restaurant was empty on this hot summers evening and the waiters had time to come and chill and chat with us. Being one of the only customers we thought we were in for a treat as the chef can pay extra attention to our food.

The food arrived and straight away everything looked crispy and over cooked. The onion rings and sweet potato fries we so deep fried that as soon as you put them in your mouth they shattered and I mean just broken into pieces. You could feel the oil on your lips and slipping down your arteries. The fried items all tasted the same even the Chicken Goujons so they had clearly been sitting in the same fryer for ages.

My burger was rock solid and I had a tough time cutting into it. It tasted of nothing and felt like it had been over cooked. This WILL not be making it onto our burger hall of fame.

So many high hopes and all a bit of a let down. However, I will return to try their shakes at the shake bar on the ground floor to give them an opportunity to redeem themselves to the glory days of my college years. I think this meal is what we can coin as ‘waste of space in the stomach’.

Ed’s Diner
Unit R7, Angel Central, London N1 0PS

American, Burger

Meat Liquor

August 6, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

We have been burger crazy lately, with one review after another! Sorry to our readers that don’t eat cow!

In our defense London is currently suffering from an American fever, with new burger joins opening almost every week. It’s hard to keep up especially as title of ‘best burger’ keeps moving from one restaurant to another.

So we thought with this review we will take you to back to where it all began: Meat Liquor.

Within a week of Meat Liquor opening it’s doors in London, we joined the queue, ready for our all American experience and ever since this has been our go-to place for some artery clogging but ultimate comfort food.

The place is no doubt popular and with an incomplete party we kept getting sent down the queue by a scary looking bouncer, whom earlier branded us with ink stamp ’MEAT’. Meat Liquor know how to keep customers happy and they also very familiar with work ‘Hangry’, so before we could get even a little bit aggravated, a waitress came outside with a tray of deep-fried goodies.

Once you are inside the restaurant you find yourself in dimly lit room which could be misinterpreted as film set for Dexter. Blood splattered plastic coverings and loud metal music, no one will hear the screams as you bite into your…burger.

Heavily tattoos staff deliver the best of Deep South cooking. Get ready to roll up your sleeves as it’s a very messy business.

We went absolutely crazy for their buffalo wings. Having never tasted such thing, i have become obsessed with the sauce. They still stand to this day as a very good rival to Sticky Wings.

When it came to burgers I wasn’t totally won over. If you like your burger buns firm and spongy you will be disappointed as these babies arrive soaked with juice. Which could be your thing, but it wasn’t mine, so i will stick to other things on their menu.

Meat Liquor is a fun place to bring friends that have never been before. As my American friend says ’ Meat Liquor is your standard American eatery’. The atmosphere, the music and of course the photo booth is all good fun. But for a repeat session I would recommend going there at lunch time where it’s just a bit more calm and you can have a good chat over the cocktails… Which reminds me – Meat Liquor make a mean Bloody Mary! uh oh!

MEATliquor
74 Welbeck Street
London | W1G 0BA
http://meatliquor.com/london

American, Burger, Event

Burger Festival

July 11, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

The excitement of going to burger fest last weekend has spiraled through to this week. Sampling those sliders has made we want to visit each vendor who participated at Burger Fest 2015 at The Paper Works in Elephant and Castle.

As you remember, we reviewed this fun venue only a few weeks ago and on this night it was all about the fun with lots of board games, drinks and well to top it all off the best burgers in town.

We started of our feast with Wild Game and Co. It was said to be the best burger by whoever voted for this thing and well it didn’t disappoint. Even though the burger was slightly over cooked the flavours coming from the meat were to die for.

We then moved onto a burger by Craft. Now we must say, the bacon was chargrilled to the max that it just snapped. The pattie was flavourless. You would think if you are at an event to showcase your best burger then some thought would go into ensuring that ever offering is top notch. Especially when each customer is spending £35 a ticket to get in and the cost of only receiving five sliders. Poor show Craft, thought you would do a lot better.

We then swiftly moved onto Dip and Flip and their Green Chili Burger in gravy.

Omg, I have wanted to try this place for ages and well I will be visiting this week to sample a whole burger as a slider just wasn’t enough. The pattie was meaty, the cheese was oozing and the chilies just added a nice little kick. I loved it being smothered in gravy. Nice.

Street Kitchen was our fourth offering and we were pleasantly surprised to find that they actually didn’t specialise in burgers at all. The pattie was perfect, medium rare and not a minute over cooked. They were a tad heavy on the condiments which did over power the meat. However, it’s definitely something I would try again with less of the condiments.

Hotbox. Now you know we love a bit of Hotbox!!! We have tried this burger before so it was more of a déjà vu burger of happy memories. Amazing pattie, perfect relish and that perfect balance of sweet and savoury. You can not fault this burger and its definitely one of our faves.

To be honest we loved our burgers. However, the event was awfully organised and many people were left hungry and frustrated. Many of our friends had to eat the the same burgers two – three times and some got there when there was nothing left even though they had purchased an evening ticket. The music ended early and there was silence for the last hour of the event. The vendors are not to blame but Twenty Something London really need to learn about organisation and customer satisfaction before they organise another event. This was not worth £35 and we won’t be going to anymore Twenty Something London events.

American, Burger, Grill

Hoxton Grill

July 5, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Shoreditch, such an eclectic mix of dining experiences with a wealth of different people and trends. Hoxton Grill is a chilled out bar and eatery with a lovely range of cosy seating options, fun activity suites and booths and a fusion restaurant to cater for all.

Saturday is heaving as with all locations here so: book, book and book, especially if you want to eat.

Being processco lovers it’s hard to understand when a place only offers one type of processco so please be prepared to not be able to ponder over the different types and put everything you learnt at wine swigging class into practice.

To start with we had the quinoa, courgette and feta salad and wait for it we had another salad with baby gem, crab and avocado salad. However, the healthy eats stopped here.

I loved the quinoa salad so much that I have made it at home since. The crab was a bit questionable and too fishy for my liking which is odd to say about something with crab I know.

For mains we got a bit dirty, well 3/4 of us did. One healthy bastard got grilled cod, oh la la. My bacon queen Elena naturally had the bacon and blue cheese burger along with our other friend and I sampled the cheese burger.

This had to be the longest wait for food ever. We made two round trips to the toilet, took selfies galour and had time to get up and go to the bar area and try and get our friend a date. An hour wait in totally but we didn’t mind as we were having fun and hoping the food would be worth the wait.

Elena started moaning from the moment the burger hit the table. She had two patties and both were burnt to a crisp. As they were burnt it left a chargrilled taste to everything which couldn’t even be hidden by her bacon love.

My cheeseburger was a simple meaty cheeseburger. The patties were meaty and medium rare which was rather annoying and I would have liked to have been asked how I would like my burger if they were going to do that. The meat wasn’t packed full of flavour which I would expect some sort of jazz hands if I’m expected to pay £12. I was starving and it filled a whole and thats how I should look at it at that time of night. I won’t even start on the bun. Chips were nice though 🙂

We tried to sweeten the end of the meal with a massive smore but that failed to satisfy either, nice idea though.

Hoxton Grill is great for a nice evening out for some drinks and meeting new people. However, it’s not the right place for a tasty, memorable meal that’s served in reasonable time.

Hoxton Grill
The Hoxton, 81 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU
http://www.hoxtongrill.com

American, Burger

Urban Diner

March 6, 2015 Fork & Talk 1 Comment

We love Richmond, it’s so relaxed and has a large platter to offer in terms of cuisine. One evening as we took a stroll along the high street we came across Urban Diner. With it’s black and red decor and halogen lighting, it definitely screams coooooool. We also fancied a milkshake so anything that wasn’t a McDonalds milkshake was a bonus.

We were pleasantly surprised with our find.

We chose to sit outside, a rarity I know. We were served popcorn to nibble on as we scrolled through the menu. Yes, complimentary popcorn, WE LOVE FREE STUFF.

We decided to go for a hardshake with bourbon called Caramel Corn. Absolutely delicious. The shake was so creamy and had enough kick of alcohol to take the edge off a long day. It was like drinking a dessert.

The shake was so filling that we decided to grab a few (million) dishes to nibble on.

We started off with Voodoo Wings or buffalo wings to you and I, I love it when they are saucy and I was content with these, crispy on the out side and tender on the inside with the meat just coming away from the bone without a fuss. The sauce had the sour and tangy buffalo taste but also had a hint of spice with this recipe. I couldn’t stop licking my fingers, the sauce was that good. I was literally wiping the sauce off the tray with anything I could find.

We then tucked into Diner mac and cheese which had a crisp top and the most creamiest béchamel we have tasted. Not overly seasoned but still good. It was a side portion but I could have eaten 5 as a main easily. Obviously, Elena would have then had to have 999 on stand by to unclog my arteries after but it would have been worth it.

We decided to continue with our strange combination of foods and order corn on the cob which I naturally smothered in butter and we also order BBQ Beans. The corn was lovely and sweet and the kernels popped off the cob with minimal effort, how do they do that?
The BBQ Beans were out of intrigue really, never have I seen Elena so excited about baked beans in my life. But I have to admit they were rich and soft in a creamy sauce, not being the biggest beans fan they were pretty nice.

The Urban Diner is a great place to get your fix of American cuisine and upon reflection it is the best American joint Surrey/Richmond has to offer. We will definitely be returning during the warmer months to try more hardshakes and more of that finger licking buffalo sauce. I might just ask for the bottle.

Urban Diner
20 Hill St, Richmond, London TW9 1TN
www.urbandiner.co.uk

American

Sticky Wings

January 26, 2015 Fork & Talk 1 Comment

We have searched for American style buffalo wings far and wide and have been disappointed at every junction. When we first heard about Sticky Wings in Brick Lane we thought it would be another lame attempt at that iconic buffalo sauce (tangy, sweet and spicy, the memory brings a tear), I mean even TGI Friday can’t make it correctly. My, my, were we pleasantly surprised by this visit. We were greeted by the happy owner of Sticky Wings who was amazing at both banter and describing his chicken wing vision. We were taken aback by the simplicity of the menu which offers you four choices of sauce and the two size option which was the British size and American size. The chicken wings are the closest to American Style buffalo wings we have encountered so far and the taste and texture are something that is making me salivate as I write. The chicken wing is saucy, the skin is crunchy and the meat is juicy and tender. Perfection. The cooling cheesy sauce is creamy and not too over powering. The owner was very accommodating to our curious palette and allowed us to try every flavour for the price of one. You could see and feel how proud he was of his establishment and it was reflected in the quality of the chicken wings that were served at Sticky Wings. You could never meet a nicer guy. The interior is almost like a replica of Hooters or a more streamlined version of TGI Fridays with the cladding on the walls and the suspended ornaments. Who would know that a place like Sticky Wings could exist in the hustle and bustle of Brick Lane. Definitely not a sexy dine as you will be licking and sucking those fingers to ensure that none of that flavoursome sauce goes to waste. Worth another visit and we have already been twice whilst writing this review. Clearly for indulgence with the excuse of research. Star rating: **** Sticky Wings 40 Brick Lane, London E1 6RF www.stickywings.com

American, Burger

Honest Burgers

December 29, 2014 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

For the past year we have quietly watched Honest Burgers branches popping up wherever we go in London. As you are aware, Elena and I are on a lifetimes quest to find the best burger in the world so as we walked around kings cross one late Friday winters evening looking for a place to dine we couldn’t give up the opportunity to find out why this place was taking over London.

Honest Burgers in Kings Cross is very modest looking on the outside but as soon as you walk in you get the raw and rustic Shoreditch vibe from the decor to the staff, very similar to Byron in fact.

Now, I do like to focus straight on the food and decor but the manager who greeted us was the Christmas Grinch of 2014 so I won’t comment much further on the staff as I am hoping it’s just the service at this busy branch that stinks even though it was pretty empty for the Friday before Christmas.

Back to the food. The menu is no frills and simple offering about 10 different burgers and a choice of half a dozen sides.

I ordered a pattie with Stilton and Elena went for a vegetable fritter patty. The burgers cost between £8-£11 and are served with a generous portion of rosemary salt chips. I must say I really enjoyed my burger, it was tasty and even though I had asked for it to be well done it was still juicy. I do appreciate a good brioche bun and it was soft and melted in your mouth. Saying that for £10 it was on the small side so I am not sure exactly what I had paid for and it definitely wasn’t the service. Upon closer inspection the chips were a combination of triple fried which I love to double fried and single and some half cooked so it does suggest that the chips have sat there and been re-fried a number of times. I’m not sure how Honest Burger would explain or justify that.

Veggie burger — FRITTER – cauliflower, tomato, sweetcorn, shallots with coriander and cucumber yogurt

Elena’s fritter burger was lightly spiced with a number of root vegetables and as strange as it sounds was pretty good. It reminded me of Indian vegetable pakoras which gives me ideas of what I’m going to do with them the next time my mum makes them for me.

Honest Burger offers a good burger but it hasn’t made it on our list of the best places for a burger. So our search continues.

Star Rating: **

Honest Burger
251-255 Pentonville Road, London N1 9NG

www.honestburgers.co.uk

American, Mexican

Shrimpy’s

November 24, 2014 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Tucked away behind King Cross Station, over looking the canal you will find this cool dine inside the old Filling Station. Shrimpy’s as the name suggests isn’t a fried food fiasco but a trendy place to eat with an eclectic menu ranging from hot wings for starters to soft crab and avocado burgers for mains. The decor is a golden pineapple heaven, I don’t think Elena and I have ever been so in ore as they had so many different gold pineapple nicknacks. Diners have the choice of sitting inside or outside on the terrace. Unfortunately, on our visit we didn’t get to see the outdoor BBQ in action but we will return in the warmer months to sample Shrimpy’s BBQ delights.

Shrimp’s cocktail menu is your regular selection but with a twist which was positively received by us. Of course being us we had to try Shrimp’s hot wings and by god were they delicious. They were coated in BBQ sauce and finished with sesame seeds and coriander which added a nice fresh and herby flavour to it. I think we have found a new appreciation for coriander.

For mains Elena had a Humita with fried eggs, chili and chorizo. Humita is a traditional sweet corn cake for those of you that are googling it right now. The dish has a range of flavours from meaty, spicy to sweet.

I had a soft shell crab burger with guacamole and pickles. Sounds horrid I know and looks scary when you are presented with a crab in between a burger but it has to be one of the best none meat burgers I have ever had. The soft shell crab is deep fried in a spicy batter and lays on a bed of fresh guacamole, the unusual ingredients work really well.

A lovely Sunday afternoon late lunch and cocktail. Price wise you will be spending £25-30 per head but the cocktails as you can imagine do most of the damage. Nevertheless, we shall be back to Shrimpy’s soon.

Star Rating: *****

Shrimpy’s
King’s Cross Filling Station, Goods Way, London N1C 4UR
http://www.shrimpys.co.uk

American

Lazybones

September 15, 2014 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Friday lunchtime is for most working people a relaxing event when you have the opportunity to catch up with colleagues and wind down from a long week….unfortunately not when you work for the largest newspaper in the world. No, no, I had to scavenger the area of 1 mile around the office that would be special enough to give you that Friday feeling but efficient enough to be served and done all within 45 mins. And so we headed off to Lazybones on Cowcross Street.

As a sucker for good interior design, I was all over their marquee style menu and hand drawn signage. I liked the spacious layout that felt cosy but in a light, fresh kind of way. I appreciated the fact that at lunch time it was not overly busy, but can image that in the evening its a fun buzzing place to hang out with friends. Now enough about that and lets get down to the bone….i mean, point.

Tipped off by a friend, we ordered Lazybone’s famous beef brisket. The brioche bun was glazed to perfection. Served with yogurt and guacamole, brisket melted in your mouth. Beef that was cooked for six hours was seeping juice…That was a messy affair, but I loved every bite!

In addition we ordered their ‘also famous’ BBQ wings. Now these babies were way larger than any wings that I’ve ever had. Hickory smoke and chipolte chill recipe was delicious with just enough heat and sweetness without becoming overpowering.

Had initially complained to my lunch partner about the size of the beef brisket, which seemed too small for £7.50, I could only have a half of everything before I got too full.