[PREVIEW] The 1/3lb Bacon Cheeseburger from Kua’Aina, Soho

Yes, that is quite a char isn’t it…

[REVIEW] Fish Tacos / Luardo’s / Brockley Market, London

The only other London burrito slingers to our knowledge that serve a fish taco are Wahaca.

Much as I love Wahaca, they have a tendency of being a bit snooty toward Californian Mexican fare, then putting it on their menu and botching it.

The Luardo’s version is far closer to tacos we’ve had in SoCal. The Coley is nicely cooked but the liberal amount of lime juice, mango, coriander and wonderful creamy guacamole brings a little piece of the west coast to a wet car park in Brockley. Without any local point of comparison then, we can say quite conclusively that these are the best fish tacos in London.

Sadly, the fish taco is only available on Saturday lunchtimes at the moment, and not during their more popular Whitecross Market or Eat Street residencies. This is because it’s nowhere near as popular as their standard meaty burrito options, which is a massive shame.

Fish tacos are a great differentiator for Luardo’s now that the London burrito scene has become so shamelessly identikit. Let’s hope they roll them out more regularly. And that people buy them. Please buy them. Supply and demand and all that.

• Simon.

• The Lucky Chip T-bone steak at the Sebright Arms, Hackney

[PREVIEW] The Mother Flipper Cheeseburger / Brockley Market, London

Full mutha-flippin’ report coming soon, but we had to share some of the pretty.

@MotherFlipperUK

The Cheeseburger from The Ship, Wandsworth.

[FIELD REPORT] New Year's Eve Burger Swarm at the Admiral Codrington

Dude. Amazing. Dude.

A rallying cry from the head chef of the Admiral Codrington in Chelsea, site of our favourite London burger of 2011:

Who would be interested in a new years eve burger night? All the burgers I’ve done this year available. Please RT

— Fred Smith (@FredSmith_) November 18, 2011

Knowing our reputation, we were all over it like Lindsay Lohan on a Playboy cover.

After a pre-game round or two of Champagne with PBR chasers, we zoomed over to The Cod to get our celebration on.

Fred served up a masterful array of top notch gastro fare. We nearly over-did the starter platter, the highlight of which is definitely the calamari and mini sausages.

The bacon cheeseburger was incredible. The perfectly formed 8oz patty was a appropriately sizable chunk of soft, tender beef with a neatly seared outside, with cheese melted beautifuly on top. The bacon was crispy, but sweet and flavourful. Indeed, Rob was already half cut, but we’re pretty sure his incessant ramblings about how “fucking amazing” the burger was were mostly due to the quality of what he was eating.

Probably.

The Double Stack was a beauty of a Big Mac tribute. A nicely toasted bun with two thinner patties, a bevy of pickles and plenty of house special sauce. This needs to be a permanent menu fixture. It’s such a classic sandwich in the hearts of us all, and Fred has made it look better than the McDonald’s food stylists could ever hope to in a laboratory.

If these two were amazing, then the Ox Cheek Chilli burgers that came out, compliments of the chef, were other worldly.

This is a historic sandwich. He’s pulled the Double Beef out the bag. The Ox cheek chilli brought a second wave of meatiness to the table, flavouring the burger with a deeply rich beef ‘n umami flavour. At the same time, the crunchy chilli slaw provided a constant pleasurably gentle heat to the whole affair.

It was brilliant. Inspired. Fucking brilliant. There are no more superlatives. If you get the opportunity to get one of these from Fred, then take it.

After the meal, Fred came over for our verdict. Cue intoxicated shouts of “Dude” and “Amazing” and a few more “Dude”s, and thanking him in the best way we could think possible: buying him a Jagerbomb.

Dude. Amazing. Dude.

He tells us the next release of the Admiral Codrington Cheeseburger v2.1 arrives towards the end of January, and everyone should try it.

Not many other London kitchens are capable of nailing the classics and bringing us such assured, confident innovations like the Ox Cheek.

A fitting start to 2012. As you were.

• Simon and Rob.

★[BREAKFAST] Hawksmoor / Guild Hall / A Sausage Sandwich to Die For

So good I had to write it up twice.

I’d just like to make a quick concession to the Sausage Sandwich with French dip. What is this French dip you ask?

A French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef (or, sometimes, other meats) on a “French roll” or baguette. It is usually served au jus (“with juice”), that is, with beef juice from the cooking process. Beef broth or beef consomme is sometimes substituted.

Source Wikipedia

This is the second French Dip I’ve had in London, the first being from Yianni at the Meatwagon when he was still in Peckham.

What you need to know is that they are great. The Hawksmoor sausage variant is one of the best sandwiches of the year, and just adds to the arsenal that is the Guild Hall breakfast menu. The bread, sausage and gravy are an incredible morning combination.

Another quick mention for the boiled eggs with anchovy soldiers - perfectly soft and the soldiers are perfectly crisp sticks of umami. And also those baked goods are still incredible.

Best breakfast in town.

“Everyone is so busy buying ‘organic artisan’ food from Broadway Market that the pie ‘n mash shop is empty. This is a TRAVESTY people.”

• Rob, a few weeks after the Superette popup.

Reviewing a popup is pointless and annoying. We went. You might have gone. You probably didn’t. You certainly can’t go now. So here’s a few pictures instead.

We enjoyed ourselves. The golden buns were fun, but serving burgers in boxes doesn’t help them maintain their shape very well.

A messy, busy, noisy night. We were there early, so didn’t suffer the wait that others did.

And London, don’t forget your pie ‘n mash shops.

So trendy Shoreditch bar / cafe / venue / table tennis association The Book Club makes tremendous buttermilk pancakes for brunch.

They cost a paltry £4.

Who knew?

Some wonderful wood-fired win from @homesliceldn

And one more from @eatstreet.

The off-menu Big Pole from family fave Big Apple Hot Dogs.

Monumental.

What do you get when you slow cook ribs, pull the meat off the bones and put it in a bun?

Awesome is what you get, son.

Courtesy of the @theribman at @EatStreet.

[PREVIEW] MeatLIQUOR / London / The Hangover Is Still Not Over

Hang on, let’s rewind a little bit…

“The other question mark with the Meateasy will be what happens when it shuts down in March. Between now and then, a back-of-fag-packet calculation suggests the MeatEmpire will have served way, way more covers than it ever has done before. With that comes the next difficult sequel.

How do you go from having created such a special place, with a full menu, table service, a bigger kitchen, electronic ordering systems and all the other elements that add up to their slickest project yet, to then shutting it down and going back to a little van again?

And what of the pubs? Surely, Yianni is in the completely unique position of being able to say to any pub in London, from zone 1 to 6, that he can show up with his team and guarantee a horde of big eating, big drinking punters. Most of whom will post about it online. And then bring in even more punters. That surely has to factor in to his long term strategy.”

• from our #MEATEASY review, nine months ago.

The sequel

Technically, this is the third act. #MEATEASY was very much the sequel to the little burger van that could.

Others would probably disagree with us, but we were underwhelmed by the Meatwagon’s residency at the Rye in Peckham. A great deal of the urgency and energy generated by the #MEATEASY waned over the summer, and able competition sprang up around town, both on the street and pubs getting their act together.

But sure enough, there was a plan. Bricks and mortar. And here we are, a skip and a jump away from Oxford Street.

The things you need to know:

• opening hours will be 12pm until midnight (and there was a mention of 2am) Tuesday to Saturday.
• it exhibits the dark, red-stained, neon feel of a Proper Good Dive Bar. An American one, obviously.
• you will once again be regularly cursing Soulshakers for giving you that whopping hangover. The jam jars and ice blocks are in full effect.
• there are some new menu items we’ve never seen from the Meatwagon before. The desserts are a big one, but we’re into the Buffalo Chicken burger.
• the kitchen is ‘massive’.
• there’s a restaurant bit out the back, but we didn’t get to look at it
• we lost the ability to focus within 45 minutes of arrival

We didn’t eat much, so a review would be fruitless. We shared a mini burger (pretty sure it wasn’t a slider). It was excellent. It had special sauce in it and that amazing salty crust you only get with a Meatwagon burger. The buffalo wings have improved from their #MEATEASY outings - properly quartered and Frank’s’ed.

Be excited.

It’s gonna be big. Super, crazy big.

Meat in. Liquor out.

[GALLERY] The Hawksmoor Breakfast Slideshow / Hawksmoor Guildhall / London

Finally had it.

(Yes, that’s the Hawksmoor burger. It’s going to be a Hawksmoor-heavy week.)

[HAWKSMOOR SPECIAL - PART 1] Breakfast at Hawksmoor Guildhall / London

The setup…

We ate most of this.

[FOODTRUCK REVIEW] Anna Mae’s II / Eat Street

Finally, I get my hands on Anna Mae’s Pork ‘n Beans.

The pork is as good as you’d expect it to be, and the portions are generous for the price.

What sets them out though is the quality of the homemade BBQ sauce. Thankfully it’s not too sugared and has enough heat to it. And they’re sensible enough to have Frank’s Extra Hot on hand if needs be.

Be sure to check out Rob’s thoughts on the Mac ‘n Cheese, and if you’re anywhere near King’s Cross on a Thursday or Friday lunchtime, then get your ass down to Eat Street.

They’re doing sterling work for street food in London.

The cheeseburger from Elliot’s cafe in London’s Borough Market.

Full review forthcoming.

But she looks pretty good, right?

We miss ThatBurger