EAT: Meat and Shake is a new(ish) burger joint in Totting. Yes, yes. I know Totting is ages away from most of you all. But, trust me, you need to give this place a go. Not only do they have the BEST milkshakes in London (they beat Ed’s Diner hands down) and some really interesting (and at times very yummy) burgers.
First: the milkshakes. THEY ARE AMAZING. They’re huge, loads of options, thick, cold and tasty. Great quality ice cream and products are used. Proof: I ordered the Apple Crumble flavour and it was made with 3 Mr Kipling apple pies. The chef came over and asked if we minded him adding cinnamon. He added it and it rocked. If you get the Apple Pie flavour, request cinnamon. For the love of god GET CINNAMON.
I’ve also tried the Salted caramel – it’s not as good. It’s nice, but there’s not enough salt or caramel. Just sayin’. (Should point out that this review is a combination of two visits to the place. I am not a monstrous pig who is capable of eating two burgers, three sides and having two milkshakes in one sitting, although god knows I’m happy to try).
Burger number one is the Chipotle Chicken (Aioli, Tomato, Lettuce, Seasoned Chicken Breast, Sautéed Onions, Monterey Jack, Sweet Grilled Red Pepper, Chipotle Sauce). Well – it’s cheesy, as you can see from the photo below. You also get an insane amount of chicken, which is tender and tasty. The chipotle sauce adds a bit of a kick but I admit, the burger totally falls apart. Which isn’t exactly great – I think it needs a little something crunchy in there to mix up the texture of the burger. It’s all very squishy and lovely, but some fresh red onion or crispy shallots would go a long way.
Onto the sides. The sides I’ve sampled are the rosemary fries, the sweet potato fries and the panko onion rings served with a smoky mayo dip. The rosemary fries are basically regular fries with rosemary salt sprinkled on top. However, the rosemary salt is basically in the top few fries and the fries underneath are just regular, unsalted and not at all rosemary-y potato. So… meah. The sweet potato fries are nice. Fluffy on the inside, with a bit of a crunch on the outside. They’re the same sweet potato fries most traders use, but they’re good nonetheless (and the dip is rather lovely too). The panko onion ring are nice but there’s too much breadcrumb and not enough onion in my opinion. However, I do like how flavoursome they are and I’d say they’re worth a shot. You get 5 rings per order, so share wisely.
And finally… Meat and Shakes’ most popular burger, the Smoking bandit. Smokey Chipotle Mayo, Tomato, Lettuce, Beef Patty, Smokey Cheddar, Sautéed Onions, Smokey Turkey Bacon and plenty of smoke. BUT – of course, I didn’t have the beef patty. I swapped it for the veggie option (sweet potato patty with goat’s cheese). Quiiiiiite a burger. And look how it rocks up: quite literally encased in smoke:
So, everything is smoked. SO smoked. The turkey bacon is ok, but it totally would have been nicer with regular bacon. However: the veggie patty I did not like. Now, perhaps it’ because it just shouldn’t have been smoked. Also – I’m not a massive fan of goat’s cheese sooo that probably didn’t help. My friend tried it and loved it, so I think it’s just me. But, I imagine with the beef patty the Smoking bandit would be quite awesome. The burger held together well, it’s arrival is novel and it really, properly tastes smoked. It does exactly what it says on the menu.
So, what do I think of Meat and Shake. I think the veggie patty options need to be improved (both occasions when I went they either only had one, or no, veggie patties left. It’s good to know they make them fresh on the day, but they need to make more). You can, however, substitute the beef patty for either chicken or veggie, so there are lots of burgers to have a go at no matter what your kind of patty is. The sides are fine – nothing too special, but not terrible. But the milkshakes. Oh.. those milkshakes.
SEE: The Wellcome Collection is a wonderful gallery. It describes itself as the ‘destination for the incurably curious’, so naturally I was… intrigued.
Until October 12th an exhibition called The A to Z of the Human Condition is running. It’s part interactive, part art exhibition, part exhibition of interesting artefacts.
A is for Acts of Faith, B is for Birthdays, C is for Chemical Life Support… Z is for Zoonoses. You walk into the exhibition and on one side of the gallery is the A-Z of the human condition.
V is for Voice. You can listen to Florence Nightingale. She talks about her hope that when she passes away her voice will keep her alive. B is for ‘Birthdays’ – in the gallery there’s a video on loop showing a rather graphic childbirth (you know, like the one you got shown in year 7 and made you swear you’d never EVER have sex? Yummy).
X is for ‘X-rated’ – you can view penis charms which, when worn, are supposed to boost a man’s sexual virility. There’s more to see, including sculptures, artwork and a fascinating study of phrenology (the pseudoscience which studied the shape and bumps on a head and apparently it tells you about a person).
On the other side of the gallery it’s all interactive. You can write your fears and put them in a bin (#emo, love it), you can photograph your tattoos and you can draw a self-portrait. Mine is below. It’s a pretty cartoon version of me. All of my drawings look like Nick Sharratt’s illustrations.
LISTEN: 14th are a rather lovely duo – Tracey Duodu and Tom Barber. They can most easily be classed as electronic soul (but I like them because I feel the soul more than the electronics). They’re from London and Tracey’s voice is lovely. I think the track below shows her voice off best. Have a listen.
LOVE: Endless bars. Endless dates. But the thing that never fell into place is how attractive a particular drink can make a man. Now: I don’t have an opinion on most drinks. I don’t care if he drinks wine, cider, beer, gin and tonic. But, oh my, do I love it when a man drinks whiskey.
Now – I don’t drink whiskey. But I’ve recently been dated a man who is a whiskey collector. He has hundred of bottles and loves his single malts. And you know what I love? Kissing him after he’s taken a sip of whiskey. For some reason I adore whiskey kisses (new term I’ve just coined, feel free to use it). Especially smoky single malts. Funny thing is I’m now learning about whiskey but via someone else’s mouth. How gross is that?
Men: go and drink a good, Scottish, single malt. Go and grab that person you want to kiss. Or, just come and kiss me.
Eat See Listen Love 