Since my first visit to MEATmission in Shoreditch (by the same people behind MEATliquor and MEATmarket) I’ve become a bit of an addict – I simply love their burgers. When I heard they were celebrating their first birthday by offering 50% off the bill if you took along a helium balloon, I made sure I was there.
The inside is my favourite of all three as it’s housed within a former Christian mission and lots of the original plaques on the wall remain untouched. Then there’s the addition of a lit glass ceiling with a demonic version of the last supper sprawled all over it. On this occasion though, the place was heaving and covered in balloons; it was a like a weird trippy children’s birthday party. There were even a professional balloon modeller and a close up magician!
As always, everything we ordered came on one large metallic tray and it looked like a veritable feast. All burgers come medium-rare and my Dead Hippie (£8.50) was served exactly that. The two mustard fried patties were drenched in Dead Hippie sauce (whatever that is) and topped with lettuce, cheese, pickles and minced white onions. It was a sloppy, greasy mess and every mouthful was total bliss.
The fries (£3) on my first ever visit were undercooked and under seasoned; not the case now. These were crispy little beggars that were super salty and delightfully addictive.
Two of my favourite things were the Bingo Wings (£6.50) which were chicken wings covered in their homemade pepper sauce and the Monkey Fingers (£7.50) which were battered fillets of chicken in the same sauce. The wings were cooked perfectly; soft and succulent, but it was the Monkey Fingers that I loved the best. They had retained their crunchy battered exterior yet were drenched in the spicy sauce – a feat which I found rather impressive. The blue cheese dip helped sooth the strong spiciness perfectly.
A few cocktails, some close up magic and a couple of silly balloon hats later, we rolled out of MEATmission with the usual bloated and satisfied bellies. It was a wonderfully bizarre evening and I loved every second of it; even in the carnage of it all, service managed to be both efficient and friendly. MEATmission will remain one of my favourites.
9/10
