Tacu Tacu at Casa Blue

In my endless hunt to find the finest burgers in London I decided to try out the pop-up Tacu Tacu at the cocktail bar Casa Blue on Brick Lane. Tacu Tacu specialises in Latin American food with a small range of burgers and tacos. I was happy to see the bar nice and busy on my visit, everyone was eating and on first exception the food looked great.

Steve and I ordered both burgers; the Mexican Baja shrimp burger and the hot Havana beef burger. The shrimp burger was unusual but delicious. I'm a huge fan of shellfish but I've never had a burger patty made from shrimp before and it was a taste sensation. The patty was dense with shrimp and held together well. It was flavoursome and the roasted red pepper was a nice accompaniment. The avocado, garlic mayo was extremely tasty and the bread held everything together nicely. The beef burger was just as delicious, the beef was seasoned well and the toppings gave it a nice kick. It was cooked perfectly medium rare and once again everything held together well when eaten by hand. Both burgers were on the large side and extremely filling.

We also tried a couple of tacos; beef and duck. Whilst both tasted great the duck with melted cheese was definitely my favourite of the two. That being said the combination of toppings on the beef taco were wonderful.

As for sides we thought it best just to stick with chips and burger sauce. The chips were crispy, not too salty and surprisingly tasty. We also ordered a slice of mojito cheesecake which tasted just like the cocktail, delicious.

All in all I thought this meal was fantastic, the quality really stood out and it's somewhere I'll definitely visit again.

MEATmission

1. MEATmission 2. Menu 3. Food menu

4. Sweet Cheeks cider 5. Ceiling 6. Bar

7. Food (Dead Hippie x2, Dirty Chicken burger, Green Chilli burger, chilli cheese fries, fries, deep fried gherkins) 8. Monkey Fingers 9. No Brainer cider

I finally made it to Yianni Papoutsis' new baby for lunch yesterday, MEATmission. From the success of MEATwagon, MEATeasy, MEATliquor and MEATmarket this Hoxton Market burger joint opened just before Christmas and I can confirm that once again they've hit the nail on the head. The interior is dark and edgy with evil eye symbols on the ceiling and caged up bar. The seating area is a mixture of high booths and long benches arranged in what I image a hipster themed Oktoberfest hall would look like. Despite my use of the word 'edgy' I actually prefer this place over MEATliquor as the vibe is a little more casual and a little less Dalston Superstore despite being a stones throw away from the area. Anyway, onto the food. I shared a Dirty Chicken burger and Dead Hippie with my friend Katie, we had heard great things about the chicken burger but fancied some beef hence the reason for half and half. What I can say is that the Dirty Chicken burger did not live up to the hype. I find chicken burgers a bit bland, they just don't have all the interesting flavours and mixtures a beef burger can have and in comparison to the much loved Dead Hippie it isn't something I would order again. Don't get me wrong it did taste good but I just preferred the Dead Hippie x213123. However, the Monkey Fingers i.e. deep fried BBQ chicken strips was a whole other story. Holy moly these tasted amazing, so tangy and coupled with the blue cheese sauce they were by far my favourite component of the entire meal! If I have to recommend one thing on the menu it would be the Monkey Fingers, they were bloody delicious.

I like MEATmission a lot but I'm not sure I would readily make the journey from SW LDN to Shoreditch to just to eat here. Sometimes I feel a get a bit bored of the whole MEATliquor empire. I'll go a couple of times and absolutely love it, then decide I'm fed up of the place and then rediscover my love 6 months later. So for now I'm going to stay clear for a little while but I know in 6 months time I will be craving a Dead Hippie and Monkey Fingers like nobodies business.

PS you can book a table here which is amazing - no queueing for hours thanks very much!

Lucky Chip @ The Sebright Arms

 Menu, Royale wit cheese, cheesy chips

Tom Selleck, cheesy chips with  aoli

Without a doubt Lucky Chip was one of my favourite burger joints of 2012, so much that I didn't mind the trek to Hackney (from SW15) to sample their fine burgers. I've been a couple of times and I'm literally itching to go back. Lucky Chip has residency in the Sebright Arms and serves burgers daily. The first time I went was during the diamond jubilee weekend in the summer which was a big mistake as everywhere was crazy busy but we got a table without too much of a wait so all was fine. I had the Tom Selleck which is a mighty fine combination of beef, pineapple, cheddar cheese, beetroot flavoured onion rings, smoked bacon and BBQ sauce. I don't normally go for burgers this complicated but it sounded delicious and most definitely tasted delicious as well. This was a big burger, huge in fact and when it arrived on the tiny little plate with plastic cutlery I was perplexed to how I was meant to eat it but after a bit of squishing and dismantling I managed it.

My second visit was on a fine Sunday afternoon after checking out the lovely Columbia Road Flower Market and Goldsmiths Row Book Market and we didn't even need to qeueue for a table as there were plenty free. I had the Royale wit cheese which is a much more simple affair with 100% dry aged beef patty, American cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickles and ketchup. As cheese burgers go this one was bloody excellent and I can't recommend it enough, seriously it tastes so good.

As for the sides, both times I had the cheesy chips with aoil which I personally think is the best you'll find. The chips are chippie chips i.e. a little bit squidgy and not that crunchy but I love them plus the aoli is the best garlic mayonnaise I have ever tasted and I'm not even a fan of garlic mayo normally.

Anyway, I bloody love Lucky Chip and would go back time and time again. It's definitely a 5/5 from me so if you're thinking of making the journey to Hackney I suggest you go now.

Lucky Chip can also be found at Netil Market on a Saturday afternoon (on my must visit list) and have opened their own slider bar at The Player in Soho (review to come soon).

Rivington Grill Shoreditch

 

The Rivington Grill in Shoreditch had been on my must visit list for ages but I'm not often in east London so when an opportunity arose for a meal after checking out the recent Gorilla Perfume Voice of Reason exhibition at the Red Gallery I knew it was finally time to try this much raved about burger.

The Rivington Grill is a contemporary restaurant where the walls are adorned with art work from local artists including the Tracey Emin piece you see above. There are two menus, the a la carte menu and the all day bar menu and the burger is on the all day bar menu. There are 2 choices of burger and they all come with chips; cheese and/or bacon burger and the luxury burger with all the trimmings. I went for the cheese burger which is my go to option when sampling a new burger. The burger arrives on a plank in a self assembly style, the tomato, lettuce and onion are separate along with a pot of tangy burger sauce so it's up to you how you dress your meal. I hate tomatoes in burgers and always forget to order without them so this was perfect as I could choose to add the lettuce and onion with as much of the sauce as I liked. The burger was delicious, cooked to order (medium rare for me always) and well constructed so it didn't fall apart when eating with your hands. The self assembly style may sound fiddly but as this isn't a 'messy burger' I enjoyed the experience of creating my own perfect meal. The sauce was absolutely delicious so make sure you save some for your chips as it definitely beats tomato ketchup hands down! The beef was excellent quality which was evident in the taste and even though the poppy seed bun isn't my preferred style of burger bun everything tasted great together. The chips were perfect, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside and for me the perfect 'chip' size.

At £11 this isn't the cheapest burger out there but the quality is excellent and chips are included so it's a price I am definitely happy to pay. Would I recommend this to my friend? Definitely! Would I go back? Yes! All in all a great burger experience and a solid 4/5 from me.