MEATmarket

A lot has already been said about MEATmarket, the Covent Garden outpost of the Meatwagon chain, but I’ll toss in my two cents, keeping it brief. A couple of friends and I visited on a Friday night at about half past seven and I was surprised to see no queue whatsover. It took all of a few minutes to decide what to order between us, place our orders and then grab a table. The location above the Jubilee Market in Covent Garden made it all quite noisy with metal poles and tables clanging together down below us as the market was set up or taken down (we couldn’t tell which!). If the weather had been better that evening, it would have been nice to take away our order.

Between the three of us, we ordered most of the burgers/sandwiches on offer and all their sides. Their Philly Cheesesteak (£8.00) was alright. It was an impressive, overflowing meaty monster but it was almost overwhelmingly peppery and had too much green pepper.

The Black Palace (£7.50) was a double cheeseburger with plenty of grilled onions. Unfortunately, this was just too greasy (it’s pretty apparent in the photo below). Everything was slip sliding all over the place – the burger could barely stay together in its wrapper and had absolutely no chance when unwrapped.

Best of the bunch was the Dead Hippy (£7.50), their supposed take on In-N-Out’s Double Double Cheeseburger Animal Style (but doesn’t an animal style burger have grilled onions?). Two patties, cheese, special sauce, lettuce, onions, pickle. Hmm…it sounds a bit like a Big Mac. OK, whatever it’s supposed to emulate, it was a fantastic burger.

The deep fried sides were all excellent. The Fries (£3.00) were crisp and the perfect burger accompaniment. The Poppaz (£4.00) were brilliant jalapeño and cheese croquettes that were best when fresh out of the fryer.

Corn Puppies (£4.00) were mini corn dogs made with little Polish sausages. These were delicious with their tender cornbread exteriors, taut sausage skins and the sweet mustard dip.

A huge queue formed just as we were finishing our meal (oof, we were stuffed) and it was a good thing we were done too as our table was right in the middle of it all. It’s not a place to linger but I still prefer this outpost to MEATliquor behind Oxford Street since the queue moves quickly here and there’s lots of light to actually see your food. It just feels a bit wrong to me to queue for so long just for a burger (that said, MEATliquor’s Buffalo chicken burger was amazing).

Should I bother with the hot dogs or should I just stick to the fabulous Dead Hippy?

MEATmarket
The Deck
Jubilee Market Hall
Tavistock Street
Covent Garden
London  WC2E 8BE

 

Maoz Falafel

This is fast food that I love.

From the photo above, I think you will agree that I’m well-versed in the art that is salad stacking. Ordering a falafel sandwich (this is actually a small falafel and fried aubergine sandwich) at Maoz entitles you to a go at the well stocked salad bar. My favourites are the carrots, pickle slices, the chili sauces and most of all, the deep fried cauliflower. OK, so perhaps this is no longer a “healthy” sandwich.

And their chips (well, listed on the menu as Belgian fries)! There’s a giant pile of what I suspect are half-cooked chipped potatoes sitting above their deep fryer and when you place an order, a portion goes into the hot oil. What comes out are wonderfully thick, soft-inside and perfectly-crisp-outside chips.

While vegetarian, it’s not exactly health food but I love it. I do feel ever so slightly silly posting about it but I really like eating here – it’s fast food (kind of) and I don’t feel guilty eating here since it’s vegetarian (I really ought to rethink that). Definitely affordable too – it’s difficult to spend over £7 a head here.

What are your cheap eats that skirt the line between fast food and well…non-fast food?

Maoz Vegetarian
43 Old Compton Street
London W1D 6HG

 

Fatburger

My brother and I were wandering around the downtown Vancouver area thinking about dinner but not wanting anymore Asian food. After wandering around for a bit (and passing many an Asian restaurant), we recalled a couple of burger joints on Denman near the beach at English Bay. We chose Fatburger over Vera’s Burger Shack. Orders are placed at the counter and your food is brought to your booth.

I had the Fatburger (a 1/3 lb burger) while my brother had the Kingburger (1/2 lb of beef!). These were fully dressed and were moist and very more-ish.

The onion rings were excellent! The rings were coated in a breadcrumb mixture that made them seem less oily than their battered brothers. And of course, proper onion slices, not those fake reformed rings of chopped onion.

The fries too were good – crisp with no hint of sogginess.

Would I return? You bet! This is fast food I can get used to! (And I want to try their chili dog next.)

Fatburger
1101 Denman St.
Vancouver, BC
V6G 2M7
Canada

There are other locations around Canada and the United States.