When I first came across MEATLiquor Leeds, I was extremely excited. I was with Al and we were roaming around looking for a bar after an extremely mediocre Italian dinner at Primo. Al decided last minute so we didn’t have a lot of choices to choose from. He was also pretty adamant on having Italian cuisine and it was on a Saturday night. Al mentioned that Primo is rated at 3.8, so it could be good but he wouldn’t guarantee. As we walked into the establishment, we noticed that the restaurant was only 1/2 full and it was at 8pm. We knew immediately that not a lot should be expected from Primo. I don’t think it should be called a restaurant because it provides more of a 1990s/early 2000 bistro vibe. The service was rather satisfactory but the menu felt like reading a long un-inspired list. I opted for the Ravioli and Al settled for the Risotto. Our selections couldn’t have been more lacklustre. The only saving grace was the portion size and the house red was not bad. I told Al, Primo made it to my ‘OK’ level because it seems to me that they made their own ravioli. That it was not purchased from any supermarket, the tomato sauce that accompanied the ravioli was however, disheartening.
We soon found ourselves subconsciously confirming on how average our dinner was by discussing on the criteria that makes a restaurant ‘special’. Al pointed out that an impressive restaurant should provide the feeling of ‘limitedness’; in short ‘exclusivity’ which Primo failed to offer. A selection of seasonal- cant be found at other establishments 4 starters, 6 main course and 4 desserts on a menu would have been preferable. This signals ‘courage’ and the ability for the Chef to focus thus delivering only exceptional quality meal. Gone are the days when restaurants should provide a vast amount of choices- customers can do that at home, when they do decide to cook. Al added that restaurants should provide a set of carefully thought- limited choices. Possibly a good consideration given the ADHD attribute that our generation is often associated with.
I then remembered the time when I used to live at St John Woods. I had the opportunity to admire the long queue outside MEATLiquor on Welbeck Street everytime when I walk home from Bond Street. Observing from across the road, MEATLiquor oozes the feeling of exclusivity, signals the determination of the diners. As a part- time Londoner, I can vouch for the commitment of the diners: in a hustle-bustle city, when everyone is often rushing from one end to another, when the choices to dine are almost limitless, it is extremely extraordinary to witness such persistence, especially for a burger. Often after witnessing such occurrence, I am left with curiosity- how out of the world good can the burger be? Possibly I was never their kind of customers and thus left me less than determined to queue- so I never did.
Haz, a friend of mine who is also the producer of an Arabic food programme, Oklat Mico convinced me that MEATMission in Hoxton is especially worth a try and in fact because of his job, he has dined at all the MEAT branches in London. So the excitement to come across MEATLiquor in Leeds- without having a clue that they have opened a branch in Leeds- was definitely an answer to my overdue visit and THERE WASN’T ANY QUEUE OUTSIDE- well it was 10pm when we got there.
From the moment when I walked downstairs, I was already impressed. If walking into Primo felt like a trip back to late 1990s/ early 2000- the upbeat vibe at MEATLiquor definitely suited 2014. Having said that, I could be bias as we were greeted by the bartender making a flaming cocktail. Ever since Cinnamon Soho introduced me to ‘Burning with Passion’, I had been a huge fan of flaming cocktails that I simply had to get whatever that flaming cocktail was. Al had a ‘hobo’ beer.
Burning with Passion, Cinnamon Soho, London
The ‘Flaming Wonder’ @MEATLiquor Leeds
The ‘Flaming Wonder’- still have no clue what the actual name is, was so good that for the past few weeks I had been nagging AL to bring me to MEATLiquor. Unfortunately both Al and I had been busy, so we never did. Last weekend, I suggested to Vas that we should check out the German Market- had a glass of mulled wine there but the market consist mostly of food stalls so there were not a lot to do- after browsing for 15minutes or so we were done. Vas reminded me on how enthusiastic I was to write a review on MEATLiquor but for some reason we couldn’t find it- ha A PhD student & a MSc in Cyber Security student couldn’t make use of their Google Maps- what a sight!- in fact we spent a lot of time walking around Trinity Centre and it could have been a good 20 minutes or so until we found it. I was rather intoxicated when I went there with Al and we did come across it by chance so I was not much of a help!
To me, this wasn’t just a burger- this is afterall ‘the’ burger place with an extraordinary long queue- the place where I no longer have to travel all the way to London to have my monthly dose of ‘flaming wonder’. A lot was riding on MEATLiquor to be amazing.
The restaurant wasn’t full when we reached there at around 6pm but it did get busy at around 7/8pm. I eventually decided on the Green Chili Cheeseburger and Vas ordered the Dirty Chicken Burger. However, they ran out of chicken fillet (that was quite shocking!). Considering that there are only two options for chicken burger- the least that MEATLiquor Leeds could have done was to stock up with some chicken fillet, afterall the Buffalo Chicken Burger is spicy and not a lot of customers can handle spice so a slight disappointment there! Vas ended up choosing the Cheeseburger and we also ordered a portion of fries to be shared.
When I studied the list of cocktails available- I couldn’t help but to opt for the House Grog. The fact that it is limited to 2 per person, to me screams ‘IGNORE THE REST, PLEASE CHOOSE ME!’ I still wanted to keep my sobriety in tact especially when Vas isn’t drinking, otherwise I would have gone for a second cocktail- either Zombie Apocalypse or Game Over. The House Grog didn’t disappoint. It was fresh, sweet and perfectly blended that it masks any alcohol taste but at the same time lethal.
Given that the distance is rather close in between each table, I was borderline ‘intrusive’ when I kept on admiring the Chili Cheese Fries that the next table ordered. The service was rather fast- wasn’t long until we were served. The burgers came on a single shared tray- quite a unique concept, providing an intimate feel. ‘Environmental savvy’ haaa!!!! Although it did eventually became a messy affair 😀 I secretly wished that I wasn’t dining with a guy, if I was with Belle, I would have picked the burger up with my own barehands, and just get into the whole messy mood. I recalled Jamie Oliver’s first episode on Comfort Food when he asked his friend if it is OK for him to eat the burger with his hands- and the friend responded by saying that ‘there is no other way to eat a burger’– probably that reduced my ‘burger-eating’ experience- just a little bit. On a second thought- they weren’t lying with the chillies- IT WAS EXTREMELY SPICY even for me, one who grew up eating spicy food- so a ladylike- fork & knife bites was more than adequate. The beef patty was perfectly cooked- medium rare. Cutting the burger into half was an absolute delight- it was a perfect ‘VISUALLY SATISFACTORY’ layers of all ingredients- the bun, cheese, beef patty etc.
House Grog, Green Chili Cheeseburger
Vas asked ‘Have you thought about what you will write on your review’ to which I responded ‘I need to sleep on this’. At that point, my mouth was clearly burning, I could feel sweat running down my forehead too. He said ‘But you chose a spicy burger’. He was indeed right, I did make a concious decision to choose something spicy, but at the same time there is a fine line in between eating something spicy and having something that is absolutely unbearable, that it masks everything else which would have allowed it to be a composition of a perfect burger. The Green Chillies unfortunately was not the only ingredient, the beef patty should be on an equal playing field to which the green chillies should have been a perfect compliment. At the beginning and end of every bite, I could only taste green chillies. The fries helped. I was also glad that we never bothered to order the Chilli Cheese Fries.
The over-the-top extreme explosion of green chillies reminded me of the Nasi Padang served at an Indonesia Warung in London. I would sweat profusely whenever I dine there but I would never order anything else but the Nasi Padang. However, the green chillies are often served on the side instead of mixed with the rice- so every bite is a choice unlike the Green Chili Cheeseburger.
Nasi Padang @Indonesian Warung, Charing Cross Road- Pic Stolen From Steph
Regardless, I am not disheartened from visiting MEATLiquor again- probably would order something more subtle next time so that I can make a better judgement. The burger was definitely filling that we couldn’t even bring ourselves to finish the shared fries. As far as my dining experience in Leeds go, it definitely was better to taste something rather than having had to taste something as mediocre as the food served at Primo even if both offers different types of cuisine. However, I still couldn’t rationalise the hype behind the long queue outside MEATLiquor on Welbeck Street, at least for now, not for the burger but I would definitely queue for the cocktails.
Livin On A Budget 