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Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Meat Market: Best Burgers in Covent Garden

MEATMarket is MeatLiquor's fast-food spin off, set on the edge of Covent Garden on the mezzanine floor in Jubilee Market.

If MeatLiquor is the cool older sibling, MEATMarket is the bubbly, happy-go-lucky little sister. It's small, much smaller than the Welbeck Street mothership, and long and thin, and light, and open-kitchened, and you get your burgers in 5 minutes rather than 45 minutes. I love it.
Black Palace Burger and Poppaz from MEATMarket, Covent Garden


MeatMarket, Jubilee Market, Covent Garden
The obligatory MeatMarket sign picture
The menu is a scaled-down version of the one at MeatLiquor, with a focus on double burgers, and hot dogs, and I wanted to give their Black Palace burger, effectively a giant slider, a once over. My visit took place on Thursday night, about 4 hours after it officially opened, after taking down The Big Ode at Pitt Cue Co earlier in the evening. And the whole thing was bloody marvellous.

Price: 

Black Palace burger £7.50. Poppaz £4.00.
Meat Market Menu - Burgers and Hot Dogs
Meat Market Menu - Burgers and Hot Dogs

Presentation

Very much in the same vein as MeatLiquor, the burgers at MeatMarket arrive on a greaseproof paper-topped metal tray, resplendent in their custom squishy bun. Cheese, onions and juice slowly ooze down the sides.

Toppings 

The Black Palace burger at MeatMarket contains two burger patties, topped with griddled onions and gooey american cheese. The usual thick, crinkly-cut pickles, ketchup and French's mustard sit on the bottom bun. The onions in this burger are a glorious, they're both beefy and juicy from being steamed with the patty. 

Black Palace burger, poppaz and Vedett beer
Black Palace burger, poppaz and Vedett beer

Meat:

The patties used have already been well documented in previous posts for the #Meateasy and MeatLiquor - it's the same, perfectly cooked medium-rare beef that is standard across the Yianni empire. Very, very good.
Black Palace burger from MeatMarket - the bite-through
Black Palace burger from MeatMarket - the bite-through
Cheeky Black Palace bite-though showing a bit of pink
Cheeky Black Palace bite-though showing a bit of pink
Cheeky pickle poking out of the Black Palace burger
Cheeky pickle poking out of the Black Palace burger

Bun:

Again, the bun is the same, custom squishy white glazed beauty that is used across the expanding Meat[insertwordhere] empire. It's a perfect fit for the contents, it's robust enough to soak up the not-insignificant juices, and it is nigh on perfect.
Black Palace burger. No need to add juice....
Black Palace burger. No need to add juice....

Accessories:

Poppaz are an extra £4 on the side. They're deep-fried balls of gooey cheese and chopped chilli joy, and they're great (and hot!), but I think they're a little on the steep side at £1 per Poppa.

Overall rating: 10/10

The Black Palace burger gets a massive thumbs up from me - if anything, I like it better than the Dead Hippy (which I liked a lot). It's the onions that add extra beefiness to the burger and it's nailed it for me.

Try it, and let me know what you think...

Oh. And here are some other photos to give you a feel for the place.


Tower of Vedett beer
The not-so leaning tower of Vedett
MEATmarket on Urbanspoon

Square Meal

14 comments:

  1. Sam Douglas09 May, 2012

    And the boozy milkshakes are brilliant

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  2. I went for a Black Palace based on your recommendation and wasn't disappointed!

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  3. Been three times now and haven't been disappointed. Can't say the same for my dad sadly, the bottom half of the bun on his black palace disintegrated from all the juices it soaked up.

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  4. Try this place. I had an amazing burger here a while back. 

    http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/pubsandbars/narrow-boat-info-12481.html 

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  5. Anonymous10 June, 2012

    Burgers

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  6. Anonymous07 July, 2012

    Black palace.... Not a good burger ..... The bun was totally soggy so the thing couldn't be picked up.
    The ratio of onions was too high. Compounded by the fact that the onion was not cooked enough to have any sweet caramelisation which meant the whole thing left me with a slightly bitter aftertaste.
    Burger was overcooked too.
    I didn't want to leave a bad review, I was looking forward to my visit, but I have to say it how it is :(

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  7. Way too many onions! The burger loses its 'burgerness', kind of tasted like a goulash or stroganoff. Over done meat, too much mustard, onions and pickle going on! A burger just doesn't need that much shit going on. I love your site, I love your reviews, I love burgers, but I just don't get this place at all!

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  8. Amazing, Kitchen Towell much appreciated...it's a wet one ))))but I wont be back (but I will be) till I've done all on the list Elliots next )))

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  9. Sebastian Cz.20 December, 2012

    I went there today after reading your review. I must say that the patties, onions and garnish were all superb. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about the bun, which was soggy.
    Despite the bottom part of the bun, it was the best tasting burger I have had, ever.

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  10. Kapitain Reevo08 January, 2013

    Good review! On the strength of this my Brother and I made the pilgrimage to eat at 'Burger Me' and were not dissapointed. As an enthusiastic amateur burgermaker, I am in awe of how they get such a genuine meaty taste in these burgers. Chilli dog, slightly less spectacular, but I have cracked these at home in Devon.

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  11. total DISAPPOINTMENT...
    Had a black palace,
    1 - the meat was overcooked.
    2 - onions were just too soggy, it is more like a sauce but i'd prefer a proper burger sauce or just ketchup and mustard...
    I also had chilli fries as a side which they suggested instead of fries... it was like a chilli con carne with fries at the bottom. it shouldn't have been served with a burger!

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  12. I've heard consistency has been an issue recently, so sounds like you are a victim of that.
    Saying that, this is a very different burger from others on this blog, so not necessarily to everyone's tastes...

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  13. After reading some reviews on where to get a descent burger I took myself off to meat market like an excited child going to get a new toy. Ordered myself a black palace burger. Take a bib. This burgers a messy one. The minute you bite it those onions make a break for freedom. You have been warned. Saying that tho, it tasted nothing short of awesome. The venue itself is cool and the experience was kind of buzzing'. I'll definately go back, lll just order a different

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  14. Burger next time

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