[Review] MeatLover Burger at Filthy McNastys, Amwell Street, London EC1

Straight out of soft launch a couple of weekends ago, MeatLover is another BBQ-cum-American comfort food diner to open its doors to the London public. It's located in Filthy McNasty's on Amwell Street, EC1, serving a range of ribs, brisket, buttermilk fried chicken and, of course, a burger.

Bowl food. Burger and sides from MeatLover at Filthy McNasty's

I was alerted to the credentials of this burger by food blogger Paul Hart, and so finding my schedule clear on a Monday lunchtime, I promptly hopped on a Boris Bike and hot-wheeled my way over to Filthy McNasty's to get my fix. Here's how it went down...

Price:

8oz Prime Beef Burger - £7

Fries, Mac 'n' Cheese - £3.50 each

Presentation:

The presentation is all a bit out of kilter. The mac 'n' cheese is served in a small, Honest Burgers-esqe enamel bowl and the huge (I'm not complaining about the size) bowl of fries is served in a plastic mesh bowl. The burger, too, is served 'chicken-in-a-basket style'; its salad innards spewed up beside it; inappropriately sized bun overhanging the space where the patty should be. I immediately regret not ordering the chilli Jack to make it look a little more appetizing...

The 8oz burger at MeatLover

Toppings

The burger at MeatLover has the option of being topped with chilli Jack cheese, or jalapenos & blue cheese each for a £2 supplement. I wasn't fancying any spice, so took the burger burger naked. The patty looked lonely in its bun, with nothing but a sheen of butter from the bun to cover it, so I chucked in the pickles, some onion and some lettuce (leaving out the predictably watery tomato) and they were pretty good. 

There is also a grand selection of sauces to add - homemade BBQ, French's, Ketchup, as well as three different tabascos and a bottle of small batch Louisiana style hot sauce. I added French's and a hint of the smokey chipotle tabasco.

Meat

I have to admit, from the presentation, I wasn't expecting much. I've had a bad run lately, with let downs from Redhook and Giraffe Burger & Cocktails, so imagine my joy as my teeth sunk into the aged beef patty
and a wave of buttery, beefy flavour washed over my tongue. This is an excellent beef patty and packed with flavour. It reminds me a lot of the Bleecker Burger patties, but the supplier at MeatLover is Sticky Fingers, not Nath the Butcher.

Anyway, it's a big-ass Meat Win!

MeatLover 8oz burger cut-through

Bun

Following in the theme of 'looks aren't everything' - the slightly-too-big sesame seed bun that I thought was going to let the whole thing down was actually super fresh, lightly toasted and buttered. It rather unexpectedly wrapped around the burger without incident AND remained intact until the last bite. Nice surprise and a reminder that you can't always judge a burger by its presentation.

Accessories

I've already mentioned the sauces, but the mac 'n' cheese was seriously gummy and cheesy, and the fries were substantial, crispy and nicely salted. In short, these are good sides.

Selection of sauces at MeatLover

Overall Rating: 8/10

All told this is a pretty good burger. The beef has great flavour, and the simple toppings emphasise it. It's the presentation that lets this burger down, it's just not appetizing to look at. The bun's massive overhang. The mismatched crockery. I realise I'm being pedantic, but what I see plays such a big part in my expectations of what I'm about to eat. And it's not a hard thing to sort out. So hopefully as the summer goes on this will develop...oh and surely as a BBQ place they're missing a trick by not adding a pulled pork topping...!

This is a BBQ restaurant with a burger on the menu - so if early reports are to be believed, and MeatLover serves BBQ equal to or greater than their burger, then you're in for a treat.

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