You probably don’t need to read another blog post about this place, but I’m going to write it anyway. Don’t worry; I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Meat liquor, yes yes, I know you’ve heard that this is the most amazing burger in the world right now. I think that’s a pretty bold statement but let me tell you, they’re certainly good.

Situated just off Oxford Street behind Debenhams, Meat Liquor is the new permanent fixture from meataholic Yianni Papoutsis and serves an array of fantastic, you guessed it, burgers. Also on the scraggy menu is a range of weird and wonderful cocktails, most served in jam jars. The Full English Martini (£7.50) caught our eye – billed as Bombay Original stirred with homemade vermouth and served egg and bacon. The martini was smooth and almost too easy to drink, while the hard boiled quail egg and bacon bits that arrived in a separate shooter glass acted as a perfect appetiser.

The Louisiana Jam (£7) was a syrupy sweet concoction of Southern Comfort swizzled with apricot jam, fresh lemon juice and fresh mint and could win the prize for my favourite cocktail ever. The St Lawrence (£7.50) was a refreshing and light mix of Woodford Reserve shaken with maple syrup, fresh lemon juice and a dash of bitters with an orange twist.

I kept my order simple and went for the Dead Hippie (£7.50), which is the standard burger on the menu (don’t know where it gets it title from though) – it contained two patties, sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions. Gabrielle went for the Mushroom Swiss (£7.50), which contained two patties, swiss, cheese, shrooms etc… (menus description!) I immediately had food envy, not only was hers bigger but it had a huge amount of luscious looking mushrooms and cheese!!! All of our food came on one tray, lined with red and white paper and the side of fries were similar to those at McDonalds (sorry) – salty, thin, crispy, oily, DELICIOUS!

Sides such as x3 mac n cheese, onion rings and slaw didn’t go unnoticed but we chose not to order them for fear of not being able to move out of our chairs afterwards. And we probably wouldn’t have been able to, considering the portion size of the fries. No, I’m not complaining!

Meat Liquor takes inspiration from American diners and it’s totally clear as soon as you walk through the door. Dimly lit with hints of red light, graffiti on the walls, mismatched furniture, too cool for school waiting staff carrying ten trays at once, whilst dodging the oodles of happy punters. It is laid back, fun, informal and cool.

The only downside is the queue. As winter draws in, I’m not sure I’ll be totally happy with queuing an hour to get a table but if I do (which I probably will), I’m sure it will be well worth the wait.

Meat Liquor
72 Welbeck Street
London
W1G 0BA