#MEATEASY

April 1, 2011 by We Love Food, It's All We Eat

This is the door to look for

How can something so scummy, be so cool?

Ade lurking in the hallway, missed the blue flashing lights outside the window by seconds, typical

Last night we lost our #MEATEASY virginity.

I haven’t been to New Cross in over ten years, it is just the same as I remember, I felt it was worth the risk to try out #MEATEASY.The last time Ade was in the area, he played tamborine in a band in the Amersham Arms.

For those that don’t know,#MEATEASY is to be found upstairs in the disused Goldsmith’s Tavern. Following the theft of The Meatwagon in December, Yianni Papoutsis set up above the pub. I have been hearing on Twitter for months how amazing the burgers are, I am not really a burger kind of girl, but in the end I relented.

On Saturday, a couple of work colleagues had posted pictures on Facebook of their visit and it and spurred me into action to arrange my trip. Ade had a bad day at work, so I thought what better way to cheer him up, than make him wait an hour and a half for his food, in a rammed dirty pub in New Cross.

As we approached the pub, you couldn’t miss the entrance (see above). As we stepped inside, I could sense Ade was wondering where the hell I was taking him. We walked through an unlit, dark dingy entrance hall, up some damp, smelly stairs. As we walked through the door at the top we were greeted by a waft of burgers, and a huge crowd.

I had never seen anything like it in my life, it felt like some kind of secret society. A lady greets you and gives you a ticket and told us when our number is read out, come and order. Our numbers were 133 and 134, they were calling out number 30 as we approched the bar, Ade was not happy, I assured him it would be worth the wait. Even though I had no idea if that was true.

It was rammed, but I managed to get a couple of beers pretty quick, Greenwich Meantime lager and pale ale. I saw lots of cocktail activity going on, by Soul Shakers mixologists, but we hadn’t bought enough cash. When I saw cocktails being served in jam jars, I wanted one even more, I did consider nipping out to find a cash point, but valued my life too much.

Pretty curtains

As we perched on a couple of unstable, short stools, I looked around the room, there was definatley a type of person, and most people were half glued to their phones, tweeting away. I saw that @paul_wf was also at #MEATEASY, had a nice chat and he promised to take photographs of me later eating my burger. He kept that promise, as you shall see below.

The menu

Then I bumped into a work colleague, she was excited I was there as she is convinced I found out about #MEATEASY from her, sorry Laurie, we just share the same food tastes.

The kitchen roll proved to be vital

Three beers later, our number was called. I was so hungry, I started to wonder if this is the reason the food tastes so good, by the time it arrives, you’re so hungry, anything would taste amazing. Some guys at a nearby table actually high fived each other when their number was called, and one group whooped. I was genuinely fascinated by these people, and my hopes were increasing.

I found I was unable to order a hamburger, I had to order a cheeseburger with no cheese, the waitress found this so amusing that she struggled to type it into the machine. Ade ordered a bacon and cheese burger, and fries and onion rings to share.

Finally

Onion rings

Ade’s burger

I’m glad I looked at this picture after I had eaten

So, the burgers were lovely, and I devoured mine in seconds, it was a slippery little bugger, and we both got through several sheets of kitchen roll. I normally find burgers quite hard to swallow, literally, but it was so tender, I realised why once I saw the picture above. It is so dark in #MEATEASY you can’t really see what you’re eating. The chips were like I had heard on Twitter, like McDonalds, and the onion rings were great, but ours were a bit cold. I didn’t like to mention it to the staff as they were rushed off their feet, I don’t envy their jobs.

I think what I personally loved most about #MEATEASY is the atmosphere, the people and the buzz. And I would go back tomorrow, just for that. And I recommend getting there just before 6, not 7 like we did. And get down there fast, it’s closing on April 16th, new venue to be announced.