MeatMission

Everyone and their cat has been to MeatLiquor or its East London ssister venue MeatMission. Everyone and their cat apart from me, it seemed. Not so, anymore. Last night took my Meat virginity as I joined the sinners and their gluttonous indulgence.

MeatMission is tucked off Hoxton Square in an old mission hall, grungily resplendent with stained glass ceilings and winding staircases, and is constantly busy. We had half an hour's wait so sat at the industrial bar with a 2/3 pint of beer and a Hoxton Fizz (something involving strawberry, pear, vodka and champagne) whilst the 'burgerettes' bustled around us, bussing groaning platters of burgers to the braying masses.

Menus are hymn books professing dinners of 'Garbage Plates', 'Monkey Fingers' and 'The Dead Hippie'. I went for the Green Chili Cheeseburger - beef patty, cheese, chili butter, red onions, pickles, lettuce, mustard and ketchup - and it came deliciously rare, accompanied by tangy slaw and fries. This is no place to stand on ceremony - cutlery is few and far between and you're encouraged to get stuck in and cover yourself in grease.

The burger itself was great, but exceedingly messy, with half of it sliding onto the tray despite my well-meaning attempts to get it actually in my mouth. The tanginess of the chili and pickles were a welcome flavour and as mentioned above, my request for rare was met perfectly (they're normally served medium rare). We washed it down with a demi-john of Vedett beer and a side of accomplishment.

Service was good despite the bustle and the prices were reasonable - £7.50 for my burger. The Meat family began as one of those pop-up successes, doing one thing and doing it well. It's another place that's capitalising on the favoured industrial-dark decor, but it suits its purpose. For taking me over to the dark side, I give MeatMission a three out of five.