MEATliquor – Simple excitement
Price: appox £30 Per Head | Where: 74 Welbeck Street, London, W1G 0BA | No Reservations | meatliquor.com
I had been to Meat Liquor before, two months ago. My friend had raved about it, and although submissively reluctant at first to his suggestion of making the twenty-five minute walk when there were so many places to eat nearby, his excitement for Meat Wagon’s creation soon shifted its energy to our legs as we marched double-speed from Leicester Square.
This review is about my second visit, accompanied by the same Meat Liquor-delirium friend, and three others.
17:30 at Meat Liquor’s chrome bar was our agreed meeting point and time. Walk along to W1G 0BA at any time after 18:30 and you’ll see a half-hour queue. It won’t be a flock of tourists deviating from the well-trodden route of nearby Oxford Street, but a testament to the demand from Londoners, hungry to witness the venue’s success.
Beating the queue, and walking into the darkened restaurant, our eyes flicked through human morphed beasts and birds graphitised on the walls. The inspiration could be from anything, though it clicks in as myths and legends meets the scene from Alice in Wonderland as she falls through the rabbit’s hole.
Once across to the bar we loosened our heads by enjoying some of Meat Liquor’s fantastic and original selection of cocktails. While the barman joined in at the finishing stage of laughter at my ignorant choice of liquor, a ‘Wagon Girl’ cocktail, we were ready to chomp away, and moved to the central circular “echo” table to order various burgers and “fries, not chips”. It was delicious and easy. My all-knowing Meat Liquor friend furthered our tour with his learned experiences, ordering us each a House Grog, of which the restaurant only allows you to have two (the reason is found out once guggled down). From paying the bill and returning to the rest of the world at dusk, we cheerfully passed a joyful hour long queue lining Meat Liquor’s perimeter. Although the English are good at queuing, the anticipation of great meat and easy to taste liquor returns us to that childlike excitement that can keep the attention of even those at the back.
The restaurant screams something new. Drinks served in jam jars, your entire table’s food served on a big single tray, and kitchen roll sat between the ketchup and mayonnaise used to aide the cleanup of your mess. The common problem with these places is that there’s often a lack of it feeling genuine; pretentious. Meat Liquor doesn’t though. It’s got it right, with its edginess just expressing its simple exciting quality. The same quality that the hugely loved Meat Wagon team has and successfully transferred. meatliquor.com
By Billy Jenks
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