Bleecker Street Burger Van

I literally stumbled across this ace burger van. Finding myself wandering around Euston, freezing cold and in desperate need of food I looked up my location on my trusty Burgerapp… Bleecker Street Burger was a nearby red mark throbbing on the screen. Little did I know I would have to enter the UCL university campus to retrieve my lunch.

Bleecker Street Burger is an NYC style burger joint on wheels. They zoom around the streets of london cooking up medium-rare burgers and crispy, salty fries. Look out for the big, black burger truck, as it may be coming near you… at the start of every week the website is updated with addresses of the van’s locations, the burgers are usually on sale two or three days a week.

The Bleecker beef comes from small farms across England, the buns used are light and slightly sweet, complementing the robustness of the meat. In the cheese department they go for tasty American cheese, gooey and delicious. The burgers are relatively thin, and a double can be chosen for hungrier diners. I was a little sad to notice the absence of tomato and onion in the burger, no gherkin either. Bleecker are minimalists when it comes to their burgers accessories adding only cheese, lettuce and sauce to the meat. But what is there is very, very good: quality ground meat, lightly seasoned and a wonderfully light bun.

The fries, which they adamantly insist are NOT chips, are handmade and fried in the van. Normal fries are on offer as well as Angry fries (with red chilli powder), sweet fries (sweet potato) or mixed fries (a mix of normal and sweet potato). If I’d been feeling more adventurous I would have gone for the mixed, but I just felt like normal. They were good, but far from the best I’ve tried. Soggy with a crispy edge they became cold very quickly unfortunately, though nicely seasoned.

There was barely a queue (hurrah) despite the burgers being very popular and the service was very quick and friendly. At £4.50 a burger Bleecker are surely the cheapest and perhaps the best burger van currently on the streets of the capital.

http://bleeckerburger.co.uk/

Flat Iron, Soho

There is something instantly appealing about the notion of a steak for 10 quid. Which is what Flat Iron offers, no strings attached.

Of course there is the no reservations policy but the queue is painless… you go on a list and settle downstairs with a drink before being called to your table, and it’s all very calm.

There isn’t really much of a menu:

Flat Iron Steak served with house leaf salad £10

Dripping cooked chips £2.50

Creamed Spinach £3

Today’s market greens £2.50

Sophie’s salad (blue cheese, candied pecans, lemon dressing) £3.50

Roast Aubergine (tomato, basil, Parmesan) £3.50

Sauces (Bearnaise, Fresh Horseradish Cream, Peppercorn, Fred’s Sauce) £1 each

Speciality Wagyu steak was also available (for the extra cost of £16) when I went along and I got the impression that luxury steak alternatives are often added to the standard list.

It was so simple and easy and yet so perfectly delicious. Lean, seasoned, sliced meat presented on a wooden board. A modest portion beautifully presented with a small glass of dressed lambs lettuce. The chips are insanely good too, medium thin, soft inside but crispy edged. Of the sauces, I would recommend the peppercorn with tiny flavoursome pieces of diced onion or the light and creamy Bearnaise.

Salted caramel mousse is the one and only dessert option… a squirty hand whipped cream machine is used to inject the tumblers with the airy sweet mixture. It was divine, life threatening perhaps, but just so so good. And even better with a sprinkle of sea salt on top.

I was impressed with the cocktails as well, Pound Sterling £7 (Chase English vodka, sloe berry liqueur, Tahitian vanilla pod syrup, lime and soda) and Rhubarb Aperol Spritz £6.50 (Chase rhubarb vodka, Aperol, lemon, sugar, rhubarb bitters, soda) were our preferred tipples. Both were served semi-long with perhaps a little too much ice as they soon became diluted. The ingredients though were finely matched to create delicious and unique drinks.

I loved everything about Flat Iron. But please don’t go, I don’t want to have to queue behind you as well.

More information here.

www.flatironsteak.co.uk/

@flatironsteak

Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, Canary Wharf

 

There is no menu to peruse at L’Entrecote… and yet customers return again and again to experience the magical French cuisine. Their secret? Magnificent steak frites… cooked to perfection, flavoured immaculately with divinely crispy skinny chips.

Canary Wharf is not an area of London I frequent – it is a maze of tall angular buildings. My friend and I didn’t manage to locate each other for twenty minutes, both confused by the unfamiliar surroundings. When we did finally unite, we got lost again trying to find this remote branch of L’Entrecote. The casual Parisian restaurant has a shabby charm, located just by the water with a view of the industrial skyline. The staff are, unsurprisingly, French and very accommodating and sweet.

Our waitress welcomed us with their set menu: Green Salad with Walnuts to start and Trimmed Entrecote Steak “Porte Maillot” with its famous sauce and frites for main. All that is left to do is decide on how you would like your steak cooked: medium for me, rare for my guest. They run a swift operation at L’Entrecote, speedy service and super efficient. The food was all delicious, high quality and minimum fuss. Our small salads arrived promptly, light and dressed in a lovely vinegary dressing, topped with a sprinkling of crunchy walnut pieces.

The steaks are brought in two rounds, to ensure all your food arrives and remains hot. The cut is quite thin so thankfully medium wasn’t too red for me and instead was perfectly tender with each mouthful full of flavour. The meat is coated in a delicious creamy sauce (a secret recipe) – it tasted like a spicier version of Bearnaise sauce… almost like a light curry sauce! The frites are divine, soft yet crispy, light and salty. I was a little disappointed to find mayonnaise wasn’t available, but I guess that compromises authenticity. The steak is served on small plates, and when we polished off our first helping, the next was already at our side ready to be devoured.

When the time came for dessert, we were accustomed to not having much choice, and I felt a little baffled by the long list of classic French puddings. After consulting our waitress we decided on Crème Brulee and Profiteroles to share. Both were made well by an in-house pastry chef… I particularly enjoyed the Crème Brulee which was creamy, light and sweet… the Profiteroles were scrumptious too, fluffy pastry piped full of whipped cream and covered in devilish dark chocolate sauce.

A must try for steak lovers… and I imagine this Canary Wharf branch of L’Entrecote is a life-saver for overworked bankers.

Visit the website here for more information and to book.

http://www.relaisdevenise.com/city/#