I had high hopes for Dach & Sons. My best friends and I had it firmly on our ‘to visit’ list but when I did eventually make a trip I found it to be a bit of a disappointment.
Seconds from Hampstead tube station and surrounded by chain shops and restaurants, it is refreshing to notice this independent eatery. I have always felt that this smart area of North London is quite conventional, but Dach & Sons adds some spice to the streets.
They describe themselves as “Hampstead’s premium hotdog, slider and burger joint, with a 60 seater restaurant, big roof terrace and ‘Flat P’, the upstairs speakeasy bar.” I’ve heard praise for the place on both burger and cocktail recommendation lists.
The cocktail selection is sprawled across the blackboard wall in chalk. The bar is from the clever people at Fluid Movement who are also responsible for the wonderful Purl and Worship Whistling Shop. Simpler (but arguably more drinkable) than the concoctions at the other Fluid bars we thoroughly enjoyed our cocktails. Innovative flavour combinations mixed to create very tasty and interesting drinks. The fascinating lemon meringue drink was delicious and old fashioned with a touch of (if I remember correctly) homemade popcorn liquor, it had an incredible taste.
In retrospect I wish I’d tried the sliders instead of the full blown burger. £10 gets you a trio of miniature handmade bitesize sliders with varied and eccentric toppings. Instead we both chose the classic Dach & Sons burger, £10 for a single or £18 for a double whammy. Made from short rib meat the patty was dry and bland, the gruyere cheese and smoked lettuce helped a little but on the whole it was very unsatisfactory. Fries (I’d call them chips as they are pretty chunky) are triple cooked, vacuum dried and made utterly indulgent with beef dripping.
Although we didn’t try them, I’ve heard the hot-dogs are great here. Using a variety of meats, spices and sausage casings to create some of the tastiest (and biggest) sausages that you are ever likey to see. The meat is supplied locally by the Hampstead Butcher, then de-boned, minced, mixed and stuffed into sausages in the kitchen every day. All sausages are cooked ‘sous-vide’ (under water) at precise temperatures, then flash fried. This ensures that they are as juicy as possible.The bread rolls are supplied by the award winning Flour Station, and baked daily.
If you do want to try Dach & Sons for yourself, I highly recommend visiting the brilliant Hampstead Theatre while you are in the area… and making an evening of it. And although I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I might be, compared to the competition Dach & Sons is still a reason to visit an often overlooked area of London.
More information here.
