address: Unit 12 Market Row, Brixton, SW9 8LD

Telephone: 020 733 2842

https://meatliquor.com/brixton/

After a Veggie January we have headed to some very meaty restaurants and this is one of them. This is open every day and although there is a bar which attracts customers, it is a restaurant that attracts families early and those who need a meat fix before a night on the tiles. We were rather boringly going home to watch Newsnight or Graham Norton. This place is open to the elements, so we sat under a heater in this freezing weather but there were brave souls outside – well wrapped up.The menu has a variety of burgers (chicken or beef) as well as chicken offerings and a couple of veggie options. There are a few “sides” like onion rings and a salad and seven – yes seven – options for “fries”. We chose the cheeseburger without the cheese, after finding out this was the American sort, which is more like plastic when melted and should be used to sole shoes when cooler. We also ordered the Chili Dog (smoked beef frankfurter, topped with beef chili, cheddar cheese, onions, jalapeños, French’s mustard and a small chicken fingers (battered fillets of chicken breast slathered in housemade buffalo sauce. served with blue cheese dip).

Finally we had a couple of sides – buffalo fries (crumbled blue cheese, house-made buffalo sauce) and fried pickles (with blue cheese). So cheese is a large component of the whole meal. We weren’t overwhelmed by either of the sides. All the food arrives on a large tray so it is much easier to share, although some parts are a bit floppy so you definitely need to have covering on your knees or take it in turns to lean over the tray. Cutlery is optional.

So to the food. The buffalo fries were innocuous – the “crumbs” of cheese were large and very cold so didn’t add anything to the dish as they dropped off. The fried pickles were a bit oily, as they were cooked in oil that wasn’t quite hot enough. But the mains were fine as shown by our empty trays. They did exactly what they were supposed to do – fill us up cheaply and a lot better than most fast food.

The bill came to £46.60 with the service charge and included fizzy water, a glass of wine and a beer.