I feel like I should start this review with a little disclaimer. I am no expert on Jewish cuisine. I have only a little experience of the kind of New York City deli that this new venture from the people behind Polpo, Spuntino et al seems to try to emulate. If you're looking, perhaps as a New Yorker or a Manhattanophile, for an assessment of Mishkin's authenticity, I'm afraid that judgement is way above my pay grade. I could not begin to tell you. What I feel more able to do is to judge the restaurant on its merits; all the usual things that I would take into account, and let me tell you, it seemed pretty good to me.
We walked in without a reservation, but were seated quickly at the bar. The fixtures and the furnishings all appear to be pretty authentic. A brilliant silver, polished U-shaped bar towards the entrance with banquette seating in the main dining area. It's a pretty compact space, but well utilised without making it feel overly cramped. Little details like plastic jugs of water and diner-style condiment receptacles add to that NYC-feeling.
Where I'm pretty sure that Mishkin's fails in authenticity is its large cocktail list (with a particular focus on gin) and its offering of pork hot dogs on the menu. This place definitely isn't kosher. But, to be fair, it never claims to be. It also never claims to be an attempt to transport wholly the New York deli experience to Covent Garden, describing itself as "a kind-of Jewish deli with cocktails." And that's certainly fine with me.
We ordered a Reuben sandwich and a Brick Lane salt beef sandwich (both £9) from a menu offering the likes of chopped livers, lox beigel, meat balls, latkes and meat loaf. The Reuben (pastrami, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing) came toasted and was delicious. I have heard that the level of toasting on the bread is too much to be authentic, but like I said, does it really matter when this is only "a kind of Jewish deli?"
We also had the Brick Lane salt beef sandwich. We asked for it with fat, which I would definitely recommend. I would be concerned that the beef may be too dry without. This was served simply with mustard and pickle. Whilst the Reuben was more complex in terms of flavours, I couldn't fault the salt beef sandwich for delivering a big gutsy punch of meaty flavour. We had these with chips (£3) and onion rings (£4) which were both good in their field and charmingly served in little chinoiserie bowls.
I guess if I was turning up expecting to be well and truly taken on a magical trip to the London branch of Katz's deli, I may have left feeling disappointed. I might also have left annoyed were I a particular Jewish food expert, or indeed someone who grew up with their mother's versions of these very dishes. But, from the way I saw it, Mishkin's delivered on everything I wanted from it; a welcoming atmosphere, a fun, stylish restaurant and simple food, cooked very well. What more can you ask for?
Hidden below a multi-storey car park behind the department stores at the Oxford Circus end of Oxford Street is something thoroughly unexpected. Tucked under the hulking NCP car park is London’s little Manhattan outpost in the form of American burger joint, Meat Liquor.
The porthole doors open to reveal a industrial, stripped, half-finished interior. It is clear a lot of time and thought has gone into making this place seem like not much time or thought has gone into its design. As you enter you see a kind of graffiti covered gazebo with a lowered floor area and a domed roof. I almost felt I was looking at the beautiful gazebo in the Thames Foyer of The Savoy, except after a nuclear apocalypse. That is to say, crazy and brilliant.
The graffiti adorns every wall of the restaurant which has a mix of seating from a large communal round table in the centre, to bars tucked along the side and the more conventional diner-type seating with large cushioned red leather benches. All very stylish, down to the worn, paint-splattered columns that surrounded the “gazebo” to the dark red glow provided by red fluorescent strip lighting, wires exposed, twisting around the ceiling.
Something that you should know is that, because of this minimal, atmospheric lighting, it is dark and your whole perception is bathed in a kind of dull red light. It definitely helps create an authentic atmosphere along with the all-American diner soundtrack and the noise of staff crying “Meat!” or “Liquor!” when service was required from the waiting staff (known as the burgerettes). The further you walk inside and immerse yourself in the restaurant, the more you forget you are just steps away from the busy hustle-bustle of Oxford Street.
Dry Daiquiri (left) and St Thomas bathed in the red light
All this is well and good but with some many places in London offering anything from truly terrible to passable and occasionally decent attempts at the humble foodstuff that is the burger, this place really has to deliver on food quality to live up to its considerable hype. I can confirm that, despite arriving with the big expectations that such feverous word-of-mouth creates, I was very impressed indeed. Yianni Papoutsis (restaurateur behind Meatwagon and most recently #Meateasy) must be providing Londoners with the best burger in town.
You may have heard murmurings about being stuck in queues for hours on end outside the restaurant and I know it to be true that you can wait a considerable amount of time when demand is at its peak (like more and more restaurants, Meat Liquor operates a no-bookings policy). Whilst I’m not sure I’m keen on the idea of all restaurants doing this, I feel that a place like Meat Liquor does fit quite nicely with this system where food prices are relatively low and turn around quite quick. When I went, we waited no more than five minutes. This was on a Saturday at around 3pm.
We opted for cocktails but the wine list is both wittily worded and sufficient. You can also enjoy lager in the form of Meantime or Old Scratch if you want to opt for authentic American. We started with a Dry Daiquiri (flor de Cana rum, fresh lime, Campari and passion fruit) and a St Thomas (Bombay Sapphire gin, fresh lime, pink grapefruit, aperol and sugar). Both priced at £7 and served in a champagne saucer. Both were delicious and balanced with the Campari countering the sweetness of the rum in the former and the aperol countering the dryness of the gin in the latter.
The menu offered seven types of beef burgers as well as two chicken. There were also appetisers to choose from including Chili Cheese Fries and Buffalo Wings with a blue cheese dip. A good amount of choice whilst not being too extensive to overwhelm and allowing the kitchen to focus on doing a limited selection really well.
We ordered the Mushroom Swiss (£7), a double patty burger with swiss cheese, mushrooms along with salad and pickles, and the Philly Cheesesteak (£8), made up of shaved steak, onions, pepper and cheese. Both were delicious. Undoubtedly epic in size and brutalist in presentation. Perhaps that’s slightly harsh; there is a certain beauty in the messy towers of meat and cheese. They would certainly make the mouth water of the most ardent lover of haute-cuisine style presentation. The beefy patties are apparently made of 100% ground beef and were wonderfully juicy. If you’ve never tried a cheesesteak, I would definitely recommend you do. The steak goes gooey with the melted cheese and the peppers add a nice suggestion of heat.
We also ordered the fries (“not chips” as the menu firmly reminds you) and the onion rings (both £3). The fries were nicely thin and well seasoned and onion rings were batter-heavy making them both fluffy and substantial. Definitely not the lightest onion rings I’ve ever had, but in this context, this style worked well.
The table comes decorated with all the traditional condiments of Heinz ketchup, Hellman’s mayonnaise and French’s mustard along with a large roll of kitchen towel; something that should further demonstrate how laid back and informal the dining experience is here.
St Lawrence (left) and Donkey Punch
Food was accompanied by two further cocktails: St Lawrence (Woodford Reserve, maple syrup, fresh lemon juice, dash of bitters and an orange twist) which was nicely sweet and rich and served playfully in a jam jar and Donkey Punch (Finlandia vodka, fresh lime juice and homemade ginger beer with an absinthe rinse).
Dessert was key lime pie (£5), “florida style.” This was wonderfully creamy and rich but the sweet, slightly sharp effect of the lime. I’m a big fan of key lime pie and I would go as far as to say this is one of the best I’ve had.
Key Lime Pie- Florida style
Service was warm, friendly and very chatty. Some people might find this too familiar but it doesn’t bother me, certainly not in the context of this restaurant. Portions are, as the pictures hopefully convey, very large and I feel great value; our bill came to £55. I left feeling very satisfied, both in terms of appetite and wallet. But I was even more satisfied knowing I’d now found my favourite burger restaurant in London. I will definitely be back to sample more of what Meat Liquor has to offer.
