RESTAURANT REVIEW - MEATCURE

Sandy hit me up Saturday and told me I need to come with him to this new burger place that had open for a couple of weeks near Mosh. I'd heard of it, but not much about it so myself, Sandy and Benny Melbs went down and gave it a go.

*Note: I've chose to discard the previous points scoring system I employed whilst writing these restaurant reviews. It's kind of hard to judge all eating establishments by the same criteria when some are chicken shops, some are chain restaurants and some are stand alone independent traders. Also, I scored a couple pretty average places pretty high a few years ago so it never left me much wriggle room haha

NAME: MEATCURE

LOCATION: 19 HIGHCROSS STREET, LEICESTER, LE1 4NN

DECOR: It was a weird one really. It's a bit stripped back and trendy, almost to the point where it's hard to tell if it's just shit haha. Pure East London. Seats and tables are made from chipboard, but they've been nicely sanded down and finished with varnish so even though it looks like a bit of a last minute job it's actually quite nicely done. There's a few really cool vintage prints dotted about and really simple old American burger place kind of touches, the menu boards with the push in letters and the red and yellow mustard and ketchup bottles. They had a nice bar too that was all back lit against the exposed brick. It looked cool.

PRICE: It wasn't bad at all. I think the whole burger bar thing is such a saturated market you can't deviate far from £10 for a burger and fries. Sides were £3 which is nice and drinks were pretty cheap too. I'm a prick for not getting a photo of the drinks menu, I was rushed, I'll come onto that. They also did a brunch menu which was super cheap, like £3.50 up. It's a pretty cool menu, like they do far more than just burgers.

 They did a range of milkshakes, notably the peanut butter flavour one, modelled by Sandy.

ATMOSPHERE: I've kind of got to just put N/A in this box. We were there at about 3pm on Saturday, we were about half the people in there. There isn't much to be said, I'd like to go back in the evening when it's popping and see what it's like. The music they were playing was on point, I can tell you that much haha.

I had a 'Colonel Parkers Tribute' - House rub southern fried chicken breast, lettuce, red onion, smoked streaky bacon, tarragon, mayo, brioche.

Bens burger had spicy chorizo and caramelised onions

 

FOOD: This food was real nice. They didn't scamp on fries and the burgers were massive for a tenner. Everything tasted really fresh, you know like sometimes you go for a burger and you can almost taste water in it? This wasn't like that. Loads of nice sauces and other ingredients too. Ben said one criticism he would have is that the burger was a little well done and could have done with having a hint of pink left in it. They had a bunch of nice touches like the chorizo and the pulled chicken, they weren't just all much of a muchness. Also the veggie options on the menu sounded wicked. There isn't really much to fuck up with a burger and fries right? These guys are just doing it right, they were all simple but had nice little things added to them.

SERVICE: The service was a weird one. Already kind of a N/A situation too because our friend Callum works as a manager there and saw to us straight away. So it was quite chatty and informal. It was nice to see him.

But despite us being comfortable with him serving us this other guy who was working came over and imposed himself. Firstly, when we had been there about 2/3 minutes he did something I cannot stand, that funnily enough I last experienced at Byron Burger where he sat down with us and waited for us to get our order ready. Can we nip that in the bud now before it becomes a thing? Just because we are British do not mistake our inherent politeness for a social invitation to come and sit with us. Do not mistake that disposable rapport as actual friendship. It really irritated me, I felt rushed and under pressure to order to get him to buzz off again. It was so odd, we were perfectly capable in the hands of Callum, he didn't need to swoop in and also help serve us. The theme continued through out where it culminated in him asking us if Melton Mowbray (where he was from) and 'Leicester' had the same postcode (???) and him telling us that he was only at this restaurant for two more days. It was all so bizarre and inappropriate. I'm trying to have a bit of lunch with my mates, I don't care really buddy. That being said he made sure we had everything we needed but when there are only 6 people eating in the place I guess you kind of expect that.

Free the doggy Callum, soon home

CONCLUSION: In conclusion it's a nice spot for a really affordable burger and fries. Go check it out, I'll definitely be going back at some point. I think it would come to life in the evenings, and not look so much like a warehouse canteen in low light as opposed to the broad daylight of mid afternoon we caught it in. Luckily that guy isn't there anymore so you won't have to rush your order or have someone trying to make a new friend out of you when you just want to sit and browse the menu. I was kind of bummed out that I had not long ate when Sandy shouted me because I would have loved to have tried some of the sides. Next time I go back I want to go full hog, but you get an idea of what's going on there. It's pretty nice!