Dirty Burger – Shoreditch
This busy little burger joint is actually tucked away half way down Bethnal Green road, but the whole place, from the high-celinged, candle lit interior, to the selection of craft beers on offer, just screams Shoreditch. The restaurant itself is inside a huge, gorgeous stone building, artfully covered with graffiti, and inside, everything from the open kitchens (where rotisserie chickens dangle appetisingly) to the ‘vintage’ crockery is achingly hipster. Of course, I love it.
The place is always absolutely rammed and even at six o’clock on a Wednesday we had to wait on the benches outside until there was a free table indoors. We didn’t wait for too long, but when we did sit down the waitress slightly brusquely informed us that we would have an hour and a half to eat before having to vacate our table for the next customers. I understand that they have a small space and lots of hungry mouths, but eating to a deadline made me feel a bit stressed out right from the off.
The menu is delightfully simple, and is painted in its entirety across one wall of the restaurant (so hipster). It boils down to a choice between barbecue chicken or a burger – with cheese or bacon – and they do have limited vegetarian options too. I chose the quarter chicken with onion fries, and it arrived so quickly I’d barely had time to instagram any photos of the atmospheric interior (#shoreditch #hipster) before it arrived. The chicken smells and tastes amazing, but I did find it a little too gristly for my (probably ridiculously delicate) tastes. The onion fries were incredible, especially with the signature ‘dirty burger sauce’, and after seeing Chelsey’s burger, I’m desperate to go back and try that too.
Once we were seated, the service was friendly and efficient and the food came so quickly that we were all finished well within our ‘allotted’ time. The atmosphere in this place is incredible (it makes you hungry just walking in the doors!) and it would be a great place to take guests or friends for a tasty no-frills dinner with a bit of East London charm. We each paid around £10 for our meals, sides and drinks, which was great value, and at that price it’s definitely hot competition for the Nando’s next door!
I would definitely recommend giving this little restaurant a try (unless you’re a vegan – sorry) – there are now four locations in London, so check out the dirtyburger website to find your nearest one.
PV x
Looks wanky.