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Dinner

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    Beard to Tail

    So, my boyfriend managed to get me to go to Shoreditch again to eat america BBQ even though our first attempt was an epic failure, (you can read about it here).  This time we were to venture out to a little place called Beard to Tail.  Now, I’m not a massive fan of restaurants that are so explicit about the food you are about to eat (the mains are called Into the Pig and Into the Cow…TMI) but I was willing to try.  And what animal has a beard anyway?

    We waited 45 min to be seated and the hostess was nice, but we were hungry.  Sat and had cocktails first and I drank the only one on the menu that was vodka based.  It was ok.  I forgot to take a picture of it when it was full, but you can use your imagination.

    Anyway, cut to the chase, right?  The menu had loads of meat on it so (obviously) not a place to take a vegetarian on a first date.  It looked promising although the starters were a little blah, and didn’t seem worth the calories.  I wanted the burger, but they didn’t have it (I know, seriously they had like 5 things on the menu) so my boy thought it was a good idea to order the 800g steak AND a rack (or several) of ribs.  It looked like something out of the Flintstones.

    It was tasty, but it took an hour for our food to arrive, so caveman meat was looking pretty good when I was personally ready to gnaw off my own arm.  The sides were the best part though, I highly recommend the cheesy cauliflower.
    The best part of the evening?  The fact that I was actually able to witness two people getting busted for trying to bump nasties the wheelchair bathroom.  Ya, that’s right, I got to see that in real life.  A larger than average girl wearing a sequin black and white dress (not exactly the most discreet outfit when you are planning on doing something like that, but I digress) snuck into the bathroom, whose door faced the entire restaurant.  She was followed shortly by a short skinny boy.  30 seconds into it they were caught by the manager who continued to bang on the door until they came out, which was about 2 min later (poor guy).  Then the manager told them off in front of the whole restaurant.  It was amazing, and they weren’t at all embarrassed.  In fact, they owned it, and then did more shots.
    All said and done, there are definitely better meat places in London.  If you want steak, Gaucho is usually my favorite.  They are all over the city and kind of a chain, but they have consistently decent steak and great wine.
    Where: Beard to Tail, Shoreditch http://www.beardtotail.co.uk .
    Cost: Really expensive for pretty lame service and average food.
    Go for: People watching, particularly those trying to do it in public bathrooms before midnight.
    Wear:  Well, it’s Shoreditch so I wore my Levis jean shirt, black jeans and knee high boots accessorized with my Mulberry clutch.  But it’s a kind of anything goes place, our waitress was wearing a backless bodysuit and black lipstick.
    I’ll leave you with a pic of the dessert, it was tasty!

    Beard to Tail on Urbanspoon

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    Food

    Burger and Lobster

    After seeing it on several sites/magazines, one drizzly Tuesday my girlfriends and I decided to take the plunge and try Burger and Lobster.  

    First things first, send one person from your party as early as humanly possible to put down your name. My friend Malin managed to put our name down at 6:30.  Undeterred by the projected 2 hour wait time we headed to Hakkasan in Mayfair where I had the Hakka cocktail which not only came in a beautiful bamboo shaped glass, it also provided a decent buzz for the wait.


    Venue: Hakkasan
    Location: Hakkasan Mayfair, 17 Bruton Street, London, W1J 6QB  
    Cost: £11.50 for a cocktail
    Look out for: tables full of cute men in suits on business dinners

    After an hour at the bar in Hakkasan we moved on to meet the other two ladies in our party at Babble (59 Berkley Square).  Where I had a £4.50 Vodka soda and was asked to have my picture taken with a random woman in the loos. We left shortly after that.

    At 8:30 we were called by the manager Alex and told to make our way to Burger and Lobster.  When we arrived there was a further 45 minute wait but we had the reasonably priced house wine (A Sangiovese red) and got drunker while leering at the table of gorgeous men in the booth by the window.  

    When we finally sat down at 9:15, a lovely Irish girl took our order which was made simple because you have 3 choices:  Burger (with or without cheese and bacon), Grilled Lobster with butter or garlic and lemon butter, or a Lobster Roll.  All come with chips and a salad.  I thought about having the burger (all prime cuts of meat, buns made in house) but Malin insisted that “Nobody goes to Burger and Lobster to have a burger, we could have just gone to Byron.”  Fair point.  

    Now, I’ve been to Maine and had several Lobster rolls, so I was willing to give this one a shot and compare it directly.  There are no words to describe how good this was except to say it went from this:

    To this:

    In like, 14 minutes.

    The rest of the girls had grilled lobster which was equally as mouth watering and the main point of conversation.  This was my favorite piece:

    Kim (who is new to eating lobster): “How do you know which part to eat?”
    Cat (Canadian and eats loads of Lobster): “Just put it in your mouth and if it tastes good swallow.”
    Me (clearly raised in a barn): “That’s what he said.”

    We followed on with dessert and again there were only two choices:  Bailey’s mousse (as Kim said to the witness: “You had me at Bailey’s”) with salted caramel or vanilla cheesecake. We ordered both, and both were amazeballs.  

    Vanilla Cheesecake

    When we finished we asked the waitress to send over Alex, the manager and gushed for a solid 10 min abut the food.  He offered to take us downstairs and see the kitchen and the brothers and sisters of the Nova Scotian lobsters we just ate.  

    He totally looks Canadian, right?

    So to recap:

    Venue: Burger and Lobster 
    Location: 29 Clarges street, Mayfair London W1J 7EF
    Cost: £35/each for four girls with wine and dessert.
    What to wear: Something sexy and stretchy.  I had a food baby well into the next day.  They also provide chic bibs we all wore.
    Look out for:  Cute Welsh rugby players who will walk you to the tube and invite you all out for more drinks.
    Verdict: I never thought I’d say this, but Burger and Lobster is worth the 3 hour wait.

     


    Burger & Lobster on Urbanspoon

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