Meat Liquor - Underdog - Duck and Waffle

Friday 23rd February - As my friend Natalie can confirm from my numerous facebook messages about pop-up bars and restaurants last week, I am already pretty obsessed with The List. Just visiting Underdog would not be enough to kickstart the campaign. Since I needed to be in Bond Street anyway to watch three of my violin students perform at the Wigmore Hall with Midori (the violinist as opposed to a bottle of melon liqueur), I decided to squeeze in a trip to an underground burger bar called Meat Liquor around the corner afterwards with my friend Sam.

I told him about the place over the phone and instructed him to look it up and meet me there at 3.30pm for a filthy burger and a drink when the queue would hopefully be non-existent.  It was only when I texted him on the day that I discovered that he had thought the place was called Meat Licker.  The fact that this didn't put him off suggests that Sam is going to come in handy over the next 10 months of adventurous eating and drinking.  There was no queue but it was packed inside and we had to wait at the bar for a table.  Luckily they had some cans of Hobo beer to keep us busy.  Sam went for a Buffalo Chicken Burger ("Dirty chicken burger slathered in house hot-pepper sauce with blue cheese dressing") whilst I tried to find out from the waitress (or "burgerette" apparently) what I could expect from Dead Hippie Sauce.  It is a place for meat lovers (and not recommended as a date after the mess we made trying to eat) though there are veggie options under the "Rabbit Food" section of the menu. With a "Meateasy Triple Chilli Challenge", Philli Cheese Fries (fries, shaved rump steak, onions, mushrooms, provolone cheese) and much more besides still left to try, I intend to return.  However, I have heard rumour of other burger bars that are in the running for Best London Burger 2013 such as Honest Burgers, Dirty Burger, and Patty and Bun that I might have to try first...

After a swift pint in the Cock and Lion pub on Wigmore Street, I left Sam behind (who was off to a Safari party - points to anyone who knows what that is) and ventured off to Brewdog Shoreditch to meet several friends keen to try out Underdog.  After a couple of standard Brewdog pints we moved downstairs through a hidden door in to Underdog.  The downstairs bar also serves Brewdog beer so there is no real reason to stay upstairs unless you crave a particular rare bottle and have a burning desire to shout at your friends all evening.  The cocktails were tasty, the atmosphere was great and the decor is fun - a few risqué photos taken with a skeleton hanging next to our table haven't yet materialised. 5 hours later, the committed few still left were in need of food.  I saw this is a great opportunity to push on with the list and so we ventured out into the freezing cold to make our way over to Heron Tower where a 24/7 restaurant bar on the 40th floor called Duck and Waffle was waiting...

There was a woman on the ground floor who worked for Sushisamba (also on The List) organising the queue.  She bizarrely made us make a reservation before going up in the lift and said there would be a 20 minute wait in the bar. The view from the glass walled lift was impressive as it zoomed us up 40 floors in a few seconds whizzing high above the Gherkin and putting us up near the heights of the Shard.  Once up there, there was no waiting time and many tables were empty (silly woman) as you might expect since you can visit the restaurant all night long!

4 out of the 5 of us settled on the signature dish, Duck and Waffle, and we were not disappointed!  A fry up, main meal and pudding in one, it is pretty good value at £15 considering the venue. I should imagine it is not the last time that I will end up in the Duck and Waffle since the 344 bus runs all night long to my flat from outside - next time I will aim for a sunrise sitting.  We all disappeared off into to the night at about 3am to catch various night buses having made a great start to The List.

Next up... B.Y.O.C? Purl? Southsider Cocktail Club? Opium? Pitt Cue Co? House of Wolf? Bubbledogs? Bounce? Hot-tub cinema? La Bodega Negra? Bone Daddies? Ceviche? The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town? Circus? Disco Bistro? Who knows... but it is going to be fun.

List Team: Sam (Meat Liquor), Ali, Lauren (Underdog), Luke, Natalie, Taro, Maggie (Underdog, Duck & Waffle).