Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Meateasy
(Date:25 January 2011)


For years, the streets of London have been home to street food traders. From Afro Carribbean chicken, to Indian spice, the old city has always had a certain flavour about her, and that has not been lost.
Dreamt up by 35 year old half Greek half Londoner Yiannis Papoutsis, "The Meatwagon" was a legendary burger van, which popped up in various locations in South East London, and is said to have warranted fabled hour long queues, impromptu street parties, and much much foodie love for it's delicious burgers. Yiannis makes regular visits to the states to bring back daring and delicious recipes.
However, all was not well in Burger Heaven. Back in early December, the legendary Meat Wagon, which had been chased far and wide by burger loving folks across the UK for so long, was stolen.
Having heard about the commotion, and the ensuing Twitter bid to find the truck, Capital Pub Group decided to give Yiannis a space above a pub on New Cross Road in the SE London area, and thus, #MEATEASY was born!
An eating experience like no other, #MEATEASY is so called "guerilla dining". It's located "out the back" of the pub, and ordering is kept at bay by providing each guest with a numbered peg that allows them, once their number is called to order 4 items from the menu – which is written in chalk on the wall! Queues are said to be 2 hours long on big nights, and Yianni and his 10-strong team work "insane 22-hour shifts" with everything cooked everything from scratch.
Menu choices for the three-month project start at £6 and include the famous juicy cheeseburger, the slightly spicier chilli cheeseburger, hot dogs and buffalo wings as well as the Dead Hippy, "basically a take on a Big Mac inspired by the Californian Double-Double (double meat/double cheese) from In-N-Out and with a slight homage to the big Mac too" and all are revered!
Cash only is taken, and no bookings are allowed, except for one table, which is reserved for #MEATEASY volunteers!
For more, see this review in The London Evening Standard the Meateasy website, the supposed street eating authority of Britain's website, this Timeout review or alternatiely simply search Twitter which is ablaze with news on the project.
So the big question is, would this work in Ireland, and who has the cojones to take it on?!


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