It takes a brave businessman to open up a halal burger and grilled meats restaurant which is also alcohol-free in London. Perhaps, unsurprisingly Meat and Shake has only opened up in certain parts of town like Tooting and Ealing so far. Townfish went along to their Ealing branch to check out their updated menu and the vibe in their venue.
Walking along the Green in Ealing, you do notice the multitude of offerings fighting for your attention. Meat and Shake doesn’t have the largest or necessarily the most glamorous shop front, but the location is very idyllic overlooking the park. The restaurant is long and narrow with comfortable but limited seating at the front and a larger restaurant section at the back. It is decked out in traditional Deep South American decor with animal heads and colourful light bulbs; which wouldn’t feel out of place in a city like Kentucky for example.
Stuffed animal and a neon route 61 sign helps to set the scene for the cuisine you are about the experience. Oddly enough, they have heat lamps by their tills to keep the food warm, because they get so many takeaway orders from people ordering via apps like deliveroo.
Portions are very generous here: 3 jumbo-sized chicken wings appeared when we ordered their Louisiana wings. Apart from being tender and moist as you would expect, their spicy chilli and herb sauce has been marinated so intensely into the wings, you would struggle to find anything as strongly flavoured anywhere else.
Business is brisk here: when we visited they ran out of sirloin, rib-eye and fillet steaks. I opted for the lamb chops, which was generous in portion size again; I have not seen anywhere else that would offer 5 pieces on the same plate. It was tremendously well flavoured again with the Louisana sauce, although the meat was slightly on the fatter side.
The rib n cheese burger was sinfully indulgent dripping with melted Monterey Jack cheese and tender pieces of pulled beef rib along with rich BBQ sauce and aioli. It was hardly a surprise to see an endless stream of deliveroo drivers picking up burgers from Meat and Shake.
Even their side dishes are carefully constructed; their pit beans are smoky, sweet, salty and nutritious. They use 5 types of beans and cooked alongside smoked meats for countless hours.
The only slight disappointment was the pistachio and marshmallow milkshake: there were no toasted marshmallows or popping candy as advertised on the menu and the pistachio was lacking in freshness. However, they do have the most extensive milkshake offering around; no doubt we will be trying the ferrero rocher milkshake on our next visit.
If the owner of Meat and Shake is reading this, please open some more branches soon, ideally in Central London.
baldwin@townfish.com