Being a strict vegetarian, Meat Liquor has never been on my list of places to try in Brighton. We have so many amazing, veggie friendly restaurants, so that going to a place with ‘Meat’ in the title has obviously never appealed. Saying that, I have actually been once, for a friends birthday and was horrified when my veggie burger turned up on the same tray as the meat dishes, so vowed never to return. So, when an email dropped into my mailbox letting me know they are doing their bit to cater for the veggies and have introduced a few new items for the herbivores amongst us too, I decided to give them another go.
So, with that in mind last week, a group of the Brighton blogger girlies took to Meat Liquor to sample the new veggie delights and see what all the fuss is about. Us Brighton bloggers are a tricky bunch to cater for, out of the five of us we had 2 vegetarians, 2 allergy sufferers and one heavily pregnant blogger, who quite rightly so, was looking forward to eating for two – so we really did give Meat Liquor a run for their money with our varied taste test!
Meat Liquor has been the hype of Brighton for over a year now, with it’s funky music, low lighting and bright pink neon graffiti, it’s certainly unique. The stainless steel tables and fences around each section that remind me of a school playground! All the food arrives on huge trays, no plates, cutlery is required.. you just order and tuck in to your mountain of food when it arrives.
I was pleasantly surprised so see there is now plenty of choice for veggies on the menu, it’s not just one the token veggie burger, they have put quite some thought into providing a few options for veggies to choose from which is really nice. Given that we were there to try the new menu, we ordered one of all the new veggie items… (well, why not!) Plus we snuck in a couple of meaty options for comparison too. We also asked the staff to separate the veggie bits onto one tray and keep meat to another, which they were happy to do. All good so far!
So, as the Mushroom and Haloumi Burger has been on the menu for a while, I decided to try the Burgaloo, the new Vegan option. This was a spiced potato and vegetable patty, served with red onions and pickles. I have to say – this was tasty, but a little dry for my liking and would be best with more sauce, or even optional cheese (if the customer is not vegan). It’s good they are offering a vegan option, but next time I’ll go back to my trusty favourite Mushroom and Haloumi burger.
The other new item on the menu is the Satan Fingers. These are made from a mock-chicken, battered and coated in a spicy chilli sauce. These I really liked as they are different to anything I’d tried before, although so greasy -I could only eat one or two. They were enjoyed by the veggies and meat eaters amongst us, which was really good.
The side dishes are always the best part of the meal at Meat Liquor, the Hippie Fries are a favourite of mine (pictured below). Fries, coated in a thick blue cheese ‘hippie sauce’ and smothered with onions. Yum. We also had a bowl of Cheese Fries (classic) and Fried pickles too which are a pickle-lovers dream. The home-made style Slaw is delicious too. We just piled the food in the middle and tucked in, there was greasy, messy fingers all round but it was amazing.
As if we hadn’t eaten enough, we also ordered the desert option, Arctic Roll (although to be fair, we had one portion between 4 of us). Meat Liquor really don’t specialise in deserts, but this was tasty enough and served with stacks of strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries, it was a great way to round off our feast.
So, my overall verdict as a veggie eating at Meat Liquor it was pretty damn good. There is lots of choice and they have made a good effort to expand the menu for us awkward veggies and vegans alike. There is now no reason why we should be put off by the ‘Meat’ title as they really do cater for all. A big thank you to Meat Liquor for having us taste-test your new menu – see you again soon!
Meat Liquor is located at 22-23 York Place, Brighton, you can book a table on 01273 917710, or order a take-away through dine at home service DineIn.co.uk!
Have you been to Meat Liquor? What did you think?
– Post written in collaboration with Meat Liquor,
however all thoughts and opinions are my own!
