[Review: Meathook Glasgow]

American-Style Diner

Big holla in wee Linda's diro for this one as she bought Corey and I an Itison voucher for the newly opened Meathook in Glasgow's West End. Itison is a great website to sign up for if you are looking for some great deals on eating out around your area, you are kept up to date with the latest deals via e-mail, which are specifically tailored to your interest. This particular voucher cost (my mum) £10.00 and this entitled us to two main courses and a side of fries each meaning all we had to pay for on the night was for our drinks.

On first entering the restaurant I was surprised by the size, it's pretty big and stretches over two floors, I definitely wouldn't have thought that from the outside. The first song we heard playing was 'The Getaway' by The Music, and the second was 'Stand Back' by Stevie Nicks so obviously I was impressed. However as we sat chatting, taking in our surroundings I began to notice how empty the place was and considering we had a table booked for half past seven on a Saturday night it seemed strange. There was a huge bar stretching over the back wall which was loaded with different kinds of spirits but there wasn't a sole standing around it with a drink. Perhaps we visited too early to get a good insight into the kind of clientele who eat or drink at Meathook in Glasgow but I felt it was a wasted bar.

However, the service was great. We literally phoned up an hour before we wanted to reserve a table and had no problem securing one. We were served by three different waitresses who were all cheerful and helpful and were in and out within the hour!

The Menu

Like many burger restaurants, Meathook's menu was very basic. There really is nothing fancy about a sheet of printed paper and although this says nothing about the quality of the food, I really do find myself questioning the practicality of them? Yeah, it might work out cost-effective in the short time but surely, SURELY in the long term it will work out more expensive than just paying to get an actual menu made... unless they plan on updating the menu frequently. However, Meathook offer us a variety of sides, burgers, meats, hotdogs, sandwiches, salads, sides and desserts. In the way of burgers I was mildly disappointed in the options that were available as they are definitely kept to a minimal. I could chose between a chicken burger, a beef burger, a shrimp burger, a falafel burger and a vegetarian option and from there, there was a few different toppings which could be added. Naturally, I went for the classic beef burger and topped it with smoked cream cheese and jalapeno.

 

 

The Burger

The burger was cooked medium as always, unless requested otherwise and served on a brioche bun. The bun was slightly chewy and not too soft, I wouldn't want to accuse Meathook of not serving me a fresh bun as I feel as though this was just the way the bun was- it was slightly toasted on the inside of the burger but not on the out- perhaps toasting it on the outside slightly may fix this issue. The meat was also quite tough, but nevertheless very tasty. The burger was delightfully NOT greasy but could almost be considered dry- will I ever be happy on the grease front? Probably not. The cream cheese on the other hand was lovely, but it definitely lacked in jalapenos. The combination of the two were great but I love jalapenos and would have preferred them to be chunky and more prominent as opposed to tiny pieces mixed throughout the cream cheese.

To accompany my burger I ordered rosemary and sea salt seasoned French fries- the seasoning was great as I LOVE rosemary however, it was a shame that the seasoning was kind of all dumped on top of the teeny cup of chips as opposed to mixed throughout. As you can imagine, I ended up with some really salty chips and some pretty bland ones at the bottom.

Corey's Meal

You know that way when someone else's meal ALWAYS looks better than yours, and your heart kind of sinks when you see the plates being brought over to the table? Yeah, that happened. Corey went for a chilli cheese 'dog tonight and it looked (and was) fabulous. The chilli was very spicy and topped with my favourite (parmesan)! He also ordered some sweet potato fries, which were also delightful- the sweetness of them somehow complimented the spicy chilli very well and the two went together nicely. It was just a shame there wasn't more of them. You win some; you lose some!

Conclusion

Unfortunately my burger at Meathook in Glasgow was not the best burger I've ever had but having a wee taste of Corey's meal definitely entices me to return and see what else they have to offer. Without an Itison voucher my burger would have cost me £7.50, which is definitely a reasonable price to expect to pay in the West End of Glasgow however, my rosemary and sea salt French fries were an extra £3.00 on top of that price and if I were ordering them without a main course I would definitely be left unsatisfied as the portion size was exceptionally small. All in all, I would rate this burger 6/10.