On a MEATmission

As a late birthday treat, my cousins arrange for us to head to The Breakfast Club just off Liverpool Street. The reputation of this place precedes it and so does the queue! What else could I expect on the weekend? With time against us, we decide to take a walk through what feels like a large chunk of the East London, taking note of changes in the Shoreditch area and building up quite an appetite. After a stroll down Great Eastern street, a few more crossings and side streets later, with the aroma of chips lingering in the wind, we reach our destination. 

We arrive at a place called MEATmission. 'We're standing infront of a restaurant?!', I ask myself, as I look for signs of life and alas! A couple exit, holding the door open into the darkness...

The atmosphere is soon lightened by the front of house who directs us to our raised American style diner bench, and I begin to reflect on my surroundings; there are faux stained glass images, hymn boards used for food challenges (think Man v Food) and my mind automatically assigns Vince Kidd's Sick Love as the theme tune to the restaurant because they both twist religious elements out of their established context into a stranger one. However, this place really takes it to church. Even the menu resembles a simple Mass leaflet. And though my cousin jokes that they clearly spent a lot of money on it (not), I soon realise there is nothing basic about the food.

Keeping with the pseudo-religious theme, the menu is divided into sacraments: Baptism, Communion, Comfirmation and Last Rites. By this stage I'm already craving chips so I decide to choose chips from the Baptism section but this place doesn't just do chips. Well actually, according to the menu, they do 'fries (not chips)' but you can opt for plain, chilli cheese or gravy.

In the end I opt for the normal version to balance out my Dead Hippie burger, a burger with two beef patties, pickles, onions, lettuce and a sauce of the same name. I ask for my patties to be cremated aka well done. I also ask for the Black Cow.  It's not what you think. In fact I really must praise the service. Staff are really friendly, welcoming and always on hand. No rude finger snapping required. The 'Black cow' is in fact a Coke float and yummy it was. Who said vanilla ice cream was bland?

As for the food itself,  I half expect it to arrive in a font or something but it's served on a tray between the three of us. It would have been nice to have my own tray or plate but who cares? When I notice that each table has an 'everyone tuck in' policy, by which I mean bottles of sauce and proper kitchen roll, I realise you just gotta get in there.

I must say that I am partial to a burger and although it did feel like I had eaten dessert before lunch (coke float before burger might not have been the best idea!), I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. The burgers on the menu don't seem enormous but they are quite filling and while this restaurant is clearly food heaven to a devout burger lover, vegetarian options exist too!

Ending up here was a blessing in disguise. Meat Mission, you saved us!

MEATmission, 15 Hoxton Market, London