To celebrate Mr. Hyde's National Burger Day on August 24 (I'm sure it's made up just for self promotion, but I suppose I was suckered in), there was a widespread discount of 20% on burgers throughout London. It made it difficult to choose between so many, but for a year I had my eye on the Mac Daddy at Dirty Bones. Considering I had to be at Liverpool Street Station in the late afternoon, there was no better reason to make it there.
It's an unexpectedly nice pub which contains many soul references including the music to go with it. The food is NYC inspired and nearly everything reads delicious and unhealthy.
The Mac Daddy (brisket & dry aged steak burger topped with pulled beef short rib, mac & cheese, cayenne & coffee-spiked BBQ sauce) £11 was actually smaller than I anticipated but still an impressive sight to behold. The oozing mac & cheeze and BBQ sauce laid contrast to the two textures of beef. The beef was flavoursome and quite seasoned (but not to the typical overly-salted American style) and cooked to medium without request. The rib added a different texture but not much extra flavour. The mac & cheese was similarly so and without any strong umami cheese as you get from the best part of the cheese crust.
I was still a little hungry so opted to finish with the Crispy Lamb Fries (with sweet miso, red chilli & jalapeño) £6.5. The lamb was surprisingly sweet as I expected it to be more savoury as I've never had an overwhelmingly sweet miso before. It has soft texture but was not crisp/charred as I had hoped. The chilli added a very nice touch and the fries were delicious even alone.
Overall it was a decent burger at the upper end of cost and some good fries to accompany it. I will definitely try to return in an evening to take advantage of the excellent sounding cocktails, the old school music and supplement with The Burger (normal one) or Crispy Fried Chicken.
10-2017
On a Tuesday evening at 915pm it was good to see Dirty Bones open, playing soul music and serving good food.
The lamb fries were ordered again and even though they had the same sweet and soft texture, the fries were very good and I enjoyed them more overall than last time.
Buffalo hot wings £10 with Frank's hot sauce and extremely mild blue cheese sauce were tasty and nicely cooked. Beef short rib £16 was extremely tender and flavoured with cayenne & coffee BBQ sauce. Chicken & waffles £11 were exactly as you'd expect, although the chicken wasn't too strongly seasoned. The crisp coating and waffle was complemented by the sweet maple.
It was a good (large) meal for two. I'd happily go back. The Grown-Ups Jaffa (El Jimador Reposado tequila, Mozart dark chocolate liquer, orange syrup, chocolate bitters & marmalade ice cube) £10 was excellent, sweet and not too strongly alcoholic. Next time the Spiked Iced Coffee would be good to start the night (or the day).