Recently I read about The Blues Kitchen opening a new branch in Shoreditch, and as we had a trip to the National Theatre coming up, I decided to book a table for before the show in order to check it out. There’s been quite a lot of hype about this new restaurant, so we went with high expectations – and the good news is that they were met. We went too early to see any music, but we were able to take a look around and enjoy the atmosphere of the early evening.The decor is great and really in keeping with the theme, and the music played during the day fits too whilst not being too annoying – most of it is instrumental. What really struck me about the visit was that a lot of people there seemed to know one another and the waiters, so it seems like there is a community springing up there already.
We opted for a side dish each and a milkshake, and these were very good choices (although I did find that I was unable to finish the whole meal, as there was so much food!). It all came at the same time, but I’ll started with the Mac and Cheese side. I’ve been seeing mac and cheese coming up on menus a lot lately, and it seems to be quite the trendy thing, so I went for it to try it out. It is basically what it says on the tin – it was quite enjoyable, but nothing spectacular. The crisp topping was very good, and the sauce was quite smooth, but overall it was just perfectly fine. I wouldn’t necessarily have it again if I went, more because I would prefer to save more room for the main course rather than filling up on a side that is nothing special. The chocolate and peanut butter milkshake is absolutely delicious, like drinking Reese’s peanut butter cups, and is made with ice cream to make it all the more enjoyable.
The menu describes my main as “Homemade with 3 types of beans & creole seasoning. Topped with tomato salsa. Served with fries & ‘slaw.” In the image below you can see the burger and fries, with the coleslaw in the background. The fries are done to a good standard, again just what you would expect, not necessarily something special, but then again fries are fries. The slaw is interesting and is different to the “normal” coleslaw taste that you expect, perhaps a little spicy, but it’s alright. It wasn’t my favourite part of the meal. If you order extras for your burger, they will come on a side plate rather than in the burger, so you can arrange them yourself.
The burger itself is definitely the main event. This is something I really enjoyed, and it rates up there as one of the best veggie burgers I’ve had. The number one thing that struck me about it is how creamy it is, with the combination of butter beans in a really nice mix making it taste good and feel good on your tongue as well. Kidney beans and carrots also stand out in the burger mix itself, and in general it just tastes really great. There is a crisp, fresh leaf in the bun as well as a good sprinkling of red onion, and there is tomato relish as well as a more tangy sauce. There were gherkins and a big tomato as well but I took these out – that made the burger the right size to eat with my hands, otherwise I do not think I would have been able to manage it. The bun is good quality and tastes great as well.
On the VegBurge scale, I give this…
Taste – 9/10
Price – 7/10
Rest of experience – 9/10
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