Slider Bar, 29th May

Slider bar is dead, long live Slider bar!

So, I follow Slider Bar on twitter and some time a couple of weeks back they tweeted that Lucky Chip's time there had but ten days to go. I thought it meant curtains for Slider Bar and quickly figured out when I could get down there for the first (and last) time.

And that was last Wednesday. Actually, I had rather misunderstood the tweet. Lucky Chip will no longer be at Slider Bar as of this week (presumably because they've got Licky Chops at Climpson's Arch going on over the summer) but Slider Bar itself, at The Player, still exista, and with the same chef. Presumably, the burger names associated with Lucky Chip, such as the El Chappo won't continue but otherwise it doesn't sound like there will be too much of a change. 

However, I knew of it because Lucky Chip were there and I am glad I visited it in its Lucky Chip guise, even though there were a few disappointments. (If you remember my visit to Lucky Chip in Netil Market, you'll recall that I was subjected to disappointment then as well. My record with them is not good.)

Thing is, I'm not really a burger eater. So when I first wanted to go to Slider Bar, it was to see what they could do with other things you put between two buns. I knew they had a chicken version, and a pulled pork version. But neither of these things were on the menu when I went. In fact, the whole menu looked quite different to the one I had been salivating over online. No mac n cheese with truffle, or chicken bucket for two, or pork tacos for starters. Luckily, I had already decided that I ought to for once try a whole burger (and what better place to start than a mini version) but it was still disappointing that those things weren't available. I wasn't too hot on the type of fish they had for their fish burger so I had to have the completely veggie burger, which sounded more interesting anyway. And the Royale with Cheese.

Stephen had the Royale with Cheese and the El Chappo. The two sliders come with fries and a pot of aioli to dip them in, for £10. 

We also ordered one of their alcoholic floats to drink to complete the 'diner-junk-food' feel but they didn't have any ice cream! So that was really rather disappointing. Stephen very quickly ordered the mint julep instead which surprised me considering the price was so steep. Quick to follow his lead, I had the rye and rosemary julep. It was only when the bill came that I discovered he hadn't realised the price. At £10 a cocktail they are indeed quite pricey but they're also pretty strong (as our lovely waitress had warned us). Not too strong for my alcoholic tastebuds but they do have a triple measure in them which is only just offset by the other flavours. Drinkable, but only if you like the taste of alcohol to begin with. Which I do.

Our sliders arrived shortly after. They're small but bigger than they look once you've eaten them. The portion of fries I think are a good size and were fantastic specimens of fries - nice and crunchy, nice and salty, bit of fluff in the middle, and that aoili was bloody delicious. All I could really taste when I left there was garlic. Not complaining.

So, I took a bite of my hamburger. And it was pretty good (bear in mind I have no real frame of reference). Then I took a bite of my veggie burger. I had some trepidation in ordering this as it was a potato and onion cake and I thought that might be too stodgy between bread. But it was delicious! It out-delicioused my hamburger I have to say. So I saved that to last and finished my Royale. I quite liked the texture of this burger - it felt meaty and not like the graininess I associate with mincemeat. The bacon and cheese covered most of the burger so you got a bit with each bite. My only criticism would be that the bun was a bit soggy towards the end. I would say I enjoyed it but it has not yet converted me to a hamburgervore. Then I finished my veggie burger which had come with ginger and garlic mayo, and sat on a single piece of greenery, possibly spinach. Lovely! I'd definitely eat that again.

I think my photography might be getting worse...

Stephen proclaimed both his burgers excellent and as good as the full sized one he'd had at Lucky Chip many moons ago. His one criticism was that his El Chappo, which was topped with jalapenos and blue cheese sauce was a little light on the tang of blue cheese. Well, actually he had another criticism - that he could easily have polished off another slider or two but that should probably be considered praise.

As I expected the ice cream slider was also not on the menu, so I guess I can't count that as a disappointment when I was pretty certain it wouldn't be, but I had held out a hope that for their last week they'd bring it back. Ah well. Perhaps whoever takes over after would like to reinstate it, or Lucky Chip will bring it to the Sebright.

I'd never been to the The Player before and thought it was quite a cool little drinking lounge. It made me feel like I was in the 70s with its brown banquettes and retro TV screens. I'd happily go back for a casual cocktail or two after work.

So, I don't think my meal at Slider Bar is going to make it into my Top Ten of the year, and knowing what I know now, my life probably wouldn't have felt unfulfilled without going. (Unlike with Rita's, which after having eaten there, I kicked myself for not having gone before.) But for a quick burger fix, yeah, it works. No queue and a good deal more relaxed and enjoyably laid back than MeatLiquor. 

The Miller Pub, 16th May

The Miller pub is the new pub from the people behind the Sebright Arms only this time they've transported their laid-back casual hipsterness slightly south of the river to London Bridge.

They officially opened on the 17th but I was quick enough off the mark to RSVP to their launch party, which was a night of awesomeness.

Their flyer promised a drink on the house and food from the ever wonderful Street Kitchen who are to have a residency there much like Lucky Chip have at the Sebright. Street Kitchen have been busy creating some special hot dogs for the Miller.

The flyer belied their generosity. When we arrived at the door we were given four tokens - three orange and one black. Each orange token was for a free drink and the black one was for a sample of the food.

I had expected one free drink and to pay for the food so I was already well chuffed with these arrangements. I became even more pleased when I went and got my first drink and, as a non-beer drinker, saw that they had four different ciders on tap (in additon to those overly sweet Bulmers that are nice to have one of, but soon become too sickly) and also a perry! They were quite happy for you to have a taste first so I had a bit of the perry and opted for that.

For ale and craft beer lovers they also had quite a selection, and I noticed someone with a bottle of 'Doggie Style' pale ale later in the evening which made me smile.

Then, when it came to the food, the 'sample' was a whole hot dog plus chicken wing on the side. Amazing! Of course, all this free stuff had to have some drawback but in this case I found it to be a completely acceptable trade-off; the queue for the hot dogs was looooong and sloooow. They were only cooking them in batches of 10 but of course as soon as people saw someone with one, everyone went to get theirs. And lots of people were queuing for their friends so were taking three (or in one case six) hot dogs at a time, meaning the length of the queue was deceptive. Some of the girls in front of me were getting a little fractious and opining that no one will come back because the queues were so bad. I thought this a little disingenuous and unfair of them. Much as I didn't like the queuing I could appreciate that this did not indicate what the normal state of affairs would be on a normal night - I have faith that when they're operating a full service, and people order as and when they want during the night instead of all rushing at once, a half-hour queue (or thereabouts) isn't going to materialise.

And so, eventually, me and my boyfriend got our hot dogs and we didn't begrudge the queuing at all in the end. Especially when as soon as I had sat back in my seat The Boy is Mine by Brandy and Monica came on. It has been years since I've heard that song and it instantly put a smile on my face. In fact, I was totally digging the music the whole time I was there - all the old 90s, early noughties swing and R n B classics working their way into some more contemporary stuff like Jamie XX's mix of Adele (love that remix). Yep, had me grooving in my seat.

Anyway, the food. Now, over here, until recently, I haven't really considered that hot dogs exist. Not the way I know them, not US-style franks. What gets called a hot dog over here is ususally just a sausage in a bun. And I love those - I love English sausages - but it's not a hot dog. Street Kitchen claimed to be doing hot dogs, and I think they just about fall short of that criteria but what they have created is a pretty bloody good banger in a bun. Held well in a firm but not sweet bun was a layer of coleslaw and a pork sausage, lined with pickles on one side, pork belly on the other and topped with pickled cabbage and crackling. At least, I think those were the ingredients - I couldn't make out the menu with my poor eyesight. It was very, very tasty. That was a gourmet 'dog' if ever I had one. Must admit, both Stephen and I thought the cabbage on the top was unnecessary what with the coleslaw on the bottom adding crunch. It looked lovely but I mostly picked mine off and ate it on its own as otherwise it made eating the hot dog that much messier. So I pronounce this my third favourite hot dog, behind Big Apple Hot Dogs and the Dogfather Diner (whose hot dogs what I consider a 'frank' to be and also taste amazing). Street Kitchen's tasted amazing but loses points for being so 'English'.

I loved the chicken wing - it was a really good size for a wing, coated in quite a thick batter with sticky BBQ sauce and a smattering of spring onion. The sauce had a slightly lime flavour to it I believe and I really enjoyed it. Stephen didn't like his so much - he said it felt 'spongey' like too-thick fish n chip shop batter. 

And then someone came around handing out free popsicles from the Ice Kitchen! They were raspberry and basil and topped with white chocolate. Unfortunately they were a bit too high quality for me, and by that I mean you could tell they were made from proper raspberries rather than raspberry juice. Which is great for everyone who likes eating raspberries, but not for me because it came complete with seeds. Bummer. Stephen had mine.

The decor reminded me very much of the Sebright Arms - it was sort of old man's working club turned cool. Mismatched chairs, those weird, red-topped flimsy-looking wooden tables, sort of a sparse feel to the place. You can imagine it's former life in which the carpet was sticky and everything stank of beer. But now it's all scrubbed up and had lovely Pure Evil artwork on the wall (gotta wonder how much that sells for these days). I liked it.

We had our third, final drink at about 9 and left at about half past as we're a little low on funds this month, so didn't end up seeing NightWorks who were keeping the party going upstairs. 

But this was a great introduction to The Miller Pub and I highly recommend you go! Well done guys. Thanks for the party!

Tapeheads Video Quiz, 9th January

Well, Hot Breath have knocked it out of the park again, creating a completely silly, highly entertaining version of a pub quiz.

The concept is a multiple choice quiz with questions based around the dubious videotape collection of the host's, including, but not limited to, his own appearance on a TV gameshow, a tragic vehicle for Bill Cosby in his prime, an ass-kicking Burt Reynolds and, The Fat Boys' classic: Disorderlies.

It's a quiz for people of a certain age - my age - late 20s, thirtysomethings who can laugh fondly at the awful 80sness of the videos, even if we don't actually recognise the films themselves.

So Mike, he of Hot Breath fame, plays a clip and then it's kind of a "what happens next" deal, and you pick the option you think is most likely/makes more sense/is most ridiculous. For example, in Leonard Part 6, does Bill Cosby kill the evil henchman by a) stuffing a hot dog down his throat? b) smothering him with a steak? or one of two other equally ludicrous options? (It was a by the way, although I went for b.) To get some extra prizes there are bonus point rounds, and one grand prize in which you have to guess how many times the word "Dude" gets said in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I wildly overestimated and was no way near. It's a mere 48.

The prizes on offer were pretty darn good, as it was all in aid of charity. The grand prize was a 50 pound bar tab and food for 8 at the Sebright Arms, which, incidentally is where the quiz took place.

It was busy when we got there, packed before the quiz started and chaotic to say the least as the co-host went around trying to take people's entry fees and hand out the answer sheets, while people were still trying to wiggle into spaces to sit.

But once the first clip was up on screen everyone's attention was fully focused on the cinematic delights which could lead to victory. As you can probably imagine, watching such unheard of movies, most people didn't have a clue what the correct answers were, although sometimes you could make an educated guess. This meant that, unlike with most pub quizzes, there wasn't that group of smug, older know-it-all men (it's always men) who get everything right. Winning was more a game of luck than anything else. Of course, I still didn't win anything, but two of my party won one of the bonus rounds and got to take away some rather special beauty products. This was for answering the question on how old we thought the host of a video showing you how to work out your face to make you look younger was. She was a creepy 61.

I had an uproariously good time, and get this - I wasn't even drinking! Note: I did not say I wasn't drunk - I said I wasn't drinking. This was stone-cold sober fun. If they do another one, I'm there.