Beef & Birds

Beef & Birds is a new halal burger joint in Bricklane that opened up in late November 2017. We visited them on their first day of the official launch for a late dinner and we even got 50% off for the launch from feedthelion.co.uk, which is where we first found out about this place.

The restaurant has a trendy and cosy interior, featuring graffiti dotted across the walls but not overly hippy and still oozes a touch of class. A fireplace decor is placed underneath their counter, which adds a warming and comforting vibe to the place. The staff were really nice to greet us and made sure we’re seated comfortably. Perhaps since it’s already quite late on a weekday (it was like 10 pm on a Wednesday), the place was pretty much empty.

What really drawn me to visit Beef & Birds is learning the fact that it is run by the former Executive Chef of well established Halal burger chain Meat and Shake. Naming Beef & Birds, the menu features the beef – gourmet burgers with ethnically sourced, grass-fed, and 28-day matured beef; and the birds – featuring chicken that’s brined in their special recipe for 24 hours. The menu is also designed by National Burger Awards winner Christian Slater, featuring unique items that are inspired by American, European and British flavours.

One of the most interesting items that really caught my attention is the Dark Chocolate BBQ Wings. Yes, you heard it right, CHOCOLATE wings. Though full of absolute anticipation, we were disappointed with the news that all wings and chicken burgers were already sold out that night. But oh well, in this case, straight to the beef burgers it is then!

Here is what we ordered:

*Everything is halal at Beef & Birds

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Dirty Diana (£10.95)

Don’t we all love a bit of Michael Jackson? The name Dirty Diana immediately drew our attention and we just had to order it. Anyhow, the name Dirty Diana doesn’t actually have anything to do with Michael Jackson per se. In fact, the word Diana came from sauce Diane. A Diane sauce is generally made with mushroom, mustard, peppercorn, cream and meat juice/stock. In this burger, the beef patty is served drenched with this aromatic Diane sauce, and with a little play of words, that’s how it ended up being called The Dirty Diana Burger.

Visually, the burger looked absolutely stunning especially with the sauce dripping from the sides. Taste-wise, it has absolutely hit the spot too. The beef patty released an alluring meaty flavour, with the creamy & savoury Diane sauce complimenting it impeccably. It might be relatively messy to tackle this saucy burger but it’s well worth the effort. It’s easily one of the top halal beef burgers we have had in London.

Truffle Shuffle (£10.95)

With me being a sucker for truffle, I went for the Truffle Shuffle burger. The burger consisted of a beef patty infused with truffle oil and was topped with shredded lettuce, onions, cheese plus truffle mayonnaise. The burger was decent, though not as exceptional as the Dirty Diana. Flavour-wise, the beef patty was still tasty but the truffle was slightly underwhelming. It’s a decent one but just not as outstanding.

Truffle Mac & Cheese (£6.95)

I’m a sucker for Mac N Cheese as well, and when I see a Truffle Mac N Cheese on the menu, it’s a no brainer that I would go for it. The dish was very fragrant upon serving, with a strong whiff of truffle fragrance sweeping the table.

The intensity of the truffle flavour in this mac & cheese is stronger than that from the Truffle Shuffle burger. The truffle flavour mainly comes from the truffle mayo on top, but not as much infused in the cheese sauce. It was a decent one overall.

Carolina Slaw and Fries (£2.95 each)

Initially we wanted to order the Poutine on the menu. However it wasn’t available that day (the cheese curds have to be imported from Canada and they didn’t have any yet). So we just went for some regular fries and coleslaw at the end.

The Carolina slaw carried a touch of tangy flavour. It’s not overly creamy and was quite refreshing in overall. As for the fries, they were very lovely – crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. They were well seasoned and I loved the rusticity of it.

In summary…

We really enjoyed our meal at Beef & Birds despite half the menu weren’t available. It was only their first day of official launch so naturally, of course, there’s room for improvements. But in overall it did well. It’s a shame that many items we didn’t get to try but we’ll certainly return and hopefully get to try out the chicken (especially that Chocolate BBQ Wings!), ribs, and their poutine for sure.

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Tel: 020 7247 3233