review: cheeky burger pop-up at de mezka
Uncertain times call for people to collaborate and create - and that’s when you get something like this. Street food legend Cheeky Burger, in association with the arts and lifestyle legends at Soul Partizan, opened a pop-up at De Mezka, a temporarily-closed Turkish restaurant in Hoxton.
Cheeky Burger at De Mezka
The Soul Partizan team took over the venue to decorate it with wacky lighting and an industrial-chic vibe and provided Cheeky Burger with a bricks-and-mortar home for their mouthwatering menu for the next three months. Cheeky Burger, ran by husband-and-wife team, Sebastian and Marta, have been dominating the street food markets and festivals for years with their award winning burgers, but this residency has given them a chance to expand their menu and be experimental. As Sebastian is a classically trained chef, this is a welcome opportunity for him - and for us, as the lucky diners!
It isn’t only the food that’s luring epicures to Hoxton; it’s also their drinks list. The wines are sourced from the great Berkmann Wine Cellars and, to keep it simple, they are all priced at £6 per glass. There are two white options, two red options, a natural or orange wine and a Prosecco. I love this approach, especially when the wines are as interesting as these and handpicked by a wine lover.
Belsazar rosé vermouth with spicy cauliflower
To wet my whistle, I start with a Belsazar rosé with Mediterranean tonic and pink grapefruit. Belsazar is a range of vermouths from Berlin and their rosé (I’ve never seen a rosé vermouth before) is an IWSC gold medal winner. The drink is a great aperitif - super fresh, a little orange-oil bitterness and gorgeously herbaceous - and it pairs fabulously with the tempura cauliflower, which I nibble on whilst perusing the rest of the menu.
The menu is full of tempting munchies to kick things off with - truffle and bacon mimosa eggs, buffalo chicken lollipops (plus some mouthwatering stuff on the brunch menu like miso mushroom muffins and drunken Bloody Mary tofu). The mac and cheese crispy balls are a must-try dish. As if the gooey, stringy, creamy mac and cheese wasn’t enough inside the gorgeous crunch of fried breadcrumbs, it comes with a pot of pouring blue cheese, which provides an extra cool tang.
> Read about non-eurocentric food and wine pairings here
La Viña de Ayer Albillo Real with octopus
I also try the grilled octopus, which really demonstrates Sebastian’s sophisticated culinary background. It’s served with miso sweet potato purée, almond, chilli and coriander pesto and smoked paprika oil - and it’s a thing of beauty, tentacles and all. The orange wine, La Viña de Ayer Albillo Real, is superb with this dish. It’s very soft for an orange wine, not too tangy, but with lots of salinity and clean fruit - an ideal seafood wine.
Being at Cheeky Burger, I can’t leave without trying something in a bun and, even though I almost go for their classic bacon burger, the miso cod burger sounds too good to miss. Stuffed inside a sesame seed bun, you’ll find mountains of Japanese slaw on top of a huge, beefy cod fillet, lightly tempura’d and seasoned with kewpie wasabi mayo. A crispy bite through the thin batter reveals fat, juicy cod flakes - heaven! It’s in a bun but it feels fresher and healthier than a burger... but still pretty naughty. I wash this down with a Sicilian glass of Feudo Arancio Grillo - another fantastic seafood white, which is very fruit-forward (limes and some fleshy white peach), a little mineral and all-too-gluggable.
If you fancy something meaty and gourmet, go for the steak and frites sandwich. Now, this isn’t a steak sandwich with frites on the side; this is steak and frites inside a baguette - together - with caramelised onions, green leaves and a mustard sauce, complete with a dipping pot of thyme gravy. This sandwich was designed for City boys who wanted something hot, tasty and gastronomique on-the-go - and this ticks all the boxes. Hopefully those City types spare the time for a glass of the Les Templiers Pinot Noir from the Côte de Thongue to go with it, as this is the perfect bistro-style red to match this dish. It has just enough structure to square up to the steak, but the youthful, juicy, red berries ensure excellent drinkability, making it slip down very smoothly indeed.
> Read more about Berkmann Wines here
Les Templiers Pinot Noir
After all of that, don’t say you haven’t left room for dessert - not when there’s deep fried apple pie on the menu! This is a gourmand’s version of the famous mouth-burning McDonald’s pie (this time, there’s butterscotch ice cream to tame the hot cinnamon-laced apple filling - yum!). There’s also a caramelised whisky bread and butter pudding with custard and orange marmalade, which definitely tickles my fancy. Both of these puds come with pairing cocktails - is there a better way to finish a feast like this?
Cheeky it may be, but this Cheeky Burger pop-up at De Mezka is one classy outfit. Cheeky Burger will be delivering through Deliveroo and Just Eat throughout the lockdown and keep an eye on their Instagram @cheeky_burger for news on their cook-at-home meal kits. Let’s continue to support awesome, independent set-ups like this through the pandemic restrictions and beyond.