Turner & Roast, Brick Lane

[@yesiamben] You can find Turner & Roast in Ely's Yard in The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. Having just checked out the Crepe City sneaker event and having heard their 'Meat Porn' sauce was pretty good, I figured I'd pick up a cheeseburger.

So first things first. As someone who does a fair amount of work with search engines and Internet marketing, I can tell you that as much as I like the name, calling something 'Meat Porn' is going to make it almost impossible to find in Google. That said, if you were to throw two words together from a list of 'things men aged between 15 and 70 really like', those two would probably be pretty high up the list. Secondly, Turner & Roast seems to have based their logo on the one from the film Battle Royale. Which is fine by me. 

I opted for the £5 cheeseburger with 'bourbon bacon'. According the to menu, the bacon is a £1.50 extra, but I was only charged £5 for the whole thing. As Turner & Roast is a pretty tiny food-van, the burger is cooked on a countertop griddle in front of you. They were pretty honest about the meat, saying it was just "decent beef from Tesco", the cheese was a cheddar slice (from a packet), and the bacon came from a packet that looked suspiciously like Tesco's finest. That said, we've all got to get our ingredients somewhere right, and burger mix and 'Meat Porn' sauce are definitely their own recipe. 

The patty was squashed thin and flat - nearly falling apart. When ready, the cheese was placed on top, followed by the top of the soft bun (that had been sitting on the griddle). It was then placed underneath a basting cover (steaming it / completely melting the cheese, I guess). The bottom of the bun was made as they suggested - some sliced lettuce, some pink pickled onion slices, some mayo and 'Meat Porn' BBQ sauce. The griddled top half was placed on top when ready. The bun ended up shiny, soft and moist.

I've gotta say, I was pretty impressed. I've had way, way worse burgers for a fiver. Although nothing special, it was messy and flavoursome - perhaps mostly because of the 'Meat Porn'. The sauce is pretty good - a little spicy but more of a BBQ flavour and less heat than say - Holy Fuck Hot Sauce, which I've been eating a lot of recently. For the price it's a nice treat. If you're over that way give it a go.

6.5 / 10

91 Brick Ln, E1 6QL

@turnerandroast1