The Meating Room

While we've not been able to travel into London which is a bit sad the lockdown has at least given us an excuse to try some of the gems available locally. And when Jacob had a birthday to celebrate we obviously chose a burger place which came with good recommendations from friends.

The Meating Room (see what they did there?) is a good few strides away from your fast food emporium with hand pressed burgers made from 100% traceable British beef plus fresh and fine produce which they aim to always ethically source. 

With restaurants in Berkhamsted and St Albans in Hertfordshire they have adapted well to coronavirus regulations and now offer a takeaway service either by contacting them direct or using Just Eat.

Not a fan of beef? Panic not. The Meating Room also offers chicken, lamb and veggie burgers as well as chicken nuggets.

Their rosemary salted house fries alone are worth a mention and the sweet potato fries weren't half bad either, especially since you had to bear in mind they had travelled from their Berkhamsted restaurant to our village. 

Stylish cardboard packaging with paper wrapped burgers gave that great gourmet burger feel and was easy to eat out of. 

I enjoyed the Berko Burger, Lamb patty (cooked medium-rare) dressed with a creamy mint sauce, gem lettuce and red onion. I asked them to hold the beef tomatoes. With rosemary salted house fries my meal cost £10.50.

The meat was tasty and the minty dressing subtle but effective. The seeded bun was soft and although the burger wasn't drippy it was certainly juicy. As one who rarely chooses burger from a restaurant menu I was very pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed it.

Jacob, our gourmet burger expert opted for the King Harry -12oz double burger with cranberry jam relish, turkey bacon, gem lettuce and beef tomatoes, red tomato and Brie. 

He says:"I'm not going to lie and say I've eaten clean during lockdown, but the turkey bacon was a nice change and healthier addition compared to your regular pork bacon. For a double burger, the structure held up well and didn't fall apart in my hands (If I don't spill food on me it's a miracle) and the brie and cranberry added a subtle sweetness to the whole thing."

Top marks to The Meating Room for offering very affordable quality options for children. The £5 kid's burger and chips choice went down very well with an 11-year-old fussy eater enjoying it so much he even ate the salad.

I must mention the milkshakes which I'm told were absolutely delicious. Our party tried I follow a dairy free diet so no shake for me-sad face 

So a great find just a few miles from home. Looking forward to sampling other delights like grilled halloumi, calamari and chipotle wings. 

Disclaimer:Not a sponsored post. Just supporting local businesses.