This right here is how you adapt in 2020.
Note: I appreciate people have different perspectives on this one, but for reference, I’m electing to pay for all my meals during these times, from both MSF, and anywhere else. Accepting free stuff from struggling restaurants — whether I know there’s a tangible marketing benefit to what I’m doing or not — does not sit right with me.
Really quick one to shout about Meat Sauce Fries (46 Brentwood Avenue, NE2 3DH) just in case you haven’t heard of it, or seen this tweet.
It’s a takeaway outlet from the Bistro 46 team who run a crackling little neighbourhood bistro. Read my thoughts on that here.
But at present, with local lockdown looming, 10pm curfews, ‘the rule of 6’, illegal mixing of households, and really this generally bullshit situation we’re in, restaurant trade has gotta be smart and adapt to survive.
I’m not gonna put the boot into restaurants who aren’t bothering. But making some kind of takeaway offering surely makes a lot of sense. Yeah it’s tough, and it’s extra graft, but what else are you gonna do, roll over and die? Or stop complaining, do something about it and knock out something like this for your punters:
This is what you’ll get from Meat Sauce Fries right now, and is their fuck you to the government’s dreadful mistreatment of hospitality throughout the fun parts of 2020. It’s stonking great dirty kebabs. Meat, cheese, sauce, loads of fries. It does what it says on the tin. And it’s glorious.
We all need food like this, and it’s hard not to love. It reminds us of why eating can be about pleasure and sustenance. Don’t fork and knife it, get it all over your face. Utterly enjoy it. To throw another Bourdain quote at you:
“Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
The bavette steak is a great way to make the most of the lesser-used cut, smashed with spiky chimichurri and loads of gnarly fried onions. It’s my fave so far, it just comprehensively hits the spot. But be sure to come hungry. Like a Tinder catfish, these portions are way, way bigger than they look in their photos.
I also couldn’t resist the ‘pharmo’. It’s a pheasant parmo, harking back to the Bistro 46 love of game cooking. It’s a right chonker, with mounds and mounds of cheese, honking garlic sauce, and handfuls of fries drowning in marinara sauce. It’s the business.
Or the venison ‘Buck in a Box’ with celeriac puree, fried kale and ‘red wine and thyme jus (it’s gravy)’. Think: proper Sunday dinna, all smashed into a wrap, savoury, dripping with gravy and in a sloppy kebab format.
And don’t think because I’ve used the words dirty kebab this is anything less than quality cooking either. From the meat cooking to the sauces, it all just works. They’re £12.95 by the way, which you shouldn’t have zero complaints about.
When they announced ‘just’ a Tier 2 lockdown for us, all I could think about was this. Quit teasing, Max.
Anyway, it’s such a solid and joyous effort that I couldn’t really ignore it. Do your bit for Jesmond, for the wider restaurants of Newcastle and the hospitality trade in general and get a Meat Sauce Fries one night this week. You’re welcome 💁🏻♂️
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