To celebrate one of our team going off to get married we all decided burgers and drinks were the best way to do this. As there were thirteen of us we ideally wanted somewhere we could book, the thought of queuing for a table at Meat Liquor for hours on a work evening was not appealing... and we discovered that Lucky Chips latest venture was bookable.
Lucky Chip has one of the best burger reputations in London so they decided to take a residency at a cool cocktail bar in Soho called The Player (owned by the guy who set up Milk and Honey) and set up Slider Bar (for those who have never heard of a slider, they are perfectly created miniature burgers).
We had to pre-order as there were so many of us and I was worried there may not be enough food as we were sharing starters and the burger were to be miniatures but I needn't have worried as we all ended up stuffed. Everyone I dealt with on email, the phone and on the night were helpful and friendly and that makes a huge difference when there are many people to please and something to celebrate.
The Player is inconspicuous, hidden behind a dark doorway and down a basement in the middle of Soho. The decor is 1970's Americana with old TV's dotted about, exposed brick, leather booths, formica table tops and a giant moose head on the wall - cool in a retro way. It is pretty dark in there too so the pics are not the best.
So, on to the food...
The starters were amazing and delivered with a little pizazz, it was obvious everything was considered and thought through. There was pulled pork under a smoke filled glass jar, served with a pickled cabbage side that was to be layered up in soft steamed bun and drizzled in a sweet sauce.
The mac 'n' cheese looked bland and a little weird with the huge pieces of truffle on top but tasted amazing - creamy and indulgent and not claggy, which can often happen with this dish.
Then the sliders - you had a choice of two, most of which include the aged beef pattie so I went for a classic double cheeseburger with american cheese, mustard, ketchup and pickles and the El Chappo - blue cheese, bacon, alioi and jalapenos. I took a bite of each to decide which one I should save to the end. The El Chappo had a good kick but the double cheese burger was delicious - it was small and perfectly formed. The only thing that let it down for me was the fries - I love salt but there was way to much on these for me and they were quite stubby and crispy, but they may have just been from the end of the batch as my friends were longer and you could taste the potato.
Everyone was really happy with their choice of burgers and there was barely a crumb left.
This just left the ice cream burger - this was what I was waiting for and my anticipation only grew as we were each presented with a tiny burger box. Inside was a perfect looking slider which as you bit into was cold and sweet - my brain did a little dance of confusion as it tried to work out whether this was good or not. The bun was sweet and had a cake texture, the pattie was ice cream and sprayed with chocolate, the ketchup was cherry jam and the cheese, a slice of apricot jelly. At first I thought it was like a choc ice but that was just the ice cream section and eventually decided it was similar to a Wagon Wheel as they ice cream had a marshmallow texture and taste. Half way through I decided I loved the concept more than the taste, so left the rest... but this dish divided the group, some devoured theirs within seconds and others felt the same as me. It was definitely a good fun dish that created quite a debate.
I really want to go back as it was such a great night - good food, good company and the staff were lovely. Plus the drinks were great too - I had a lovely gin cocktail, the London Buck Highball created with gin, lemon juice and ginger ale - yum.
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