Bukowski - review

Bukowski, a new burger joint serving up Hereford beef and Gloucester Old Spot pork in wood oven-baked buns, has none of these things.

It is, after all, housed in a single shipping container in Boxpark, Shoreditch's new container-based shopping centre. Long and narrow, the booths line one side and the tiny kitchen (which fits two chefs side by side) sits at the far end. On a cold day, you might want to keep your coat on.

But this is a place to eat, not a place to go for dinner. And if that's what you come to do you won't be disappointed.

Over two visits, we worked our way through the Iberico (£8.50), which with its morcilla blood sausage topping, Iberica pancetta and oven-dried tomatoes is juicy and rich; the Chicano Pulled Pork (£6.50, sweet and only a little dry); the Hanger Steak & Chipotle Sauce Sandwich (£7.50, perfectly tender); the Purist (£5.50) - a classic burger that we adulterated with some Stilton and red onion chutney (add £1.50) to give it a great kick of extra flavour and two large plates (£2.50 each) of the hand-cut chips, triple-fried in beef dripping.

The chips are testament to the fact that this is really a place for meat eaters and the one vegetarian option (with black beans, lentils and butternut squash) comes with a presumably deliberate grammatically incorrect apology on the menu.

Tap water - as befits this kind of eating out - is provided on the table without prompt but if you do want a drink, beers, ciders and cocktails are on offer - as well as bottomless filter coffee, American-style, for a reasonable £1.50. In fact, American-style is the thing here, with burgers served authentically in plastic baskets covered with greaseproof paper.

Homemade condiments are an added touch that helps to set this place apart from other nearby burger restaurants such as Red Dog Saloon and Byron, both relatively new to Hoxton Square. Bukowski's horseradish mustard has plenty of kick and its ketchup retains that ever-so-slightly grainy texture that decent tomato sauce should.

If I could find a fault it might be the chef's timings with the beef - so if you like your burger medium make sure to ask for it rare and you'll eat happily every time. And, best of all, without forking out a fortune.

Bukowski
Unit 61 Boxpark, Bethnal Green Road, E1