Langton has a burger… MEATmission

Langton dined out at MEATmission in Hoxton over the weekend to check up on one of the loudest exponents of the gourmet burger movement.

MEATmission leaves a particularly potent impression on your average East London diner, with its dark interior, raucous music, and pirate radio DJ booth overlooking an often boisterous crowd.

It is this energetic, anarchic charm that raises questions over the operator’s scalability, however. One industry figure recently labelled the Hoxton bar as ‘scary’ (although he still enjoyed his Dead Hippie Burger).

This description of MEATliqour’s in-your-face style was not a criticism – its grungy tone is essential to its success. With nearly 50,000 followers on Twitter, clearly the concept has caught people’s imagination.

Opening a Singapore site is either a rock ‘n’ roll risk or savvy management of a unique concept. It could also be interpreted as a tacit admission that MeatLiquor might struggle to grow conventionally in a way that is open to more vanilla rivals such as Patty & Bun. Then again, BrewDog is doing just fine.

Expanding further onto the international stage would be a risky strategy, but the rewards could be huge for a brand that has the potential to become iconic.

Go for the Buffalo Chicken Wings. Stay because you’ve had one too many Picklejack shots…