Why do all my favourite burger places start from Brixton? First Honest Burger and now this?! The moment I heard The Joint had opened a branch in Marylebone-I thought to myself, “That’s perfect!” Close to me and I can go there whenever. Also, quite a jump from Brixton.
Before we start talking about the food, a little history lesson on the place:
Founded by baker Daniel Fiteni and chef Warren Dean in August 2012 as a pop-up in Brixton Village Market, The Joint was among the first to spearhead the American barbeque scene in London, establishing themselves as pulled pork experts.
But don’t worry my fellow humans, they don’t just do pork- they also do amazing pulled beef AND pulled chicken burgers. Not forgetting our vegetarians friends, they also do a mean veggie burger that got a thumbs up from my friend- more on that a bit later.
Following the explosive success of the Brixton branch, the co-founders have now travelled north of the river to launch their second branch, a large and airy space over two floors just off Marylebone High Street.
It’s a 5-7 min walk from Bond Street station and quite easy to get to.
It doesn’t seem huge from the outside but once you walk in, you’re surprised by the huge space and the cool shabby chic interior with communal style tables. I love the peacock mural on the wall and the hanging bulbs- it all adds to the ambience. Marylebone definitely needs more of these joints to loosen it up! 😉
We took our seat at one of the tables and couldn’t wait to get stuck in! I visited this place TWICE. And each time, the food was consistent in quality and deliciousness!
I love that their menu is not an onslaught of burgers. They do a select range of burgers and they do it really well! They also bake their own brioche bread for the burgers which is ‘magnifique’. I’m a carbaholic so if you can make good bread, you’ll be in my good books for life!
We couldn’t hold ourselves as we were starving, so quickly decided what we wanted and blurted our order to our lovely waitress. (I am salivating while I write this blog post!!)
Having quickly sifted through the menu, we went for onion rings instead of fries, hot wings, BBQ wings (because why not?!) and sweetcorn with BBQ butter. For the mains I had the chicken version of the Asian burger the first time I went. My friends went for the monster version of it and asked for double chicken AND an egg on top. Even the waitress was shocked and wasn’t sure they were joking or being serious. But no, they were definitely serious. Something about macros and #IIFYM. (Check him out here, if interested: @themacrowizard, ALL about lifting, fitness and burgers!)
The second visit, I went for the beef burger minus the bacon relish. They very kindly accommodated my request so don’t be shy about asking…but ask nicely! 😉
Their service is quite quick so soon enough, our sides started floating to our table. They were little parcels of foodie heaven with name tags– such a cool way of presenting sides. I was already sold!
Before I start talking about the food- one thing’s for sure, don’t be shy about getting stuck in with your hands. Leave your pretence at the door! 😉
The food will be messy so you’ll be using plenty of napkins and they’ll give you enough hand wipes after you’re done with your meal.
Before we knew it, out came the HOT wings. And they’re definitely hot. I can handle my spice so I really enjoyed them but my friend who doesn’t eat too much spice just had one and was done! haha I could definitely feel the heat coming out of the wings. But honestly, they’re not the crazy kind of spicy wings you would’ve seen on Man VS Food. You can taste the difference between the hot and BBQ wings. BBQ wings have a smokey taste. I could’ve happily had the wings to myself with the onion rings on the side. Thumbs up guys!
I wasn’t too sure about the sweetcorn. It didn’t really hit the spot for me. The wings put me on a high and the sweetcorn couldn’t really compare to that.
Now! coming to the pièce de résistance…just look at this Asian beauty. Aaaaalll that pulled chicken goodness, aaaalll for me. Get in my belly- NOW!!
Look at my sophisticated and compact burger. And look at this monstrosity below! My friend ordered the SAME burger with double chicken and egg on top. It definitely got wiped off, I can assure you! We were left licking our fingers. Mmmmm!
On my second visit, I took my friend who’s a vegetarian and she isn’t a fan of burgers because let’s face it, you don’t find inventive burgers other than the usual halloumis, aubergines, portobello mushrooms. Even though the veggie burger sounded really simple in the menu- it looked delicious even while I was munching my beef burger! #5secondfoodenvy
Just like their meat burgers with ample amounts of meat, the veggie burger also had a generous amount of filling. My friend was all in praise of the burger and would definitely be going back! 😀
I shot myself in the foot when I ordered all those sides AND also had to devour this beef brisket. A succulent mountain of meat all stuck together inside a potato bun. I have to admit, I struggled with finishing this one. After all those sides and then the potato bun with this beef brisket- I was KO’d. And was ready to be rolled off home.
After we finished our burgers, we just looked at each other in half sleepy, half extremely satisfied goofy grins. The kind of happiness only a great meal brings out. The Joint, I LOOOOVE you! <3
Oh, talking of love. The Joint is hosting a date night with a difference at its new Marylebone venue. Launching on Wednesday 4th March, Meat and Greet is a laid back evening for like-minded meat lovers who are tired of cringe-worthy tinder dates and cheesy speed dating events- EW!! Designed to break down social barriers, the night will encourage hand-holding with finger-licking ribs, ignite eternal flames with slow-cooked pork, and inspire plenty of footsies with sharing cocktails.
I would have dinner at this place daily! Those burgers were amazing and I’m definitely coming back for that beef brisket! Yummy.
I know right?? LOVED it!