2-4 Hoxton Square
N1 6NU
Tel: 020 7613 0709
Date of Last Visit: Tuesday, November 7 and then again on Thursday November 8
The Damage: 15 quid a person without drinks, 20 quid with
The Victims: Julie, Feathers, Ross on Trip 1. 13 people on Trip 2.
The Background: It’s an odd thing, this global world we live in. Take a bunch of American girls and move them to England. Introduce them to a bunch of British boys and what happens? One of these British boys gets transferred to America. The weekend right before Thanksgiving no less! (What HR rep worked that one out???) So we took Ross out to lunch to educate him on 8 1/2 x 11, tap water, "cable," writing checks, and winter coats and boots and hats and gloves and scarves (real ones–not those pansy English ones that are more form than function). And guys named Chuck and Randy, which I guess don’t exist over on this side of The Pond.
The Entrance: The Hoxton Bar & Kitchen is empty at 12:45 on a Tuesday. Given Ross’ imminent departure, I chose it partially for it’s American-ish cuisine, although there wasn’t a glass of tap water in site. Note we weren’t in the bar, but rather the restaurant. We sat in a big booth by the windows which was nice because gosh darnit if it’s not just a little bit autumn-y these days and Hoxton Square itself does look all peaceful and greenish gold.
The Service: Nice, but just a little bit spacey. When I returned on Thursday night, our server accused (in a funny way) one of our group of ordering two beers for himself, and although we were the only folks in the place, they kept asking for the drink and food menus back although we were (I’d argue) obviously still perusing them.
The Starters: Thursday night, we ordered two things of nachos. Our server assured me that it was a large platter. In fact, she indicated the size with her hands. (Seemingly, about 12 inches of nachos.) Imagine my surprise when one of those Frenchie bowls for frites arrived. It was like a frite bowl (or a soup bowl) full of nachos. Talk about margin!!!They were tasty, but it’s hard to eat nachos out of a bowl. (Messy fingers.) They work better from a platter. We also ordered chorizo, which was pretty basic. Nothing exciting.
The Mains: Burgers, burgers, burgers. They were actually pretty good. And they had monterey jack cheese! Practically unheard of in this country! On Thursday night, some in our party ordered the ribs and they were really big ribs. I wouldn’t have wanted to eat them, they were so uncomfortable looking to hold and get through. Knife and fork? Gnaw away? What to do?
The Restrooms: Well, on Thursday night, it was a big night for the bar next door. So I went over to the ladies from the restaurant side, and it was fine, but on my way back, I had a very unattractive view of the men’s room–and the whiff was even worse. They totally need to power wash that place.
The Verdict: I thought this was a good choice for a relatively inexpensive meal for 13 people. And I was happy with my burger. I wouldn’t be adverse to going back.
