Pi Eats: Dirty Tommi's
NAOMI BLAIR TAKES A BITE TO EAT IN THE NEWEST POP-UP RESTAURANT IN TOWN
Must-try: Mutt’s Nuts cocktail and Dirty Fried Chicken burger
Wallet damage: ££
Good for: Sunday hangover food blowout
Overall: Comfort food with a decadent twist, great value with a FWB card
So by now you’ve probably heard of the Icelandic Tommi’s Burger Joint, and you know about Dirty Bones, the underground hot-dog restaurant and cocktail bar in High Street Kensington. They’re both pretty amazing, and are London favourites for burgers and hot-dogs respectively, but what happens when the two collide?
Dirty Tommi’s is their lovechild; a new pop-up collaboration, running only on Sundays for a limited amount of time. Once I’d seen the menu; a mouth-watering list of burger-hot-dog hybrids, chicken wings and cocktails, I knew I had to try this Sunday lunch with a difference.
Dirty Bones offer a huge range of amazing cocktails. After diligently trying a good proportion of them (I’m nothing if not thorough), I can recommend the amusingly named Mutt’s Nuts (£9) made with bourbon and maple and cinnamon infused syrup as well as the tequila and Chambord spiked Wishbone (£8.50).
Suitably tipsy, it was time for some food. The pop-up menu is a pared-back affair bringing together the best of Tommi’s and Dirty Bones in a kind of filthy mash-up of pure gluttony. This one definitely isn’t for those on the #cleaneating bandwagon.
We started with the chicken wings and sticky pork ribs (both £6), choosing to ignore the charred padron peppers, because frankly, vegetables r 4 loserz (joking, they’re okay). These were excellent, the chicken wings were lemony and nicely sharp which contrasted nicely with the seriously tender and messy ribs. I’m told the BBQ sauce on the ribs contains a fantastically eccentric mix of marshmallows, cola and coffee, which sounds weird but tastes incredible. However, I did end up with sauce all over my face, so probably not one to order if you’re on a date.
For the main event, we went big. We chose the ‘Dirty fried chicken burger’ (£10), ‘Tommi’s bacon dog’ (£8) with sides of ‘Sloppi dirty fries’ (£5.50) and the ‘Dirty Bones mac & cheese’ (£4). Our poor beleaguered arteries. The chicken burger was amazing: melt-in-the-mouth fried chicken with a smoky chipotle sauce and a spicy salsa verde that kept it from being too heavy. This was my favourite item of the night and one that I would definitely recommend ordering. The hot dog had a good bite to it, and was smothered in ‘baconnaise’ which I really hope becomes a thing in every restaurant in the UK, it’s great. The ‘sloppi’ fries came topped with mince, kimchi sauce and a side of seriously good gravy, and the mac & cheese was very indulgent and rich.
After all this we were seriously stuffed, but somehow found room for pudding (hey, all in the name of research!). The ‘Dirty Bounty’ milkshake (£8.50) was a boozy shake with a good punch of rum to cut through the creaminess, and the ‘Milk & Cookies’ (£5) was another winner. A mini-glass of smooth milky ice cream served alongside a warm, mega-chocolatey cookie was an adult upgrade of the childhood classic.
A feast like this can quickly add up, but thankfully, Dirty Bones offer a ‘Friends With Benefits‘ card which gives you 25% off your food bill all night on a Sunday, as well as buy one cocktail, get one free from 6-8pm, Sunday through to Thursday, meaning you too can work your way through the excellent cocktail menu.
While London is never short of pop-ups, Dirty Tommi’s is one well worth checking out, as it combines two of London’s best restaurants to great success, giving you a two-for-one experience not to be missed. Just make sure you wear elasticated trousers.
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