Honest Burgers opened its restaurant on Bold Street this week with a host of exclusive specials on the menu.
Collaborating with Baltic Market traders Hafla Hafla, the Liverpool special sees a combination of Honest beef (from its own butchery), British halloumi (from award-winning Kupros Dairy), salt & pepper, spring onion, sriracha mayo and lettuce.
Using just British chuck steak and rib cap, Honest chops the meat rather than mincing it (which keeps the flavour in and the texture more natural and tender) and serves it medium-pink alongside homemade rosemary-salted chips. Described by food critic Jay Rayner as ‘edible crystal meth’, Honest don’t consider their chips an extra, they’re an essential.
The Liverpool special is one of nine burgers available on the menu, alongside the Beef (£9 with chips) the Honest burger, the Tribute burger and the vegan Plant burger.
Tom Barton, co-founder of Honest Burgers, said: “We met Hafla Hafla when we parked our field kitchen next to them at the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo. We’d heard about Liverpool’s love for all things salt & pepper, so when we tried Liam and Tim’s halloumi fries we knew we wanted to get it in our local burger. Beef, halloumi, salt & pepper, sriracha mayo… it’s one of my all-time favourites.”
Tim Haggis, Founder Hafla Hafla, said: “We tried Honest Burgers for the first time at Craft Beer Expo. I couldn’t believe how good the burgers were. I’m not usually a huge burger eater but I think I had two on the Thursday and another two on the Friday… I’m super excited for our collaboration.”
Honest’s exclusive beer collab with Black Lodge Brewing is also on the menu. Bold St Pale is a 4.7% American-hopped pale ale with tropical and grapefruit flavours.
If beer’s not your thing, there’s the Honest G&T made with small batch Honest Gin (using botanicals found in Honest’s kitchens, including cucumber and dill), or the Bold Street exclusive Liverpool Pink G&T, made with The Three Graces Rose Gin, Fever-Tree Aromatic Tonic, rose petals and lemon.
Honest has also collaborated with local graphic artist Neil Keating to add a layer of illustration and sign writing to the restaurant interiors. Neil has played a major part in Liverpool’s creative and independent business boom and his street art can be spotted all over the city.