Review of DIRECTORS CUT & BRIOCHE BURGER in Walthamstow

Recently, I have found two new restaurants in Walthamstow.

The first one I shall review is called Director's Cut (DC) which serves burgers, steaks, full english breakfast, milkshakes and ice cream.

The second is called Brioche Burger (BB)... I'm sure you can already figure out what they sell!!!

Let's get started!

DIRECTORS CUT:

DC is located in the recently refurbished Walthamstow opposite Pizza Express. It has an attractive black and white colour scheme for the outside. The bull logo represents their specialism is steaks and that they mean business, so you should expect a memorable steak if you do order it! The roll film highlights the name making it stand out from other restaurants.

It is an American style restaurant and based on the name, their theme is obviously film which becomes clear when you see the posters on the wall.

You getting that lights, camera... action moment?? Have you been transported into a Hollywood movie set??... 

As soon as you enter DC you are approached by the waitress who lets you choose a table. Once seated and comfy she will bring the menu and place a paper napkin with cutlery for each customer whilst you have a look at the menu.

I went for the DC Burger (£7.95) which has a chicken breast steak and a beef patty with cheese. My food partner in crime ordered a 1/4 Chicken Meal (£9.95) with chips as the side and a soft drink. We also ordered Lamb Chops (£5.95) from the starters menu.

There is a TV on the wall which can be seen from most of the tables in the restaurant. I saw Emmerdale or Coronation Street and on another occasion I heard Church hymns with a choir on the TV which I thought was quite bizarre. I was expecting either a modern show or at least a family friendly movie on the TV that will perhaps create the film vibe DC seem to be aiming for. Maybe the majority of DC customers like these shows so they do it to please them.

The wall also has the names of famous directors such as Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Vertigo), Stephen Speilberg (E.T., Jurassic Park) and Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Django Unchained)... Yes, I'm sure you get the picture now!

The Bull logo at the back table is not too shabby, the light changes colour. If you want a bit more privacy you can ask the staff to arrange that wooden looking door to section off that back table.

The door on the right of the bull logo leads to the kitchen and a customer restroom.

The moment you have been waiting for... THE FOOD!

So first this is what the DC Burger looked like when it arrived, as you can see they give a beef tomato slice, onion slice and chunk of lettuce. It also came with an undressed salad, consisting of cucumber, bell pepper, gherkin, purple cabbage and more lettuce and tomato!

Here is what it looked like when I put the top brioche bun on and added some steak cut chips... Looks tasty right?

I love brioche burger buns, I prefer them to the traditional sesame seed buns, they have a subtle sweetness and buttery flavour that just melts in your mouth.

The chicken steak was juicy and well-cooked and the beef patty jazzed up the flavour of the burger.

Salad is pretty plain but I'm assuming it's main purpose is for presentation as it seems to arrive on each plate making it look colourful and it also makes it seems as though there is more food on the plate!

See the exact same salad again on the chops plate!

When the lamb chops arrived I wasn't very excited to be honest, they looked burnt and extremely greasy like they had been deep-fried. Deep fried food is a real let down for me; it screams unhealthy left right and centre. The seasoning was nothing special, but they were edible.

Next, the 1/4 chicken, it was the breast piece with a wing, cut in half to get the butterfly effect.

As you can probably tell from the photo it looked and tasted dry like reheated chicken. Very poor quality, it tasted nothing like the chicken breast in the DC Burger.

The portion size of chips is huge; it's more than enough for 2 adults and a little munchkin! 

There are 3 sauces to enjoy your chips with; red spicy/hot sauce, ketchup and bbq sauce.

The spicy sauce is alright if you like a bit of heat, ketchup is normal.

Since I absolutely hate bbq sauce I cannot tell if it was good or bad because bbq sauce always tastes bad to me, haha!

ANYONE FOR DESSERT?

On the way out, or on the way in (depends how you look at it), there is a nice selection of ice creams (1 scoop = £1.95). I decided to go for my favourite scoop, bubblegum for eat in...

My little food partner in crime was delighted it came with a fresh yummy strawberry and whipped cream! The bubble gum ice cream went down a treat and somehow managed to get split between 3 bubblegum ice cream fans!

I would recommend DC, the food comes very fast and is reasonable, but be careful; not everything on their menu is great and you don't want to order something that you are not familiar with or something that you think will be nice. Sometimes you are better safe than sorry, so my advice is to order what you know you will like! If you want to be really adventurous then go ahead and try a steak! Personally, for me, steaks are far too expensive and overrated and you are still left starving after!

If you are not interested in the dinner menu then go for the English Breakfast which is served all day, you can get hash brown, sausage, turkey rashers, mushrooms, etc etc.

DC also serves hot dogs, buffalo wings, ribs, even salmon steak!

If you are feeling thirsty and fancy then treat yourself to a mocktail or milkshake.

If you have a sweet tooth then DC has a variety of cakes to choose from as well as banoffee pie and chocolate pudding.

DC is HMC certified so all you halal foodies can go try it out too! :) 

My ratings:

Decor: 6/10

Hygiene: 9/10

Food presentation: 6/10

Food: 5/10

Service: 9/10

Overall rating: 6/10

Address:

Director's Cut

224 High Street,

Walthamstow,

London,

E17 7JH

UK

Click here for the DC Website

BRIOCHE BURGER:

I went to have an overdue catchup with a couple of my friends from secondary school/sixth form. I was unaware that there was a BB in Walthamstow. I remember seeing BB in Green Street last year but I had no idea they relocated to Walthamstow. This was my first time at BB so I was slightly bewildered by the menu.

I read over the menu a few times and just made a final decision... THE MAHARAJAH £8.50, no side included (depressing, I know), just a pulled tandoori chicken burger. The fact that I wasn't famished meant that I ditched the side as well as the starters.

I did however, order a drink, MANGO MADNESS £3.95, which is quite rare for me to do (I will only order a drink with my meal if I am in the mood for it)!

One friend ordered a vegetarian burger made of spinach and mozzarella, called ROGER RABBIT £8.75, with SWEET POTATO FRIES £3.50 and a PIÑA COLADA £3.95 (pineapple & coconut mocktail).

The other ordered BIRDS OF A FEATHER £8.50 (panko chicken burger, sautéed onions, american cheese, chilli jam, rocket + garlic mayo) & MONKEY FRIES £4.50.

The drinks arrived first and the food came at separate times but not too far apart.







Here is THE MAHARAJAH...

Not quite what I was expecting;  I expected to see a gorgeous golden soft springy brioche burger bun. This bun was toasted and had sesame seeds, but I guess that is BB's style.

As you can see it arrives on a plate with their own personalised BB paper and there is a wooden skewer placed in the burger to hold the burger open.

The perfectly melted monterey jack cheese and the spiral of tomato, chilli and mint sauce did make me believe BB means business.

I actually ate this with a knife and fork, because I assumed I'd make a terrible mess if I dared to lift the maharajah from the plate!

Sadly, the first bite wasn't impressive, the flavour was far too sweet, in fact, the seasoning tasted more sweet than savoury! On the contrary, the pulled tandoori chicken was definitely pulled; it was soft and melted in my mouth.

One question remained unanswered to me... DAFUQ WAS THAT BROWN CIRCLE THING ON TOP? It didn't taste spectacular, if anything, it just made the burger worse! Ended up taking it out the burger because it was too weird for me.

Wondering where's the photo of MANGO MADNESS??
Well, I actually forgot to take a photo of it (sorrynotsorry); too busy talking (I did mention above, this was a seriously overdue catch up). Nonetheless, mango madness was such a disappointment that I am glad that I have no photo to remind me of how sinisterly sour it tasted. Talk about deceiving; the  tall glass was filled right to the top with a bright orangey-yellow mango colour. What could go wrong?... Everything! It was ice cold, I had to take baby sips using the straw or else risk getting major brain freeze. The texture was like a slush puppy and there was absolutely no an essence of mango or mint or honey whatsoever, none! It basically tasted like 50 limes had been crushed with ice and then a drop of mango was added to make it look orange!

The ROGER RABBIT's sunny side egg had a runny yolk (Yuk for my friend and I hate that too). The staff agreed to take it back and provide a fully cooked fried egg, demonstrating good customer service. The sweet potato fries were good, a healthier option to potato fries I guess. PIÑA COLADA was nice, tasted how it should do and because it was a cocktail it contained no alcohol (virgin piña colada).

According to my friend the BIRDS OF A FEATHER was "nice", but, "there was way more burger than bun" and she's not a fan of rocket but she "could hardly taste" it so it wasn't a big deal. MONKEY FRIES were alright; the caramelised onions were a good topping, although the plastic cheese sauce kinda ruined them. #not-your-usual-fries!


Although my meal was not the best, I enjoyed taking a risk and ordering something I usually wouldn't, therefore, I would recommend BB because I am sure that there are other dishes on their menu that will satisfy your tastebuds and to be clear BB flavours are supposed to be quirky and different! Nothing wrong with that! Moreover, BB has a nice cosy atmosphere where you can relax and catch up with some friends. It has a large seating area and is well kept with a modern design.

My ratings:

Decor: 7/10

Hygiene: 9/10

Food presentation: 4/10

Food: 3/10

Service: 8/10

Overall rating: 5/10

BB has a brunch menu that is available on Saturdays and Sundays serving pancakes, hot drinks, juices and wholesome breakfasts to choose from.

Have a look at their menu, they have a wide selection of wagyu and angus beef steaks, wings, fries, as well as milkshakes and mocktails (avoid mango madness, thank me later).

BB is also HMC certified.

You can get BB delivered right to your front door via deliveroo.

Address:

Brioche Burger
154 Hoe Street,
Walthamstow,
London,
E17 4QH
UK

If you have been to DC or BB let me know how your experience was and if you know any other cool places to eat please leave me a comment below.


Thanks very much for reading my food reviews! Hope they were helpful!


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