The word ‘filthy’ might not be one you want to hear a food reviewer use – and no self-respecting establishment would want to read that word used in context to its grub either. But, as with everything in life, there’s always an exception to a rule. And that exception is in the form of the bangin’ nosh served at Filthy’s Gypsy Lounge.
You may have been to Filthy’s to see a band, had a couple of cheeky cocktails, and maybe partaken in a little boogie, but you might not have noticed that they also provide a pretty decent choice of food. If you haven’t, get on it – it’s dead good, and there’s no dirt, muck or grime in sight.
Myself and two other reliable recipe revellers went down to check out the nosh. My mate ordered the Bacon-Bacon Dog (£7), a pork hotdog topped with onions, crispy bacon bits and baconnaise. It’s exactly what you need a hotdog to be: the meat tastes like meat – which, to be honest, is rare for a hotdog – and the toppings don’t go too over the top. This was all washed down with a lovely pint of Blue Moon. Yes, they have it on draught here. Orange you glad? We were.
My other pal went for the cheeseburger beef with bacon dog (£8); two layers of melted Monterey Jack cheese and your staple lettuce, sliced pickle, red onion and beef tomato. The meat is made up of four cuts, carefully crafted by the in-house chefs, and although it might sound a bit pretentious, the quality really comes out in the flavour. We suspect that the Filthy cows probably went on a fair few walks.
Despite the above getting rave reviews off their respective devourers, it was my order of chicken in a basket with suicide hot sauce that was the one most worth writing home – or in LeftLion – about. Again, only free-range animals are used for this dish, and again, they taste great. The meat was tender and the crunchy batter was near perfect.
Being gannets, we also ordered a couple of sides to share – chilli and fries. The chilli was decent, but to be frank, the chips were a bit of a letdown. We came to the conclusion that no matter how nice they’d treated the livestock before slaughter, the potatoes had probably lived a miserable life in a cage. But, chips being chips, they did serve as a handy mop for all the delicious leftover sauces on our plates.
Top quality bar food by anyone’s standards, it suits for an overindulgent late lunch or quick snap on a night out. And if you’re too filthy to leave your pad, you can get Deliveroo to fetch it round for you. Raphael Achache
13-15 Weekday Cross, NG1 2GB. 0115 985 9023
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