Serving up flavoursome burgers, tasty sides and local craft beers, it can only be Crafty in Leicester. Fairly new to the city's foodie scene, this week they moved from pop up concept to permanent space in independent coffee shop St. Martin's. A place for extraordinary coffee and cakes by day, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings the quirky residence is converted into Crafty St. Martin's for local burger loving fiends.
To start, we shared a board of guacamole, nachos, Korean chicken wings and pork belly popcorn. My favourite by far was the pork belly. Named Pigcorn Poppers, they came with a sweet spiced pineapple, honey and chilli jam which matched really well. I was a fan on the fresh guac too, and although I don't like chicken I'm told these were delicious.
Alongside we "pimped our fries" with mustard and avocado on one, and tender beef and jalapeƱos on the other. You can of course have the yummy crispy skin on fries as they are - but I do love the idea of jazzing them up.
The locally sourced beef burgers themselves are ground on site daily and served a medium rare. With this comes smotherings of fillings encased in a squishy bun from Milner's Bakery of Blaby in Leicestershire. Keepin' it local - I like it. This was a seriously tasty burger - very juicy, meaty and very, very messy. This is no place for first dates and you're going to need a generous amount of napkins. I wore a white t-shirt, well, because, I'm really sensible.
Enter: Gelato Village. Just around the corner, the Leicester based company serves up Italian Artisan ice cream with queues stretching around the door. I love that Crafty St. Martin's had teamed up with them to create a special ice cream flavour for the night - Crafty Peanut and Chocolate. Deliciously creamy, indulgent and just that little bit better than the well known chocolate bar.
Fantastic burgers, a great atmosphere and a passionate group of staff. A brilliant addition to the Leicester foodie scene and a great start. Keep it up!
Find Crafty on Twitter here...
Open Thursday - Saturday 6-9pm.
crafty st. martins
2-6 st. martin's walk
st. martin's square
leicester
le1 5dg.
If you're lucky, you might get a space along the on street parking which is free after 6pm. Otherwise, you can park in the Highcross which is a short walk away.
Note: I was invited for complimentary food at the launch. All opinions are honest and my own.
That burger looks PERFECT!
ReplyDeleteI went to uni in Leicester about a thousand years ago and I wish all these fabulous places had been there at the time. I just went to Nandos a lot :'D
Same - I went to uni in Leicester just as all these fab places were opening. Got a great foodie scene in comparison now! Xx
DeleteOh wow that burger looks absolute perfection!
ReplyDeleteSophie
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Sooooooo good x
DeleteGod that looks so good. I went to Byron in Oxford the other week and it reminded me how much I like a good burger.
ReplyDeleteThat all looks delicious Emily, I'm so jealous!
It was so yum. I really like Byron too - which we now have in Leicester - healthy competition! :)
DeleteThis looks amazing! I loved St Martins and I can't wait to get a chance to go and try the burgers now. x
ReplyDeleteI remember you posting about it! You must go! Xx
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