Dragon Flame, Hackney Downs, food review: ‘Bloated, besmirched, and oh so happy’

‘If it can be blistered over a flame, these flying lizard riders will do it.’ Photograph: courtesy Dragon Flame

As the sun swooped through the gigantic windows of The Star By Hackney Downs, my pal and I settled in for a flamed-tongued feast in a fairground-themed pub. As you do.

Midweek in London is never dull, and your local boozer might be hiding a top hat and sparkly vest behind its Victorian grandeur.

That is certainly true for the Star, rising proudly from a roundabout in front of the park, decked out in garish colours, period fittings and a stranded carousel pony on the bar.

A circling yet sheltered street-side patio allows for swift ciggy/vape breaks and lots of soaking in the gas giant’s firey, orangey embers. It’s all a little subtly silly inside, visually speaking, and we like that here.

George and Dio, founders of Dragon Flame, are BBQ-obsessed.

They have a outdoor one with wheels that’s hidden around the side of the pub but can be rolled into action for, say, the Hackney Half or a good weather day.

There is also an upstairs one for when the weather isn’t playing ball, and smokers at their southern venue in Walworth.

If it can be blistered over a flame, these flying lizard riders will do it. But there is a hyper locality here as everything, apart from the calamari, is homemade.

The snacky-looking menu, which is available from Tuesday to Thursday, promises pub classics, tacos and burgers, but what is brought to the table is far from standard.

Fish tacos with massive battered goujons are almost impossible to get inside your stretched maw. They are light and perfect for fine weather, with an extra spicy tail slap.

The vegan option is slightly sloppy, but what can you do without a stand-in meat?

The pork cheek birria is as hazy as an aristocrat’s pipe room, with oaky hints – a true state of England dish. This checks out, as the team works with only one farm in Rippon North Yorkshire.

My friend complains that the chilli and lime we liberally spray over everything is a nightmare for his cement-cracked hands, and asks me to warn you, but I feel this is a bit of a him issue.

‘Collar-wrecking beast’: the burger won over any scepticism. Photograph: courtesy Dragon Flame

Now I am sceptical about burgers, but tucking into the smoky pork, I realised I’ve just had bad ones in the past.

This brioche-stacked bun has a dripping interior of chimichurri, sriracha, aubergine and pepper salad. Add in those life-giving (or life-taking, depending on your nutritionist) fatty belly juices and say goodbye to dry, posho gastropub burgers and hello to this collar-wrecking beast.

Layer in the loaded fries, the perfect companion to two or 10 pints, but only if you are with close friends, because they will stain and smear your sunburnt cheeks.

Two dishes set this dragon truly aside from the chickens.

The first is a freshly made (off-menu) sausage on a flatbed of bread, earthy and funky as only a good sausage can be.

Secondly, the BBQ pork rotisserie is a pile of brown sugar-inflected, hoisin-duckish tasting, pineapple-striped fabulousness. It is moist but with daggers of hard, crunchy pig to keep your teeth on their toes. Thank the to-die-for secret BBQ glaze for the wealth of flavour. If you get just one thing to pick at (with forks, please, for the sake of your whites), let it be this.

The Star provides the usual cocktails with care, including some balmy additions – see hot honey daiquiri. Along with the margaritas and Palomas, they understand people’s need for the thrust of fire that goes so well with the messy marvels on offer.

Finishing off with a serviceable sticky toffee pudding and you are bloated, besmirched and oh so happy.

So often, nice, local and thoughtful food is priced to the moon. But not with this mythical being. Nothing is more than £16, the tacos march in twos (not always the case) and are around a fiver, and some of the burgers only just push past £10.

If you allow yourself a little largesse, order a selection or come back at the weekend for an even more expansive menu of bigger and badder dishes.

I have never been sent out into the jasmine-scented, fox-filled night of the Downs quite so pleased with myself, my dinner and the world in general.

Find out more at instagram.com/the.dragon.flame.