Rudies, 9th May

Rudies…. A message to you Rudies…. And that message is: Nice one.

On a Monday I went down to sample a new jerk chicken joint in Dalston. Two days after my superb fried chicken meal at Chick ‘n’ Sours might have been overkill but I figured the two types of cuisine were different enough that I wouldn’t suffer chicken fatigue.

Just to make sure, we started with some fried calamari with a coriander and lime dip. Oh my. I would say these were the best calamari I have had. The batter was so light and crisp with the squid being a little chewy within, but not at all rubbery. The pop you got from the dip was incredibly moreish – this is a spicy one! Great start.

On Mondays they do 50% off the half jerk chicken, so who’s gonna order anything else? Jerk chicken it was. I am certain I can polish off half a chicken whenever I used to order from Nando’s but these ones must be more plump than others as I was struggling to finish it. Of course – we also had sweet potato fries and an avocado, mango and onion salad to contend with too.

The sweet potato fries were pretty good and the salad which was a little superfluous was fresh and sweet. The chicken came with a sauce of your choice and not only did papaya sound the nicest it was also the hottest. The chicken was nicely charred on the grill (although seemed to take so long to come out we actually thought they’d forgotten about us) and had solid jerk flavours.

Of course, I couldn’t not try a cocktail. The Governor General which was rum orange curacao, vermouth and sorrel. A subtley Caribbean influence, though there was nothing subtle about the amount of alcohol in it.

An all-round enjoyable meal out. 

Chick 'n' Sours, Feeling Gloomy, 7th May

Chick n Sours. Oh yes. Oh yes yes yessssssssss.

I’m a fan.

It took me a while to get here, took me a while to try any of Carl Clarke’s food in fact but it was worth the wait. This place is chicken heaven and we loved everything. Except the fries. The fries were way too ordinary. But everything else was fabulous. Stephen and I shared a chicken burger between us (which is a monster of a burger) and a plate of the guest fry chicken – black bean and ginger, spring onion and pickled bamboo shoots, plus the aforementioned boring fries, and the charred hispi, kimchi salad cream and bacon salad. Plus a bit of bone marrow BBQ which was delicious but in some ways superfluous because the chicken was delicious enough on its own.

The ‘salad’ was a well needed bit of crunch and freshness to act as a counterpoint to all the fry going on elsewhere. It also packed a welcome poke!

The chicken was definitely the star of the show and we couldn’t help remarking to each other as we ate how much we were enjoying it. That burger! Firstly, it was a behemoth. One of the biggest burger specimens I’ve seen. And secondly, it was just delicious. Crunchy, spicy, well balanced in terms of meat to topping to bun. A joy.

The plate of fried chicken we equally well received, with the Asian, slightly sweet flavours really complementing the juicy, crunchy chicken. I’m salivating just thinking about it now. I need to get more in my person as soon as possible. 

I then went out to Feeling Gloomy to dance to 'miserable' disco. I seemed to pick a bad night because the place was rather empty but the night itself was fun. Of course, the songs aren't all downbeat and miserable at all - the lyrics might be but the music is still danceable. They played The Smiths and The Cure, a bit of Kate Bush, and that was all good fun. Just a shame it wasn't busier. 

Joe's Southern Kitchen, 24th March

I’m all for getting bang for your buck but sometimes a little warning of how much food is about to come your way would be a good idea! We totally over-ordered at Bird because of this, and then, seemingly due to a quirk of fate, my friend and I did this at Joe’s as well.

I know that Stephen and I can easily eat a whole chicken between us so ordering a half chicken and another main between me and my friend seemed like a pretty sensible decision. It wasn’t. So we ordered the beef rib. What came to the table was not just one rib to share as I would have expected, but two! Yes… two! I asked Joe’s on Twitter and they confirmed that this dish is normally the one rib at 1kg. But they said sometimes, if the chef thinks it looks a bit small he’ll give you extra. So this must have been the case here which ordinarily is great but it did mean we couldn’t face finishing the equally good chicken. Without a beef rib each to eat I think we would have polished it off with room for more quite easily. But sadly we got well stuck into the beef and it was so good we couldn’t stop so we ended up leaving half the fried chicken languishing. And what I did eat of the chicken I ate out of a duty to try it, I certainly didn’t have any need to eat more! Should have asked for a doggy bag. (Or better yet – UK restaurants – start doing this as standard!). 

Joe’s Southern Kitchen first caught my eye when I noticed they had spinach and artichoke dip on their menu, something I haven’t seen on UK menus at all. This was my sole reason for putting it on my List. But in the interim, from following their twitter account, I began to want to try some of their other food as well. For ages they were known for their beer can chicken (another American standard) but lately they’ve got quite a following for their fried chicken (and even changed their Twitter handle to reflect this). And so it was the fried chicken that we tried.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I got there at about 6:15 and I noticed that happy hour finished at 6:30 so I quickly ordered me and my friend a margarita for £4 each. Worth noting that cocktails are £8 otherwise for the classics which isn’t a bad price at all for central London.

I did indeed manage to get the artichoke dip to start and we also got the corn bread with paprika butter and green tomato chutney. They have a strong ‘snacks’ menu – even better than their starters menu I would say. Jalapeno poppers and popcorn shrimp also feature so it was hard to narrow it down. I was a little disappointed when the dip arrived. It was in a tiny bowl. Typical England, I thought, thinking about the vat it would probably have come in in the States. Oh Joe’s – you totally fooled us with this serving size – we had no idea of the portions to come! The dip was ok – very cheesy, but could have done with being a tad warmer to make it easier to scoop. A bit more seasoning wouldn’t have gone amiss. Also, it was supposed to be toasted bread but as you can see this has barely seen the inside of a toaster. Crunchy bread would have made for easier dipping. Pita chips might have worked nicely.

The cornbread, however, was fantastic. It was much cakier than cornbread I’ve had in the past and we smothered it with the paprika butter which melted into the warm bread. Just yummy. The tomato chutney was nice enough but I didn't think it was needed here.

Then came the mains, which we ordered with southern fried potatoes (or home fries). You can't go massively wrong with fried potatoes but I have to say they did get them massively right, having a really good crunch and seasoning. I’ve already said how defeated we were by the mains. The chicken was spot on – succulent, with a crunchy, well flavoured coating, though it didn't seem to come with the tabasco honey I'd heard so much of. Perhaps this was the hot sauce provided on the table anyway. The beef had a nice bite and a great taste. Can it compete with somewhere like Pitt Cue or Hot Box? It’s not quite there (few places are) but it is much more than just lip service to BBQ food. I would happily order the same again. It's just what you want out of this kind of restaurant - nothing fancy, just tasty, dependable food.

Unsurprisingly for this part of town, there seemed to be quite a lot of tourists. You could tell by the conversation that the two parties next to us were on holiday (there was talk of trains to catch and ‘treating themselves to dessert cos they’re only here once’) but unlike many other places in Tourist Hell (Covent Garden), Joe’s isn’t just phoning it in. I need to go back and work my way through the rest of their snacks and give the beer can chicken a try! Or I might just have to try their new outpost in Kentish Town. That area is ripe for exploration…

The Rum Kitchen, 27th October

That must have been one of the most average meals I’ve had in a long while. My ‘jerk chicken’ burger was incredibly basic, the scotch bonnet garlic mayo having nothing scotchy or garlicky about it, except that it was a slightly pale pink. The chicken had no discernible jerk flavour at all. I decided to get a veggie patty with it instead of a traditional side. This also came with scotch bonnet mayo which again had no heat whatsoever. The actual patty had more spice than the mayo and good flavour but it was pretty soft and squidgy which I wasn’t expecting. I thought the casing would have some bite to it.

My friend also had the chicken burger but she got sweet potato fries and they were, admittedly, nice and crispy on the outside and very moreish.

The only saving grace to this place was the fact that they had a happy hour on until 7, and the cocktails were only £5. I had two of their Alligator wines, a sangria-like drink made with rum and red wine, and my friend had one of these and a Santa Teresa Daiquiri. They were too easy to drink – tasty but light on the alcohol I suspected.

I think I had read a few reviews which got me really excited about this place but the reality was mundanity. I got a glimpse of the other dishes as we left – the mutton curry and the jerk chicken plate. Neither of them made me wish I’d ordered those instead. However, I must admit, the people next to us had ribs and wings and they enflamed food envy within me. I assumed a place that was Jamaican themed would do better on things that were Jamaican but perhaps the ‘cue is the way to go here. 

Bird, 13th September

What first attracted me to Bird was not its chicken but its Doughnut Hatch. However, from following them on Twitter and seeing more reviews about them, I started to think I needed to check out their chicken operations.

We went for an early dinner, and I was starving. I’d seen good things about their chicken and waffles, a dish I’ve never had before, but when I actually looked at the menu, the waffle burger stood out as something I needed to try. Thinking it would be a pretty standard burger size (which Stephen and I planned to share), we also ordered eight wings, some fries and at the last minute I ordered a side salad too, thinking I’d need something fresh and light to cut through the heaviness we’d ordered.

We got a couple of drinks and waited for our food to arrive, which didn’t take too long.

Their description of the waffle burger reads “boneless thighs and thick cut bacon, cheddar and onion waffles, hot sauce and syrup".

That 's' on the end of 'thighs' is telling. You get two large chicken thighs inside four waffles. It is like ordering two whole, towering burgers. I was almost cross at how big it was - there should be a warning! If I had ordered that just for myself there is no way in hell I could have finished it. As it was, I was in shock and awe, but managed to finish my half no problem. The problem came when I tried to eat anything else as I was completely full. I valiantly managed to stuff in two of the eight wings but didn’t even eat my full half of the fries. And I am not one to turn down food easily. Thank god for that salad to keep my tastebuds on their toes and allow me to keep going through the messy, chickeny, stodgy amazingness that was my half of the waffle burger.

This thing is a beast and I thought it was excellent. The waffle is savoury and chewy, the chicken is moist and juicy. The bacon adds some salty heft. The only thing I would say is that it claims to have hot sauce, and we had to add some to taste any heat. The chicken wings are a really decent size, and the chicken seems of good quality with nicely crisped skins, fried with a light touch. I am sad I could only manage two, but pleased Stephen stepped up to the plate and ate the rest. Fries weren’t particularly memorable but they were tasty enough. The ranch sauce we ordered alongside the wings was a little insipid and thin – I wouldn’t go for that again.

The sad thing is, after all that, I was way too full for dessert so couldn’t try the doughnuts which had brought Bird to my attention in the first place!

As a fried chicken restaurant though, I think this place is tops and really well priced. That chicken waffle burger is £13 and easily feeds two. Our whole bill came to only £20 each. 

Find the menu and more information on Zomato.

Death by Burrito at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, 3rd July

Having been to Death by Burrito when they were a pop-up at Catch, I was excited that they had a permanent place at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen (one of my ‘go-to’ bars when I’m in the area). My thinking was that, as with Rita’s, it would give them space and time to get creative and put some new items on the menu that would really show the breadth of what they could do. I was pleased to be invited for a sneak peek the day before they opened up officially. I imagined a sit down event with a selection of everything on the menu for everyone to try and maybe with some explanation of it all as well.

It turns out the night wasn’t quite like that. It was more of a party than a food event. Ryan Chetiyawardana (otherwise known as Mr Lyan of White Lyan which I have yet to get to) was responsible for the cocktail menu and the three I tried were all delicious, and strong, so no complaints there. But you start serving cocktails, and free cocktails at that, and the bar becomes a blockade very, very quickly. They probably should have just whipped up batches of one cocktail and lined them up on the bar for you to take as you pleased – let’s be honest, when something is free, people aren’t that picky about what it is.

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

I ended up talking to one of the bloggers from InformedLondon and his friend, and one of the BarChick girls, who, like me, were there to see what the menu was all about. We came hungry and we wanted burritos! And we stayed that way for quite a while as food didn’t start coming out until past 9pm. Finally, it arrived to a chorus of grumbling stomachs – a basket of chicken wings to share and a slider each. Not quite as Mexican as I was expecting. We waited for more, or, specifically – some burritos. But – can you believe this? – no burritos were to be found! What was even more bizarre was that the food we did get wasn’t even very good. If you’d never had DBB before, I don't think this offering would persuade you to come back to try the main event, unless of course once you had a hankering for burritos you couldn’t rest until you’d been back to get some. 

The chicken wings were alright – the agave gave them a sweet taste that I liked but they weren't as good as wings I’ve had elsewhere. Then we tried the sliders. Now, I know I’m not a burger fan but even I could tell these were not the way to do burgers. They were cold by the time we ate them, and had dried out (though there were signs they were cooked well originally, being slightly pink in the middle), and there was far, far too much bread. Assuming these were the candied bacon and jalapeno burgers on the menu, I didn’t realize any bacon was involved until looking at the menu afterwards, and the jalapeno might as well not have been there for all the kick it gave it. The mini-tacos were okay – the meat in particular was lovely; a slightly sweet, smoky flavour and a barbecued texture to it, and I liked the crunch of the radish on top, but they too were a little dry. I applied hot sauce liberally.

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

But don’t be too disheartened. I spied on the menu the items I’d had before, so if you wanted to know what their burritos are all about, which is where their strengths lie, read my previous post on them.

(c) Vivek Vadoliya

Because this was also to launch of their cook book there were a few copies on sale and I had a browse through it. Some pretty tasty-looking food in there, but I don’t cook so it was pointless me getting a copy. Several people did though, and there was a flurry of transactions which seemed to double as a signal for half the party to clear off! Which was a shame because the DJ they had was banging and if it had been a Friday I’d have merrily sipped a few more cocktails soaking in the tunes. The place has been done up all Mexi-macabre and looks the business so it’s a pretty cool place to hang out. And those cocktails are certainly worth a visit.

They didn’t have the slushie machine for slushie negronis, and they couldn’t make the most interesting-sounding drink on the list – the Sweet Papel with sweetcorn and coriander atomisation. But I tried the Pineapple and Cacao Smash, the Bandito Hi-Ball and the Ring-a-Ting-Ting. All were very easy to drink, easy on the mixer and strong on the liquor. I worried that the Bandito, being in a high-ball glass would be mostly ginger ale, but I needn’t have: slug after slug of tequila went into the cocktail shaker, and the ginger ale was only a quick gesture to sweeten things up at the end. My favourite though was definitely the Ring-a-ting-ting – not too sugary with a cucumber background aroma making it super-refreshing. I would have stuck to these but for the blogger in me wanting variety.

So, not sure what to make of this place. If you’ve been, let me know what you thought!

L'entrepot and Chicken Shop/Dirty Burger, 8th June

Sunday was a rather indulgent day, mostly because we used London Wine Week as an excuse to get out early and make the most of our wristbands. First, we had brunch at L’Entrepot which were participating in London Wine Week, though we didn’t sample anything there as it was a little too early.

Instead, we had coffee and eggs. I had the gypsy eggs and Alison had avocado, fried egg and tomato bread (you may recall she had something similar at Hackney Bureau). But look at it – who could resist that beautiful guac’?

I don’t know much about gypsies, but they make some damn fine eggs. Eggs are baked in a rich tomato sauce and this is studded with chorizo and new potatoes and topped with a herby crème fraiche. You get a large slice of sourdough to scoop with, and I would highly recommend taking along an avocado-loving friend so that they order the other dish we had, and share their avocado with you.

The eggs were cooked perfectly for me – a little ooze but not too runny and the whole thing was just a perfect combination to set you up for the day.

Alison’s egg on toast was great, if a little basic compared to mine. And the coffees we enjoyed were smooth and rich. Perfect!

We then took in the sun and wandered up Kingsland Road to Rotorino where we eschewed their Riesling blend (way too harsh for our first alcoholic drink) for a Barolo instead. Rotorino is on my List but I won’t say much about them now as I want to come back to try their food. It was much larger than I thought it would be though, and hardly anyone was in there! I didn't expect that for such a trendy place.

Perusing our LWW books we saw Sager and Wilde were taking part and couldn’t resist another visit. They were also offering Riesling as their LWW white but it was far too sweet for us so it was red again. That was perfect – a little lighter than I normally like but great for such a warm, summery day.

Chicken Shop

By this time I had an appetite again so I met Stephen for dinner at Dirty Burger/Chicken Shop. We walked right in, no wait and sat at the bar where we were told we had to be out in an hour (seemed a little harsh given the place wasn’t full although we were in and out in no time anyway). I had the quarter chicken, he had the bacon burger and we ordered fries to share.

And then we ordered the butter lettuce and avocado salad because we saw it being made and it looked amazing. Such vibrant greens were too inviting to resist.

That came first and we tucked in. The avocado was very creamy, the greens fresh and crunchy and it had a mustard seed dressing which was very nice though became a little overpowering towards the end.

Stephen thought his burger was up there with the top dogs and I must admit it looked pretty good when it arrived and even better when he cut into it and revealed the medium rare centre. It disappeared in five minutes flat.

For some reason my camera went into 70s porn filter mode

I never liked crinkle cut fries as a child but I’m prepared to reappraise them based on the Chicken Shop’s version. These were nice and crispy, although a lot of them were also very thin which meant you didn’t get much potato. They came with a garlic mayonnaise that was pretty outstanding.

And so, my chicken. It was very good, nice flavouring on the outside, tasty chicken within, cooked really well. They were a little heavy handed with the salt for my personal tastes but that’s my only minor complaint. Otherwise I thought it was a great, fast, cheap dinner. A good informal alternative to Le Coq, although I do think I slightly preferred Le Coq's chicken. If I hadn’t eaten out once already that day I might have stayed for dessert or tried a few other sides but I can only be so gluttonous in one day, so off home we went. 

On the Bab, 28th March

On the Bab is a cute little Korean place on Old Street serving up 'anju' (food meant to be eaten with beer) plus a whole host of other Korean staples and otherwise.

Unfortunately, the food flip-flopped between tasty and tasteless or 'takeway Chinese'.

We ordered a range of dishes to try out all the different things they did. First to arrive were the kimchi jeon – a kimchi pancake, and the bibimbap with bulgogi beef. The pancakes - delicious and cripsy, working well with either the surprisingly light chilli oil, or the more pungent chilli sauce.

The bibimbap was pretty hopeless. We were advised to put some of the chilli oil on it, which we did but even this didn't really give it much of a taste. It all comes in a bowl and you're supposed to stir it all together, normally making sure it all gets coated in the flavouring. This had none, not even any lovely meat juices gathered at the bottom. Also, I'm sure when I've had it before it has come in a really hot dish, with a raw egg on top which cooks when you stir it in. This had a partially fried egg which was too cooked to really get distributed throughout and the whole dish was verging on cold. There was also rather a lot of it, which, when it's not that great, is not a good thing.

Next came the yangyum chicken which was a tale of two halves. The soy garlic nuggets really allowed the crushed peanut to come through and were nice and crispy, with a strong garlic and possibly lime flavour. The sweet and sour were also crispy but were too reminiscent of takeaway sweet and sour chicken for me, getting quite cloying and sickly after a while and overpowering any peanut. The garnish of julienned cabbage with a sauce was really nice though. I had ordered the 'small' serving (as opposed to extra small) and we must have had at least eight pieces - it was another substantial dish.

We ended on a high with the kimchi rice balls, bab twigim, which were packed with gooey cheese and came with a knock-your-head off chilli sauce.

I wanted to like this place, and hoped it would be a better alternative to Jubo, where we liked the chicken but didn't like anything else. But it was too much pot luck as to whether you would like what you got. And if it was really good fried chicken I was after, I would forgo both the Korean places and head to Clutch!





Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato