Page 19 – Halal Food Guy

Chai Thali

Indian

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July 27, 2017

Chai Thali is a newly opened Indian restaurant that’s keeping the trend of serving up Indian Street food and small dishes.

The location is an odd one, totally off any main road, it’s in the middle of a residential and business area. Visiting on a Tuesday I found myself and a group of 2 others to be the only people in a restaurant that can easily hold 100. So the ambiance was totally dead. I guess it made my catch up with friends easy as there was no noise from any other diners. After going over the big menu we decided to get a couple of items..

Menu – http://chaithali.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Chai_Thali_Food.pdf

Bhaaji Pao Fondue £5.50

Mashed vegetables with grated cheese topping, served with a brioche bun. Not much taste or interesting flavours from this dish, the accompanying brioche bun was served deliberately stale and hard. I don’t get it. I found it too salty and was left mostly uneaten. 4/10

Paapdi Chaat £5.00

Crispy savoury snacks topped with potatoes, chickpeas, drizzled with yoghurt, crunchy sev & a blend of chutneys. A classic small plate but made very basic and simple here. The sev was a bit too hard and crunchy and didn’t mix well with the other textures of the items. But the flavours of the chutneys were decent. 6/10

Bullet Wings £5.00

Chicken wings cooked in bullet powder. I was hoping for good things from chicken wings, but these had very little taste from spices and suffered from being overcooked that dried out the chicken and limited the chance of any mosit or tenderness.

Lamb Ki Chaampe £9.00

Lamb chops marinated overnight in spices & cooked in the tandoor, served with kachumber. 3 chops but these were similar to the chicken wings, in the sense that the spices lacked depth and flavour. They were also cooked medium well, which didn’t make them as juicy or tender as they could have been. 6.5/10

Kurkuri Bhindi £5.00

Thinly sliced okra fried in corn flour batter, sprinkled with chilli masala. Way too much salt, but if I was lucky to find a bit with no salt it tasted good, with a good texture and crunch. 6/10

Pindi Chole Kulche £6.50

Punjabi style chickpeas cooked in a thick gravy accompanied with Amritsari kulcha. Went on the recommendation of the waitress. Big mistake. Not good at all and not to my taste. The accompanying bread was good. 4.5/10

Dhaaba Murg (On the Bone) £8.00

A delicious chicken curry until now only at the G.T.Road side dhabas of Punjab.

As a main curry we all decided on this. Again, like with other dishes it was too salty. Also, being on the bone I found myself picking tiny bits of bone that had been cut off, it made it really unpleasant to eat as every mouthful had a bit of chipped bone. As for flavours, im writing this only 2 days after my visit and even looking at pictures doesn’t remind me of this dish. Very forgettable and as with most items I had on the night very average.

Overall, I was not impressed with the food here. It was all very average and nothing i ate here would ever want me to visit again. The lack of atmosphere and people at the restaurant surely didn’t help. Food also came out at different times which didn’t flow right. Odd, as we were the only ones there! Another group of 7 showed up after an hour of our arrival.

Total cost was under £60 between 3, with no drinks. I definitely could have eaten more, but was really reluctant to try any more dishes with fear of being disappointed further.

Location means this place will only get people going here if they now about it.

I really was expecting better. It’s a shame really. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this place based off my experience.

Pacana (Closed)

Pan Asian

Halal Food Guy

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August 30, 2018

1

RESTAURANT CLOSED DOWN

It’s nice to see a new restaurant that does that serves up burgers as thats pretty much what’s been opening up lately.

Pacana serves up Pan Asian noodles and other grill items, located in Gants Hill. At the time of visiting it had only been open for less than a week. A spacious and modern setting with loads of setting for large groups.

Starters

Chicken Drumsticks – £5.50

The texture and flavours from the outer breading were good, however, my main issue is that the dish suffered from being either double cooked or cooked for too long, which made the chicken dry and a little too firm, it was not tender and juicy enough for my liking. As chicken wings go, these were, just okay 6/10

Fish Cakes – £6.50

Simple and balanced taste of delicate fish and spices. Good texture from the breading 7.5/10

Skin on Fries – I had to send these back as they were really bad. They either use the wrong potato or cooked with oil not hot enough as the chips were soggy and felt like they absorbed too much oil and had a very heavy oily taste to them. Something was off. 2/10

Grill

Lamb Chops – £8.90

These were really good, loads of flavour from the marinade and cooked to a close medium, with a little pink in the middle which made the lamb chops juicy and tender. As you can see from the photo, there’s no expected bone handle as they use back chops and not a lamb from a rack. However, one of the chops was not cooked right or was a bad piece as it was hard and chewy. 8/10

Mains

Yaki Udon with beef – £7.30

Out of the two noodle dishes, this was the best one, the thick udon noodles just tasted better and the yakisoba sauce went well with the beef and rest of the ingredients. 7.5/10

Chow Mein with chicken – £7.30

Slightly underwhelming, although the chicken was cooked well and tender, the dish was a little flat and lacked punch. I requested for some chili to be added but I didn’t taste any. 6/10

What I liked about all the food was it was all FRESH. The noodles were all cooked there and then and made to order. You could tell that all the ingredients were fresh and had a good taste.

Another thing, the portions are MASSIVE. I think even one order of noodles is enough for 2 people. I had enough to take away and re-cook at home, so if you go on a school night, that’s your lunch sorted for the next day.

There’s also an open kitchen with loads of cooks so you can see your noodles being made.

This place has only been open for a few days at the time of my visit, so there’s bound to be a few issues, which I am sure they will improve on.

The owners or management where on the floor clearly very hands on with service and staff. Speaking of which the service was good and the staff friendly as personable, with multiple service staff on hand to assist which was good.

The total amount was just under £40.

Christopher’s

Halal Food Guy

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January 7, 2018

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Christopher’s calls itself aModern American Restaurant serving Steak, Fish and Lobster and is located in Covent Garden, London. It offers a few halal items in its menu.. Well when I say a few I mean like 2 different types of steak. The Australian rump and Wagyu. Even some of the non meat dishes are not permissible to due to the fact they contatin alcohol. Which made picking from an already unappealing menu more restrictive.

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Although the restaurant describes itself as American, the decor and vibe of the place is of that of a classic meets modern British dining room. When you first walk in, it’s nice and impressive the decor has a classic and elegant vibe.

Mains

Australian Rump Steak 10oz / £25

When the food arrived on my table it I was not impressed with the presentation, just a piece of meat on a plate. I requested medium rare and that’s what I got when I cut into my first piece I saw a good amount of pink in the middle and a well cooked outside. But then once I took a bite I tasted nothing. This is one of the worst steaks I’ve had, there so no taste whatsoever.. Like I mean nothing. I was trying to think of something I could describe it tasted like.

If I said it tasted like rubber or paper, hey, at least that has taste this tasted of NOTHING. No salt, pepper or even the natural flavours of the meat. Now I have a sneaky suspicion that they used a steak that was deep frozen because that would explain why there were not flavours from the melted natural fats in the meat. HORRIBLE AWFUL NOTHINGNESS. 2/10 (the only reason it doesn’t get a 1 is because it was cooked as requested)

My dining companion got the 8oz rump, medium and I thought you couldn’t get worse, well you can. Again, zero taste or flavour.

Sides

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Sweet potato fries. Good.

Mac n Cheese with lobster, I tried a little, I didn’t order it! So i won’t comment.

Desserts

For Dessert again I had options limited due to the fact that the Banana Tarte Tatin Chocolate & Pistachio Fondant, Vanilla Fudge Ice Cream contained alcohol.

Ended up getting the Warm Chocolate Fudge Brownie Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Praline Crumble costing £8. The best thing I ate on the night.

The good is the chic and elegant dining room which does create a nice atmosphere. However, once entering the dining room I felt the room a bit too dark and plain, I was not also impressed with the dirty chair I had to sit on.

Overall, based on the lack of halal options and the awful steak I would NOT recommend going here for good food. I really can’t believe that they served up food like this. It’s clear that they think they can attract some of the halal market with their surroundings and fool them into serving poor steak. Well Christophers, you did not fool halal food guy. Your steaks are terrible.

Date of Visit 16th Feb 2017

Jamavar

Indian

Halal Food Guy

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April 16, 2018

1

One of my favourite Indian restaurant experiences was when I visited the Michelin starred Gymkhana, so when I head that a new restaurant had opened up in Mayfair which is headed up by a former Gymkhana chef I was excited.

A friend was in town and I had the week off so I decided to visit for lunch and take advantage of the set lunch menu

The decor is stylish, modern luxury combined with traditional Indian elements and does share a similar style to that of the colonial Indian dining room.

Menus

I knew that I was going to try the set menu, I find that they tend of offer really good value as you get to try high priced menu items for a fraction of the cost as well as get additional extras.

I started the lunch with a mocktail, I got the Ganjanm, lemongrass, passion fruit juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, syrup – Five pounds. Not a bad price for a mocktail in Mayfair!

4-course Lunch / £30

For starters, I ordered the Samosa Mutter Chat, served with honey yoghurt, sev, papdi dry pea. The dish was well presented and well put together. Despite being a simple samosa, the taste of the sauces lifted the dish and brought out flavours and texture.

I also tried Chilli Pepper Squid, made with green onion & tellicherry black pepper. My friend only gave me 2 pieces, but from what i had it was perfectly cooked, good portion size and tasted great.

Despite only being open for a few weeks, one dish that was getting a lot of buzz was the Stone bass tika. So we both got this. Malai Stone Bass Tikka served with mace, green cardamom & avocado chutney, have to say this was one of the most perfectly cooked pieces of fish I have ever had! So soft, delicate and tender, this tasted great.

For Mains we shared an Old Delhi Butter Chicken, which was char-grilled & pulled chicken, cooked with fresh tomato and fenugreek. The flavours were subtle and had a balance of sweetness and spice, it could have more depth in flavour for my liking, but I did like the richness of the thick creamy sauce and the chicken was perfectly tender and soft.

Also got the Beef Uppu Uthappam, which is like a dosa but is actually a crisp and crepe-like, pancake. The beef is slow-cooked in mustard & southern spices. For me this was the weakest dish I ate, I’m not a fan of mustard so i didn’t like the taste of the beef.

We also were served with dhungar dal, which was simple but tasted good / aloo udaigiri, which is New Potatoes stir-fried with spices, this was not great, to simple and not cooked well / basmati rice and mixed naan.

For dessert I got the rhubarb Chuski Falooda made with basil seeds, saffron & rose petal kulfi. We were limited to only one dessert from the set menu as the other option was cooked with alcohol. I don’t often eat rhubarb so this dessert was just okay, it looked great but was not the best. In retrospect, I should have got the 3 course and ordered the chocolate fondant instead.

The service was great from start to finish, from the point i reserved a table and received a booking confirmation to the end of the meal, it felt like an experience and one where we were well looked after. There was a slight delay in giving food menus, but i think that’s because me and my friend both looked like we were businessmen on a slow lunch, so they wanted us to order drinks.

I recommend visiting here either for lunch or getting here before 7pm and trying the set menu as it offers great value for menu and a sample of the menu.

I am sure It won’t be long before Jamavar is awarded a Michelin star.

The Westbridge Hotel Restaurant

International

Halal Food Guy

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March 23, 2017

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The Westbridge Hotel restaurant is located a few mins walk from Westfield Stratford city. They offer a fully halal menu in a halal environment as they don’t serve alcohol (but allow it to be brought in)

I came to check this place out for 2 reasons, one the menu appealed to me, steak and burgers are up my alley. Also, this place is offered 50% with a tastecard, I you know I like a discount.

The venue is clean, contemporary and feels upmarket. It really doesn’t feel like you are In the dodgy end of Stratford.

Menus

The menu has a focused selection of items, a decent range of international starters, mains, grilled items and a few burgers.

Menus

Drinks

For drinks I went for a pina colada and a raspberry Mojito. Each Mocktail costing £3.50 which is pretty decent value. The pina colada didn’t have the right balance between coconut cream and pineapple juice, so it ended up tasting like pineapple juice.

Starters

Fried baby calamari served with tartar sauce. £6.50

Good portion size was enough for 2 people, it was a very simple dish, the breading was light and cooked well and the calamari didn’t feel like rubber and was soft and nice to eat. 7/10

Pulled beef spring rolls. £6.50

The filling of pulled beef was cooked well, however, i felt that it lacked seasoning and flavour in the meat. It was a good size and a very big spring roll. 6/10

Mains

Wagyu beef burger £18

I was expecting a more from this burger. On the menu at £18 I was hoping for the distinctive wagyu flavours to come though, but i really had a hard time telling this burger apart from a standard beef burger. In fact if you were to blindfold me I would think that it’s just the standard burger from PFC or something like, i didn’t get the sense of grandeur that one would expect from a burger costing £18. It was too simple and didn’t have a wow factor. The construction of the burger was good, it didn’t fall apart, but it was served with two big and cold tomatoes, cold tomatoes just taste wrong and should always be used at room temperature. 5/10

Mixed grill £21.50

The mix Grill was the biggest disappointment of the night the menu description said I’ll be getting a sirloin steak, chicken shish, lamb shish and a chicken sausage. I requested the sirloin steak to be cooked medium rare. I was really disappointed to see that the steak has been cooked well done, the lamb shish was basically a unappealing looking lamb sausage, the chicken shish was extremely bland and had no flavour whatsoever and the chicken sausage was more of a processed sausage.

Despite having asked the state to be cooked medium rare when you get a steak that’s well-done you get a steak that chewy tough and really not pleasant to eat any other day I would normally send it back, however I had a somewhere that I had to attend to and was in a rush. 2/10

Both the burger and mix grill came with chips.

Dessert

For dessert, I ordered the chocolate fondant and the creme brulee both served of different types of ice cream. the chocolate fondant was a massive disappointment it felt like it was made in a microwave the outer part of the fondant was very spongy and too soft and the middle was too hot which reinforces my idea that it may have possibly been made in a microwave it tasted cheap, lacked a good taste and was not nice at all. 3/10

The creme brulee I was ok would be the best way to describe it nothing special it was served cold. 6/10

The service was efficient and what you would expect from a hotel restaurant. The food came out within a good time. We had drinks and 3 courses done within 70mins.

My main gripe is with the pricing. Even with a whopping 50% off my bill which saved me just shy of £30, I felt like I over paid. I don’t think even at the price I paid the food was worth it, especially the mix grill and the supposed Wagyu beef burger. I say supposed as it didn’t taste of Wagyu.

Not recommended.

However, if you want a halal menu with HMC meat and no alcohol in a non “Indian” environment then this is a rare opportunity to check it out.. Just don’t order the mix grill.

Hankies Cafe [CLOSED]

Indian

Halal Food Guy

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July 15, 2026

4

I’ve been to this place twice in a week, the first visit I took a chance without any knowledge about the place, turns out I’ve found an absolute gem.

I started writing the review based on my first visit, but before I got around to posting it I went again, so this review is based on 2 different visits less than one week apart.

Hankies Cafe is located on Shaftesburys Avenue right in the west end. From the outside is a small, hidden and easy to miss with all the sights and sounds of the buzzing city.

Hankies focuses on serving up simple Indian tapas style street food which has become a trend among new restaurants that have similar food. I learned that a hankie is a basically a large thing roti that’s thin enough to read through. These made fresh as is one of the first things you see when you enter.

I visited here on my lunch break and took my mum out for a quick lunch, she’s fussy when it comes to food but like myself she loved the food here.

Menus

The menu is small and simple, here’s what I ordered and thought of each item.

From the street bites menu, DAHI PURI Four simple Bhel Puri with okra, onion, pomegranate, rice puffs, chilli tomato chutney. With yoghurt and Tamarind sauce over them. Great textures and good flavours, a really good start.7.5/10 – £4

Chive and Garlic Grilled prawns. These were absolutely fantastic. The quality and freshness of the prawn were of a high standard. The prawns were marinated in simple flavours and cooked to perfection. These are on par with some Michelin starred prawns I had from barrafina. 10/10 £6.50

Lamb chops

Off the grill menu again I went for 2 chili lamb chops. Once again I was impressed with what I ate. The flavours were good, but the quality of the lamb and the way it was cooked was just perfect. There was a perfect amount of fat which just melted in the mouth upon each bite. The lamb chop was cooked to a perfect medium rare and prepared in what I’ve learned recently as French trim, where they remove the meat off the bone/rib area.

Each lamb chop is £4.50, but if I compare with Dishoom 3 lamb chops for a £18 then it is worth it. I’m gonna give it 10/10.

Next came the yellow chili fish tikka. I’m not sure what fish it was but I’m guessing mackerel from the smell. After having the prawns and lamb chops this fish tikka was not as good as these two items, but we’re still decent nevertheless.

If you go at lunch time you can order a full Indian Thali called a HANKIES LUNCH costing £9.5
where you can choose – Chicken Dhaba or Kidney N’ Keema Kachori Poppers, Dal, Hankies Salad, Raita, Roomali, Aam Gur Ki Kher. I liked what I tried, apart from the daal and I didn’t try the raita as it’s not something I eat. The (kher) rice pudding dessert was really good. I got the chicken Dhaba, a simple chicken curry.It also came with a hankie but I also ordered an additional one which came with this very simple but great tasting side dish.

The total bill was less than £20!

When you factor in location and the quality of the food, the prices are really worth your money.

Here are some items from my 2nd visit

KACHORI POPPERS £4.5, green peas, lotus stem chips, yoghurt and Tamarind mint Chutney.

LEMON CHILLI & JAGGERY CHICKEN £4.5, These were really good, very soft, tender and juicy – main issue is with the portion amount and maybe could do with a bit more flavour or sauce added. 8.5/10

KIDNEY N’ KEEMA £5.5, lamb mince, kidney, tomato and coriander sauce. Simple but tasted great – 8/10

EGG & CRAB GOTALA £7.5, eggs ‘masala’, spicy crab. A non meat dish, you could taste that fishy crab was a different dish

CHILLI LAMB CHOP £4.5 (per chop) – Still amazing and just a must.

CHIVE & GARLIC PRAWN £6.5 – I don’t know how they get it so soft, they taste so good. 9/10

If this place was Dishoom or some other hipster place it would of queues all the time. I like the fact that’s it’s new and undiscovered. I’m hoping that they keep up the standards and that it was not a one off. The food was excellent, venue clean, modern and contemporary and service friendly and welcoming. Food is served when ready so items come out at different times. Also, I managed to get 50% using my tastecard. So value wise it was brilliant – and I’ve based my score on this fact.

Maida / Wraps & Wings

Halal Food Guy

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March 23, 2017

1

Just around the corner from brick lane is the fusion restaurant Ma’dia on Shoreditch high street.

The Ma’dia menu and the food it serves up has something for everyone, they have a traditional Indian menu as well as a indo Chinese menu. But now they also have a new addition to the menu and it’s called wraps and wings.

This separate menu or pop up inside Ma’dia offers up an American menu of wraps, chicken wings and burgers. The wraps and wings menu really has a wide range of items, loads of different types of wings, lamb burgers and wraps. I think the menu should be a little more focused and could be improved if it had fewer options.

DRINKS

WINGS

I decided to sample some of the different wings and sides so ordered a mixed batch of wings. There’s a wide range of different wings some of which you can have grilled or deep fried. Then you pick the sauce for the wings. I picked grilled Korean, buffalo, sweet and spicy, BBQ and Fried Buttermilk.

For me I really liked the Buttermilk fried chicken, the texture of the breading was good and the chicken was juicy and tender.

The other wings I feel was not as good as the fried buttermilk, I found the sauces a bit too strong in pretty much all of the other wings. They all had the same problem of being grilled then dipped in their respective sauce and therefore lacked authenticity.

Also checked out the chilli chips which were decent and the presentation of food was good as well.

BURGER

The burger was an interesting one. All the burgers are made from aged spring lamb. The burger has a strong Indian spice taste to it and is directed for the local crowd. I could taste that the lamb was cooked with cumin and garam Masala. It came with these Indian style onion rings which I really liked, the taste and crunch added a different layer to the burger. Overall, it was nice to have a burger with a difference and I liked it.

DESSERT

Desserts are epic. But one of the surprising highlights was this Oreo cheesecake which was one of the best cheesecakes I’ve had. So well made, the layers of cake were brilliant and it tasted great. Very unexpected but highly recommended.

I think this place is good if you come from Indian, Pakistani, bengali etc background and you want to take your mum for a burger that she won’t call bland 🙂 If you don’t fancy a burger then there’s always Indian food menu.

I was invited to review the wraps and wings menu. As usual this never affects my thoughts about the food.

House of Ho

Halal Food Guy

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March 23, 2017

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House of Ho is a restaurant serving up Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai dishes in Central London. Located behind Oxford Street in the on Charlotte Street an area I know well, I used to work in a office a few buildings down for 4 years a couples of years back.

Anyway, I was invited to check out the menu and knowing that they serve halal chicken I decided to check it out. The venue is chic, cosy and modern, the main dining area is small but you don’t feel crammed in. Once seated I browsed the menu which featured a range of Japanese sushi and sashimi as well as different items like dumplings and food of the grill. I was given any 6 dishes to chose from, i knew one was going to be reserved for dessert so I had to pick 5 food options.

Menus

We started the evening with Mocktails.
NHA TRANG BREEZE / Mango Puree, Passion Juice, Mango Juice, Ginger Beer / £5.50
LEMONGRASS LEMONADE / Lemongrass Syrup, Lemon Juice, Soda Top. / £4.50

The lemongrass mocktail was great. A simple drink but the balance of flavours and sweetness was spot on.

I decided to go for a range of halal chicken dishes and some sea food items.

Starters

First up is the popcorn shrimp in a creamy spicy sauce. Those familiar with the popcorn shrimp from pf chang’s will like this, in fact I think these are better. A very large portion of deep fried shrimp which were soft and well cooked covered in a pleasant creamy and mild spicy sauce.

My choice of starter was the Grilled glazed chicken wings. Perfectly grilled chicken wings cooked and glazed with a sauce that’s similar to Hoi son. My only gripe is that the wings were small size wise but what they lacked in size they made up with flavour and taste. Highly recommended. £7

Sushi

Next up.. Sushi

Since there was a focus on sushi on the menu I decided to try out the sushi and sashimi platter coming in at £35. Yes, it’s on the expensive side but when in Rome..

The presentation of this platter has a wow factor and it’s very instagram worthy. A liquid ice smoking tray of sushi and sashimi on a platter of crushed ice. The platter came with tuna and sharmachi tartare, salmon, yellow tail, 3 sushi rolls and 3 dragon rolls. The fish was fresh as where all of the ingredients. I can’t claim to be a sushi connoisseur but I could really say that £35 price tag is justified when I get a sushi box from itsu that tastes similar. However, there’s definitely no comparison when it comes to the freshness of the fish.

Mains

For the main course I was recommended prior to eating here to check out the green curry, so I got that as a main as well as the chilean sea bass.

You tend to see chilean Sea Bass on the menu of upmarket restaurants as it carries a usual heavy price tag and is also know as Patagonian Toothfish in some areas. The grilled fish was served wrapped in a leaf and served with a glazing of plum sauce. For me this sauce didn’t work. I found overpowering and too sweet and didn’t add anything. The fish itself was perfectly cooked, soft and delicate to eat. £30

The chicken green curry (My pictures came out too dark and blurry)

I really like Thai food and the green and red curry is something I like cooking as well. What I like about Thai food is the usual use and presence of deep flavours and rich ingredients .

Sadly this green curry was really lacking in the taste department. There was very little taste of key ingredients like lemongrass or heat from chilies. In fact the overall depth of flavour where lacking from this curry and no pungency of the fresh and exciting ingredients you expect. The only positive thing was the chicken was well cooked, soft and tender.

The service started off well, we were welcomed and the menu and style of food was explained. Up until the sushi platter, once we finished I remained on the table for ages and there was a long wait between finishing this and getting the mains. However we were well looked after during the night and staff kept checking in on us.

Dessert

Lucky I left room for dessert and when you see the option for ordering a dessert platter that’s what you order. Costing £25 you get four items, ideal for a group of four.

Our favourite item was the banana crumble. A great sweet dish with good textures and balance of sweetness that complimented the fresh banana really well. Recommended.

The green tea fondant was different, I wasn’t expecting it to be sweet but it was. The fondant itself was soft and gooey and was nice dish. The other items where a selection of fresh exotic fruit and 3 scopes of different ice cream and sobres.

Overall, I think its great to see that House of Ho offer up halal items, even if its just a few items, The chicken wings were good and worth checking out. The sushi i think didn’t show value for money. I think, its a nice place for catching up with friends after work with a few drinks, chicken wings and desserts in a chic environment.

I was invited to review here and was given the choice of ordering 6 items and 2 drinks.

DUM Biryani House

Indian

Halal Food Guy

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May 9, 2017

2

I pretty much work next to the new Indian opening Dum Biryani House in Soho, specialising in you guessed it Dum Biryani!. I contacted this place in November to check if the food was halal and they confirmed that it was. I missed out on the soft launch when it opened but decided to pay a visit after work 2 months after I spotted it on day one!

The menu is small and only consists of a handful of starters/small plates and 3 different type of Dum Biryani. (view menu in link below)

Starters

For starters, I went for Kodi Vepudu (Chicken wings) and Mutton Fry.

The chicken wings were ridiculously hot, in terms of chilli. An overuse of green chillies made it very unpleasant to eat. My mouth was on fire and that burning heat just overpowered any chance of my taste buds being put to use to enjoy the flavours of the chicken wings. These should be advertised as super hot wings, I can handle my chili, (i get the black bottle of hot sauce at nando’s!) 4/10

The Mutton Fry was a better dish compared with the hot wings. Slow cooked sliced lamb mixed with a Andhra masala and served with some small pieces of paratha. Andhra is a blend of spices very similar to garam masala, which is why it tasted so familiar, while I was eating it i couldn’t help but draw the similarities with my mum’s cooking! 6.5/10

Side note. no plates given for the starters and I couldn’t get the attention of any service staff.

I went for the Lamb Biryani. When it arrives it does look impressive, a massive dome of pastry over the biryani. It’s also served with Mirch Unda Salan (curry with green chilli and half boiled egg) and smoked aubergine raita.

At first, the Biryani felt too dry and too light, it also had a strong raw taste of spices that felt like it hadn’t had enough time to be cooked together. (In particular the taste of cloves). The lamb itself felt dry and had very little taste, it was not tender and slightly hard to chew. It was only after 15 mins of making my way thru the Biryani and giving it a good mix together when it began to improve in taste. The flavours started to become balanced and the texture of the rice became moist and blended better. this is something you expect from the start. So overall, I am not really rating this Biryani that highly. 5/10

A video posted by Halal Food Guy (@halalfoodguy) on Jan 19, 2017 at 9:53am PST

For a restaurant that specialises in one dish it’s strange to see how they didn’t get it quite right on my visit. The dish was bland and unbalanced to start with then slowly got better.

The price for one Biyani is £15 and overpriced for what I got.

The decor and atmosphere all depends on where you are seated. When i first arrived I was showed a seat tucked away in a cold and lonely corner of the restaurant and was told to sit and the end of a table designed for 6. I chose not to be seated there and wait for a table in the main dining area which was dimly light for a moody atmosphere. The restaurant is underground and has no natural lighting but you don’t feel it.

Overall, I think there are better options for Indian food around the area. The signature dish was weak and really needs improvement. I’m not letting the mini spectal of the dome of puff pastry cracking open with a plume of steam distracting me from what’s at the end of the day average food at best.

Total was £34 inc service.

Two Buns

Burgers

Halal Food Guy

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March 6, 2017

1

In East London, (where as you may know I’m from and live) we are pretty much spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a burger to eat. So when a new burger place opens up across the other side of London in Harrow I really didn’t care, but I was hearing a lot of good things and having just bought a new car I thought I’d make the one hour drive and check out Two Buns.

Two Buns describes itself their burgess as gourmet but it’s certainly not. It’s fast food I wanted to make that clear.

I went for the triple and the double patty was burger with orders of sweet potatoes fried and chilli chips. Ordering is done at the Till and payment taken before food received.

First of all I started the night of with some non alcoholic beer, which I sent back as they tasted nasty and served at room temperature.

When the burgers came, I was given the wrong one, the double. Which actually turned out okay as it was better than the triple. So before coming here I had some high expectations. The main issue I had with the burger was with the texture and consistency of the meat. It was too juicy and not it a good way, it was a unpleasant gooey texture which wasn’t helped with the overuse of cheese slices. In the triple burger, there as just way too much cheese, which overpowered the overall taste of the burger. The menu didn’t mention the 3 layers of American cheese that comes inside the triple patty burger!

Taste wise, it felt the same as a McDonald’s cheeseburger (the halal ones from Dubai or other halal countries!)

The double is a better choice that the triple. You have a choice of fresh or grilled onions, but wasn’t offered the option when I ordered. My mistake, I should have got grilled onions.

Price wise the double was £6 and triple £8 just for the burger. A bit expensive just for fast food in Harrow.

With so many options on the east part of town I wouldn’t recommend the trip, unless you are a local. We just have more and better options.

The chilli beef was decent, but they did just pour hot chilli over cold chips.

Halal Food GuyA BLOG DEDICATED TO DISCOVERING THE BEST IN HALAL FOOD IN LONDON AND BEYOND

Halal Food GuyA BLOG DEDICATED TO DISCOVERING THE BEST IN HALAL FOOD IN LONDON AND BEYOND

A blog DEDICATED to discovering the best in halal food in London and BEYOND

Bhaaji Pao Fondue £5.50

Paapdi Chaat £5.00

Bullet Wings £5.00

Lamb Ki Chaampe £9.00

Kurkuri Bhindi £5.00

Pindi Chole Kulche £6.50

Dhaaba Murg (On the Bone) £8.00

RESTAURANT CLOSED DOWN

Menu

Starters

Grill

Mains

Menu

Mains

Sides

Desserts

Menus

Drinks

Starters

Mains

Dessert

Here are some items from my 2nd visit

MENU

DRINKS

WINGS

BURGER

DESSERT

Starters

Sushi

Mains

Dessert