Gökyüzü, Chingford

Turkish

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October 19, 2020

Since writing this review I have been back a few times and now have adjusted the score. it has lost a few points on food and service. May 2017

The popular Turkish restaurant once ranked in the top 3 restaurants in London on Trip advisor opened up a new second branch in Chingford over a year ago and since it’s opened I’ve actually been there 4 times, so that should give you an idea of where this review might be going!

The new location is situated just off the North Circular and is a lot bigger than the original in Harringay Green Lanes. It’s spacious and can accommodate a lot of people, i’m guessing 200 plus.

Each time i’ve visited I ordered the same thing and you really can’t go wrong with the Full Platter coming in at £30 aimed for 2-3 people to share and comes with Lamb Shish • Chicken Shish Adana Kebab • Lamb Ribs 4pcs, Chicken Wings 8pcs, Chicken Doner • Lamb Doner Served with Rice & Bulgur. As standard you are also served with a zingy and tangy salad and fresh bread.

There are many Turkish eateries that offer what is now a standard meat feast, but In my honest opinion Gökyüzü consistently maintains the best standards in terms of meat quality and taste. Each item is always well cooked and the natural flavours of the meat or chicken really have maximum flavour.

The lamb and chicken doner never tastes greasy or heavy and the lamb ribs are an item that always of a higher standard in quality compared to other places, having a less fatty and oily after taste.

Everything is pretty on point and regardless of how busy the place is food and service does not seem to suffer, when it’s busy there is always plenty of staff around and food does not take ages to come out.

The only issue is that whenever I go to other places and get a platter there seems always food left over.. But when i visit here well, the plate is totally demolished… which means one of 2 things, 1, the food is that good or 2 there is not enough food.

Devran

Turkish

Halal Food Guy

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March 6, 2017

1

Stoke Newington is very popular place for Turkish restaurants and recently I asked the question to my instagram family of where their favourite turkish restaurant and the answer of Devran came back as a popular place so I decided to not go to my regular Gokyuzu and tryDevran.

I visited on a Sunday evening and the place was not very busy. Not messing about, I went straight ahead and ordered the Devran special costing £34.90 consisting of Lamb Shish, Chicken Shish, Adana Kofte, Lamb Ribs 4pcs, Lamb Chops 2pcs, Chicken Wings 8pcs, Chicken Doner and Lamb Doner served with rice and couscous.

The mix grill came with very impressive spread of Salad, bread, cacik and Patlican soslu which i tried not to full up on.

The main course followed soon after and placed on the table was an epic platter of meats. I started off with the chicken shish and the first piece I went for was undercooked and raw in the middle so I called over the manager and he apologised and said that he would bring over another fresh skewer.

Not the best start, so next I went for the lamb and I found it again slightly undercooked and too chewy and not a pleasure to eat. In general i found ALL the meat rather bland and underwhelming, the food lacked any real taste and flavour, of course its turkish food and by by standard definition it’s not meant to light the culinary senses on fire but I didn’t really taste much from the natural flavours of the meat and chicken.

In terms of price I think £35 for a mix grill designed for 3 people is on the expensive side. The service was positive, attentive and overall friendly. Plates where changed between starters and main course which is something small but a nice touch in service.

The whole experience was a shame as i was looking forward to it and I found the food a bit of a let down. The quality of the food was not of the standard to my benchmark of my favourite turkish place.

Tamarind

Indian

Halal Food Guy

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January 7, 2018

0

At the time of writing this there are currently (from memory) 4 halal Indian restaurants that have been awarded a Michelin star. Benares, gymkhana, Trishna and Amaya that I have been to, all of which varied in standard, quality, taste and quality with Gymkhana being my favourite among the list. Tamarind was the last place I needed to tick off and being my birthday I was treated to a birthday dinner.

We arrive at 7pm to the Indian eatery located in the upmarket area of Mayfair where you will find many fine dining establishments.

The dining area is located in the dimly lit basement, so there no natural light. To me the restaurant felt dated and lacked a modern or stylish style to the decor and surroundings. The wooden floor creaked and echoed the flat atmosphere of the environment which really lacked character.

Coming here was a suppress for my birthday and I made sure I had a light lunch, at Gyms Kitchen which was really nice, despite this I wasn’t feeling all that hungry, part of this was also down to the fact that I have been on the lean in 15 meal plan for the last month so had been eating heathy and less. So because of this I opted for a modest order for dinner. It’s going to be unfair to base a restaurant review on 3 dishes but I’m not planning to come back to I might as well share my thoughts.

For starters I ordered Pudhina Chops £14.95, Lamb cutlets with dried mint, tomato & coriander chutney. When I think of the best lamb chops I think about Dishoom, gymkhana and Trishna for really nailing it for taste and quality and I was expecting something in the same ball park, however I found the lambs a little underwhelming. They tasted okay and but they lacked deep flavours and that thickness that makes them juicy and mouthwatering. Good but not great. 6/10

First main course I ordered is the Bhuna Murgh, £20.75. Chicken thighs tossed with garlic, chillies and freshly ground spices. The chicken Bhuna was very average, again I was expecting some exceptional cooking and a taste from this dish but was left feeling very unimpressed, there was nothing that send my senses a light. There was an overuse of tomatoes which overpowered a dish that lacked enough use of species and chill. 5/10

The other main we order was the Hyderabadi Shank or lamb shank costing £25.50, Slow-cooked lamb shank with turmeric, yoghurt and freshly ground spices.The lamb shank appearance always stands out on the table. Served in a thick sauce the lamb was very soft and tender and fell off the bone with a gentle pull so it was very good cooked. Well cooked however doesn’t mean it tasted great, again the sauce and taste was very basic, felt like something I could eat at a cheapo curry house on brick lane back in the day. No complex use of spice or flavour, just a baseline on tomato sauce. 5/10

The service slowly deteriorate through the night. As the restaurant got busier service become increasingly inattentive, it was hard to get the attention of staff, tables and plates were not cleared and water was not kept topped up with out instruction, not the kind of service one would expect from a Michelin starred restaurant.

Because of this when I requested the bill I instructed for the service charge to be withheld and not added, which it was without any fuss.

Having now been to 5 Indian Michelin starred restaurants I can easily put Tamarind rooted at the bottom of the list. From food, service value and atmosphere everything aspect puts it firmly in the average zone. Granted, I only had 3 dishes but based on those dishes and the poor service I wouldn’t recommend this place.

Chi Kitchen (Closed)

Halal Food Guy

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September 29, 2020

1

Update 2:

I visited again. August 19. This time I came with a 50% off discount. ~~You can do the same via Open table using this link http://www.opentable.co.uk/chi-kitchen-oxford-circus?covers=2#~~

I just had a look at my old pictures and have noticed a new menu, looks like they have taken off the Wagyu items and have added some new ones.

I have updated a view scores, the food and the service. On this visit the service was excellent from start to finish. But what I have to write about are these amazing Char Siu lamb ribs I had! They where the BEST damn ribs I have ever had, they sweet sauce they where BBQ’d in where great, they had 2 layers of meat, the first being melt in your mouth fat layer then a soft tender layer of lamb. Totally amazing!. Full price is £12.50. 10/10

I also had a bite of my friends Chicken skewers, on the menu as CHICKEN YAKITORI 鸡肉串 – Succulent pieces of chicken skewered and marinated in sweet soy sauce. I had one bite, these where nice, but I was so in love with my Lamb, I didn’t want to have any more.. it felt like i was cheating on the yummy ribs! These are £6.50 full price. 7.5/10

My main course was disappointing, I did not enjoy it. On the menu it reads CRISPY SHREDDED BEEF – Tender pieces of sirloin beef shredded and stir fried in sweet chilli sauce served with steamed jasmine rice. So I pictured pure beef, but it was coated in batter and the flavour and texture of the sauce was not to my taste. 4/10

My friend went for the SEA BASS WITH CHILLI AND LIME, Sea bass with lemongrass and garlic
served with lime and seafood sauce. It was cooked in a Korean BBQ it was very good. No bones, soft, light and a great taste of chilli and the zing of the citrus from the lemons. I had a little bit of it and really wished I ordered the same! 8/10

My 2nd visit was a far better food experience, the service was better and of course having 50% made it taste even better!

So my scores for this visit, would be

Food – 8
(the shredded beef was a let down)

Value – 8
(with 50% discount)

Service – 9
I very friendly and personable service, the Supervisor/Manager was very welcoming.

Atmosphere – 8

———–

We are spoilt for choice when It comes to Halal food in London and lucky to have so many places to eat that serve halal food, however most of these said places are very similar, burgers, indian, grills, chicken, turkish and others. Nevertheless, the aren’t too many places that offer the style of cuisine and food like Chi Kitchen.

This pan asian/Chinese/thai/Japanese eatery is located rather strangely inside the ground floor of Debenhams on Oxford St, head to the rear of the store and it’s there, or you can enter via the rear entrance.

The restaurant is spacious, well light with a view of the bar and some of the kitchen. The menu has a range of different type of food and dishes, including sushi, dim sum, burgers, noodles, rice dishes and steaks – so loads of options available.

Menu

Mojito

After taking a age to decide on what to eat because of the choice on the menu, we finally ordered! I started with a Virgin Mojito. Tasted very good, sweet with a good balance of lime and mint and for £5.25, that’s not bad price for Central London.

Food

Rather than trying separate starters i ordered a platter, which included Popcorn shrimp (Deep fried tempura shrimp served with wasabi mayonnaise) smoked chicken, duck spring rolls and prawn spring rolls.

I find these starters very middle of the road, nothing really stood out as a stand out item. Granted, it’s a platter of deep fried food, so what was I hoping for right? But i was expecting something better that was more memorable.

Now before I sat down and looked at the menu, I knew 90% that i was going to order the Wagyu Steak and I didn’t disappoint.

When it arrived (very quickly i might add) i was rather surprised with the small portion size, at £20 it’s not cheap and you get what looks like 150g of meat, pre cut and served medium rare. So how was it, very underwhelming and let down with the taste. I really was expecting melt in the mouth meat with natural flavours of meat, but I didn’t get that. I also found the meat had cooled down in temperature, i only took no more than 2 mins taking pictures before i started and the steak had already gone cold. In all honestly it didn’t taste nor have the texture or consistency of wagyu meat. The day before I cooked a ribeye steak at home and that tasted better. So very disappointed with this.

Also ordered some sweet potato fries… as you can see from the picture, it’s not what you expect! It’s deep fried in batter it was an odd method of cooking such a standard item and it really didn’t work.

The dessert menu looked interesting and your friendly waitress recommended the chocolate sphere.. Which sounds exactly like what it is – a chocolate sphere with a sphere of ice cream inside served with caramel sauce on top. I was ordered a chocolate fondant. Despite their impressive appearance, both desserts were not up to the scratch. The ice cream that came with the fondant, was salted caramel, it tasted of nothing, like seriously, there was no taste. The fondant itself felt like it was cooked in a microwave, as it, throw a cake mix in a cup and whack it on.

The chocolate sphere was again lacked taste, did someone forget to add the sugar or something? I rarely allow a dessert go to waste, but even the ice cream sphere was pretty poor.

All in all there are loads of items to choose from on the menu and it’s not fair to judge a place based on a few dishes, but like with all reviews i can’t eat everything – but from what i did eat and experience i have mixed feelings. On one hand i liked the location, menu choice and the fact everything is halal in place with nice service and relaxed atmosphere.

But the food i ate was rather average and the prices and quality for some dishes, especially the wagyu steak was very poor. I would go back again and try some of the other things of the menu but not in any rush to.

Total amount came to £71.21 inc service.

All meat halal as confirmed by staff.
What I ordered:

Fried starter platter (for 2 persons)
Popcorn shrimp (Deep fried tempura shrimp  served with wasabi mayonnaise) smoked chicken,
2 duck spring rolls and 2 prawn spring rolls
£19.95


Sweet potato fries
Hand cut sweet potato fries with spicy truffle mayonnaise
£4.95

Japanese wafu beef steak
Japanese beef steak sliced and served with wafu sauce
£19.95

Chocolate fondant
with salted caramel ice cream 
£5.95

Chocolate sphere 
£7.25

Meat House London

Halal Food Guy

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May 10, 2017

3

Burgers and Steaks seem to be on the rise and for good reason, the demand for it is growing and the muslim foodie likes a burger! So I was invited to check out Meathouse, a new steakhouse and bar in kings Cross.

Located a few mins walk from Kings Cross station, the restaurant is bright, spacious and has a decor that looks like a tavern or upmarket British gastro pub with open brick work and leather trim.

The restaurant has a bar (yes they serve alcohol) towards the front, it looked clear that the front was housing diners that had alcohol and towards the back is where you found the non alcohol areas, which is where I found myself.

First look at the menu and you can see that there is something for everyone, including seafood options, burgers, wraps, salads and different steaks.

To start the night, I ordered a Strawberry Mojito @ £6.50 it is on the expensive side, but when you factor in the location then you see why and the fact that it was a very good drink, strong flavours, sweet taste and very refreshing made it a good start. 7.5/10

Starters

I went for prawn skewers and chicken wings. The chicken wings were grilled then BBQ sauce added on once cooked. Although the portion size was very good, the wings lacked that taste you would expect, they were good but not great. 6/10

The king prawn skewers were well presented and cooked well, with a garlic butter and lemon marinade. 7/10

Mains

Here is the hard part, what to order from the range of five different options of steaks, which includes the rare tomahawk steak. I wanted to try a burger as well so i opted for a modest sized 8oz ribeye steak and a beef burger, my friend was brave and ordered the t-bone steak 15oz. All steaks come with a choice of sauce, side and a side of veg.

My Rib eye steak ordered medium rare came served on a wooden board with my chosen side with sweet potato chips which were cut thin. After the steak with through its photo shoot, I cut into my steak for the first inspection – is it medium rare? Well it was a PERFECT medium rare, the outside cooked with a perfect cross hatch burn marks which locked in the flavour of the meat and melted the marbling of fat to create a outer layer of taste. I enjoyed every bite, the seasoning was just right and well, I’m getting hungry as I write this. 9/10

I had a little taste of the t-bone as well, with this large cut of meat there are different textures and tastes as it contains different areas of muscle groups from the meat, so some parts are leaner than others, which produces different tastes. Just like my ribeye this steak was cooked perfectly and tasted brilliant as well 9/10

By this time I was pretty full but left room for that burger, in retrospect I should’ve actually looked at what burgers were on offer and ordered the juicy lucy (as this looked so much better), but i ended up with the classic beef burger. Hard to really give this a review as the rib eye left such a mark on me that the burger had no chance of making some noise. Nevertheless, the burger was solid, cooked well, nice taste of meat came through, a simple and classic burger. 7/10

Desserts

After having a nice chat with the owner (who was very humble and down to earth) about his ethos and vision for his place we went on to desserts. This is where things got even better.

I ordered the chocolate fondant and my friend the raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake. First, my fondant; rich, sweet and impressive taste. The outer casing was very soft and sliced open with ease letting out the hot dark chocolate. It is very similar to the chocolate fondants from Banana tree. 7/10

Then we have the cheesecake and this was very very good. I was surprised with how good it tasted. It was fresh, creamy and the texture balanced with the soft light cheese layer having a lot of taste. 9/10

All in all, we had a great time eating here at the Meat House London, which has been only open for 3 months at the time of writing. Although the prices of steaks may look expensive when you compare a 8oz ribeye to other places where you can get a aged steak it comes in as one of the most competitive priced as you also get a side. The price point for the burgers for example are reasonable and competitive and suit the area. The mock-tails are on the expensive side and to be honest I wouldn’t recommend getting one due to the high price, but soft drinks and milkshakes are well priced.

Basically I’m saying this is a very good restaurant, good drinks, food and desserts so there really is something for everyone with friendly and efficient service.

What I ordered

Buffalo Wings .................................................... £5.95
King Prawns ...................................................... £7.45
8oz Ribeye Steak ................................................. £17.95
15oz T-Bone ...................................................... £27.95
Raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake ......................... £5.50
Chocolate Fondant ................................................. £5.50

I was invited to review and the meal was complimentary

The Meat Co. (Part 2)

Halal Food Guy

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March 6, 2017

3

About a year ago, I had the best steak ever at Meat Co (Read first review here) and I went back last week, this time with a invitation.

Within the restaurant you can decide to be seated in the “halal” area, where no alcohol is served, But I opted to seat in the non halal area, as It had better atmosphere.

The halal menu has loads of different choices when it comes to food and picking what to eat can take a lot of time. There is something for everyone, burgers, beef steak, hanging skewers, chicken, lamb and more.

Drinks

For drinks I ordered the Mosquito, Cape Town Crystal and MWCO Lemonade. I have to be honest and say the the mocktails where on the disappointing side. None of the drinks where good to say the least and they lacked a balance of sweet and flavour. The Mosquito was too bitter and I would have been better off having a sprite!

Starters

For starters I went for the Peri–Peri Prawns £10.50 and Boerewors sausage £9.25.

These are where a great start to the meal, perfectly cooked prawns served with a delicious peri peri sauce and rice.

This dish was described as a type of sausage popular in South African cuisine and that is what it was, a long sausage, but not your typical processed tasting one!

I also ordered some Chocolate & Beetroot Bread £3.50, it sounded like a odd mix but it was really good and I didn’t expect it to be so good but it worked! – Recommended

Mains

I took advantage of being allowed to order more than 2 mains and ordered 4! There where only me and a friend eating here!

Well, there was always going to be one thing I was ever going to order. When I cut my first piece and it entered my mouth the meat felt like it melted in the tongue. The flavours of the naturals fats and meat where incredible. It was like eating little bits of soft and tender clouds that were main from meat. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare. The closer I was getting to the middle of the steak the better it was getting, savouring each mouthful. £55

I also ordered the 300g North American Black Angus medium rare, grain fed for 120 days and wet aged for 35+ days. £34.00. I Actually tried this steak before the wagyu. I found this steak had a underlying iron and grass like taste. The texture was perfect but I taste what seemed like blood which really was not a nice experience. Maybe it is because The Waygu is such a prime cut of meat and anything else would be inferrer in comparison.

By this time I was feeling pretty stuffed but I was really looking forward to trying these ribs, as I hadn’t had beef ribs before believe it or not. These BBQ glazed ribs where great. Cooked perfectly, tender and the taste was great. I couldn’t finish these so took these home and ate most of this the next day after reheating in the oven and it still tasted great. Beef Ribs 600g £23.00

The cheeseburger was made in a simple manner, nothing too crazy going on here, but the thick and well cooked beef patty was very flavoursome and juicy.

Desserts

We had to allow some time for the epic amount of meat we had eaten before this arrived. The platter offers up smaller portions of desserts on the menu and it was great, its meant for 2 people, and i think its really good value as i think 4 people could share this and at £15 i think its great as you can sample 5 different desserts. Which includes, “Madiba Charity Malva Pudding”, Dark Chocolate Fondant, Meat Co Brownie, Clementine Brulée and ice cream.

A video posted by Halal Food Guy (@halalfoodguy) on Jul 16, 2016 at 2:34pm PDT

As if we didn’t order enough, we also got a Peanut Butter Cheesecake! Which was very good as well.

The meat co is one of the best fine dining experiences you will have in London, yes the prices are on the expensive side but you get to try food that you can’t eat anywhere else. There are loads of things that you can sample here, just make sure you bring your appetite and your wallet! I had a great experience and totally recommended Meat and co as the best halal steak in London, that I’ve had hands down.

I was invited to dine here. The meal was complimentary

Ma’Plucker

Chicken

Halal Food Guy

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March 6, 2017

1

In Soho, there’s all types of different places to eat, hipster fried chicken doesn’t not normally draw me in, it’s not a place that I go “Oooh, i wish that was halal”. What am I waffling on about? Basically, I only went here because of the halal factor, which I guess is a good thing as Ma’plucker have decided to tap into the 5% of population which has a market spend of 20 billion.

A simple menu and concept. There are three types of chicken and 3 different bases, buttermilk fried, pulled and rotisserie which you can have in a bun, with salad or on a waffle.

Sadly, on the day of my visit, they were out of waffles!

The first thing i ate was the Crack ‘n’ Cheeze, which is a deep fried battered ball filled with macaroni and cheese, this item was not to my taste.. I came as a recommendation from the manager and it fell flat, it had no taste and was not my cup of tea.

Then came the chicken!

The fried chicken was very fresh, (well, it was just cooked), but i was not keen on the dark and somewhat overcooked appearance of the exterior of the chicken, it had a slight burnt taste to it along with a slight bitterness. The outer of the chicken was a too hard and crunchy for my liking and not soft. I prefer fried chicken to be a golden brown rather than rusty Brown. The chicken and waffle with sweet syrup concept is a relatively new dish, but this place does not to it as well as stax which has set a high standard. Everywhere I have had Buttermilk fried chicken its always golden brown and soft, not dark overcooked and hard.

By far the best chicken was the extremely soft and tender rotisserie chicken which fell off the bone with ease.

The pulled chicken was nice is small amounts, it was again served in a Bun like the chicken. It was a little dry and didn’t feel like it had enough to call itself a main dish.

This place is small and simple and the food gets a solid good, it won’t blow you away but it shouldn’t leave you feeling too disappointed.

What was disappointing where the desserts. I was not impressed with the offerings. I tried the cornflake sundae, which does sound hip and cool on the surface, but what it is is just 3 scoops of ice cream with caramel sauce and some cornflakes on top coming in at £6.

Overall, the concept is cool and well done for Ma’Plucker to offer halal menu. But the food gets a solid, 6.5. It won’t blow you away, nor will it leave you feeling disappointed.

What I ordered:

Crack ‘n’ Cheeze
Pulled chicken in a bun
Fried chicken in a bun
Rotisserie chicken with salad.
Mini donoughts
Cornflake sunday
Root beer

Patara

Thai

Halal Food Guy

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March 6, 2017

1

Patara is a Thai Restaurant in Berners Street, just off Oxford Street that offers up Thai food in a fine dining environment.

Since I work nearby I popped in for a quick lunch with a friend and tried the lunch menu that I saw advertised outside, 2 courses for £9.90 not bad for Central London

The venue is spacious and was not that busy as you can see from the above photo, but the decor and service is that of what you would expect of a find dining establishment.

There were 2 different lunch menus, remember to ask for it when you sit down! One is the £9.90 the other a £14.95 option. There was not that much choice from the menu to be honest, but opted for teh starter of the day – ONE single lonely stick of chicken satay and the green curry. My friend got theSpiced fish cakes with cucumber salsa and Stir-fried beef noodles with bell pepper in black pepper sauce.

The massive(!) portion size is what you expect i guess from a fancy fine dining place, regardless, it was great, cooked so it was soft, tender and juicy. Needed more peanut sauce me thinks.

The curry came with rice. The chicken like with the satay was cooked really well, very juicy for a curry dish. The curry itself was okay, very middle of the road, nothing special.

Not really fair to “review” a place based on a small amount of dishes, but for fine thai dinning in London for lunch its good, the A La carte menu is a lot pricier!

;

Dubai Burger Special

Halal Food Guy

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August 25, 2017

4

I recently went to Dubai, a place that has never appealed to me, if i travel I like going to places with rich history, culture and good food which is why I have been to Thailand and Malaysia so many times. But I also have an unhealthy addiction to Burgers and Dubai seems to have more burger places than skyscrapers so i made a quick week trip and challenged myself to eat as many burgers as i could!

Prior to the visit i had been on an intense diet and exercise plan and for the previous 12 weeks eaten pretty much healthy food in that time. Which meant that I was REALLY craving junk.

So here’s what happened..

Day One

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

My first burger stop in Dubai was Five Guys for an early lunch, which I was looking forward to as I heard a lot of good things. Pick and choose what toppings you want. I opted for a Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions and mayo.

First impressions weren’t great, it looked like cheap fast food, but that didn’t alter my expectations. My first bite and I can still remember the disappointment that I experienced. All that hype and praise left me thinking what were people on about? I’m not one that goes with the majority or falls into peer pressure so I’ll say it, this was the worst burger I had in dubai. I can easily say that i’ve had better burgers from a kebab shop, there was absolutely NOTHING good about this burger. Why was this place getting so much praise? I left this place bewildered and disappointed.

Burger Price: £8
Rating: 4/10
Five Guys Burgers and Fries (Dubai Marina Mall), Sheikh Zayed Rd

Salt Burger

Next stop that day was a visit to Salt Burger which I knew was a food truck, somewhere by the beach. After that disappointing Five Guys burger I was hopping for something better. After driving around in my hire car for a bit I found Salt.

The location is a bit tricky to find but it’s on the beach and the first thing you feel is the cool cat vibe and atmosphere, it feels touristy but in a good way, the way that you know people have had to find and seek out a gem in a city of tall buildings and fast cars you find a humble food truck by the beach.

Menu is simple, I opted for a single Hook burger, I didn’t realise that you get 2 burgers. In fact it’s not just beef, is wagyu beef. The burger is simple, melted cheese, “hook” salt, jalapenos and lettuce.

The verdict – It was fantastic! The taste of the wagyu beef was out of this world, what i loved was the simpleness of the burger. No gimmicks, no silly extras they let the taste and flavours of the meat to the talking. Everything about this place was brilliant, food, vibe location. This definitely put me in a better mood after the poor start of the day.

Burger Price: £7 (2 burgers)
Rating: 10/10
Address: 70 2 C Street – Dubai – United Arab Emirates

Day 2

Jones The Grocer

Before i left for Dubai I asked around and wanted to know what people recommended based on their experience, but I also wanted to try places that people didn’t mention either. After some research I found a place that was getting a lot of good reviews but no one had suggested or mentioned.

One of the reason why i wanted to go here was because they had a wagyu burger on the menu. The place itself is like a high end cafe mixed inside a fancy supermarket.

Anyway, Inevitably I ordered the wagyu beef burger. The burger was made with freshly minced and marinated wagyu, it also came with beef bacon and some mixed Leaf salad served in a brioche bun. I was very impressed with the look of the burger it came sliced in half which allowed me to see the contents and made eating a little bit easier due to the size. The patty was thick juicy and the taste of the wagyu came through but not as much as the Salt burger the day before.

I also tried the lamb burger and I have to say this was phenomenal! it had an extremely intense flavour of lamb one that I’ve never experienced before it was blended with spices that really complimented that natural taste of lamb.

Price: £16 with chips
Rating: 8/10, the lamb burger gets a 10/10
Address: Indigo Central 8 – Sheikh zayed Road, Opposite time square building.

Elevation Burger and Cali Burger

Later that day, actually it was more closer to midnight I was driving around when i saw Elevation burger and a few doors down was Cali Burger, both places can be put in the fast food category. I parked up and popped in for a quick and I mean quick bite!

Knowing that I was going to eat 2 burgers in a short space of time, I ordered the cheeseburger beef patties cheddar cheese with choice of toppings I went for lettuce tomato onions and caramelized onions with the elevation source the burgers here are organic grass fed beef and ground in on the premises.

It was a nice simple burger, it’s fast food but the ingredients were all fresh and it tasted good.

Burger Price: £5.60
Rating: 6.5/10

Cali Burger

After quickly demolishing the burger from elevation I walked a few doors down and popped into Cali burger yes I was just about to eat 2 burgers in a row but I am crazy like that.

Surprisingly that elevation burger wasn’t too filling and I was looking forward to trying another burger so soon after. Cali burger has a Surfers beach house kind of vibe to it

Again like the evolution burger it’s Fast Food I went for the humble and simple cheeseburger it was pretty similar to elevation burger but just lacked a punch to it.

It cost €19 which is around £4.

Price: £4
Rating: 5/10

Day 3 –

Burger King

I had a quick burger king double whopper. Cheap and flamed grilled. Not much to say, it’s Burger King and i’m lazy to type more. Okay I’ll type a little more, it looks like a Five Guys burger and tastes a lot better.

Price: £3
Rating 7/10

Day 4

TGI

I found myself in TGI and going here was never on my list. I ordered the Cowboy Triple meat burger. Burger with tender pieces of slow – cooked BBQ beef, melted Cheddar cheese, and beef bacon piled high with horseradish sauce and crispy frizzled onions. Served with lettuce and freshly sliced tomatoes on a Brioche bun.

At first i was not impressed with the frizzled onions piled on top of the burger and we also had to wait a while for the food to arrive. But i have to say, this was one of the best burgers i ate in Dubai. Triple meat! What’s not to like about that. The flavours and taste that came from slow cooked beef really worked well with the beef patty and the beef bacon. The texture was also good as well, very enjoyable burger.

Price: £10 with fires
Rating: 9/10
Ibn Battuta Mall

BurgerFuel

Fast food establishment, Ordered the C n Cheese, grass fed beef Patty was smashed too thin , didn’t like the bun it came in, taste was average.

Price: £6.50
Rating: 5/10
The Walk, opp Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort – Jumeirah Beach Residence

The Counter

Not far from Burger Fuel I saw The Counter, where you can “build” your own burger. I popped in and thought okay, let’s try another burger as that Burgerfuel one didn’t hit the spot. I ended up being uncreative and ordering the Official Counter Burger. First step was to remove those crispy onions rings, what’s the point of them! The beef patty was thick and juicy but at this point i’m on burger overload and I wasn’t that impressed with this one, it was good but nothing to write about.. So i won’t.

Price: £9
Rating: 6.5/10
1402 JBR Walk Jumeirah Beach Residence

Slider Station

This place was on my must list and it took me towards the end of my trip to finally to get there. I heard that this place is always busy, I arrived early for lunch before 1, but it had not opened yet. I went for a walk and came back a few mins after one and already there must of been 8 tables already seated! Slider station is famous for those little red burgers and that was on my hit list to try first.

I did make a little mistake.. I didn’t order enough. Okay i knew it was sliders but i didn’t realise they were so small, the burgers I ordered were bite size, 2 bites and like magic it’s gone.

That red burger i mentioned.. Well that was a chicken burger named “Dangerous” and my first chicken burger on my trip and wow, it was great. I had an new appreciation for chicken, it tasted better than beef, maybe it was beef overload that made me like this buttermilk fried chicken burger so much

I also ordered Machine Gun, Wagyu Cheese Steak and Wagyu Portobello. The wagyu burgers were on the expensive side, I think £8 for a tiny burger like that is way too much so it loses points there. But the restaurant has a good vibe to it, i really hope they bring it over to London.

Prices: Dangerous – £4, Machine Gun – £4, Wagyu Cheesesteak £7 and Wagyu Portobello £8.
Rating: 8.5/10
Al Wasl Road

Shake Shack

Like with Five Guys, this place was mentioned and recommend many times. We have a few shake shacks in London, but none are halal, what a shame.. Or is it? No it’s not, because shake shack measured a big fat meh with me. A lot was spoken about Shake Shack, but i really don’t see what the fuss was about. Like Five Guys it was average and on par with ANY random beef burger or ¼ pounder from your nearest PFC. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but basically its fast food, there’s not much taste from the beef or the ingredients.

Price: £7
Rating: 6/10
The Dubai Mall

…..

I have to say, by the end of my trip I on on burger overload and nearly sick of them… I lie, I had 2 McDonald’s cheese burgers at the Airport! However, Dubai just has too many burger options, prices are expensive and some fast food chain burgers are pretty standard with regards to price. There are so many options and I tried as many as I could.

By far Salt Burger was the best burger I had, it wasn’t just the burger, it was everything about the place, the vibe and atmosphere was like being on holiday…yes i know I was on holiday but I really felt it there, very relaxed and the burger is simple but brilliant and its £7 for 2 decent sized burgers.

The other non burger places I ate where PFC Changs, Tribes, iHop and Cheese Cake Factory.

Heres a list…

Full List

Name	rating
Salt Burger	10
TGI	9
Slider Station	8.5
Jones The Grocer	8
Elevation Burger	7
Burger King	7
The Counter	6.5
McDonald's	6
BurgerFuel	6
Cali Burger	6
Shake Shack	5
Five Guys	4

Streetfood: Savage Salads

Halal Food Guy

-

March 6, 2017

0

Found at the one of the most popular Street food stalls in London does halal chicken. @savagesalads

Theres always a queue for this place at lunch time and I went here for the first time today. I got a mixed halloumi and chicken salad. To be honest I was expecting something better, I was not very impressed. But that fact that it’s always busy and gets great reviews means they must be doing something right that’s not to my taste. Price £6.

Located a few yards away from the Berwick St mosque.

Halal Food Guy

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Gökyüzü, Chingford

Devran

Tamarind

Chi Kitchen (Closed)

Update 2:

Meat House London

Starters

Mains

Desserts

The Meat Co. (Part 2)

Drinks

Starters

Mains

Desserts

Ma’Plucker

Patara

Dubai Burger Special

Day One

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Salt Burger

Day 2

Jones The Grocer

Elevation Burger and Cali Burger

Cali Burger

Day 3 –

Burger King

Day 4

TGI

BurgerFuel

The Counter

Slider Station

Shake Shack

Streetfood: Savage Salads