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Siam Central

Halal Food Guy
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Siam Central

2nd Review

I like taking good pictures of good food. Food tastes better when it looks good. This is a selection of meals from the lunch set menu from Siam Central, Charlotte Street. I was eating here after jummah (masjid on same Street) and was eating outside. It was funny to see the amount of people who’s eyes lit up as they walked past including one man who didn’t realise he said “dam” when he saw my chicken wings. He was right they were yum. 2 courses cost £8.50 and 3 courses £10.50 with a large range of options.

siam
I went for chicken wings and the mussaman curry. Good portion size for lunch and good flavour. The chicken pieces were leg and thigh which taste so much better than breast. But the highlight were the Corn Cakes. Just amazing. So simple but one of the best things I’ve ate this year!
Halal Chicken Only

1st Review

I can’t believe that i have forgotten to review this place, working on Charlotte Street i am spoilt for choice for lunch and Dinner after work.

I came here for lunch with a friend, they have great value 3 course menu for £10. I have had other mains from here, for purposes of this review i’ll be talking about the Red Curry and the Panang Curry, both are my Thai Curry food of choice. Im a fan of well cooked Coconut based curries the Panang curry here is very good, definitely one of the better Thai curries i have tried, and much better than Thai Metro down the road.

Also, i have verbal confirmation that the Chicken and Beef are Halal so thats a win! There deserts are also lush, Banana Frits are my favs.

So if you are looking for a simple Thai place then i recommend this place, Its Idea for lunch and catch up with a small group of friends, there is a downstairs area as the restaurant looks deceptively small from the outside. Service and Staff were pleasant.

14 Charlotte Street, London W1T 2LX

 

Dishoom

Halal Food Guy
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Dishoom

I decided to head to Dishoom as a last minute choice with a friend, upon arrival at 7pm, there was a rather longer queue outside, this queue was a pre-queue to another wait inside Dishoom. It was a very chilly evening and we had to wait for around 35mins outside in the cold, but were given cups of Chai. After the wait outside, we had a further 15min wait downstairs at the bar. We were given a buzzer to tell us when the table for 2 was ready. Well after all of that waiting i go rather hungry so it didn’t bother me so much.

All that waiting allowed me to absorb the decor which has a very quirky 60s style bollywood/indian old cafe environment. Thats the best way to describe Dishoom, its not really a restaurant per se, it’s more of a Cafe. There are 2 floors, the main floor as a open kitchen with a large open space for the diners. The walls are decorated with posters from india in the 60s.

The service was very friendly, now I’m a happy chappy, even standing in the queue in the cold and like have a bit of banter with the staff. All the staff were very friendly and warm. Once seated they knew we were standing in the cold and were very nice about it. I was even asked about the choice of table I would like, at this point i just wanted anything! Bring on the food

So on to the food. There was only 2 of us so we didn’t order too much, firstly the drinks. i ordered a Virgin Bombay Colada. I indian twist on the classic Pina Colada. Verdict… Probably the BEST drink I’ve had, it was thick, sweet, textured and full of flavour. I loved it!

Great Start. The waiter came over to take the food order, I asked him what he recommended, I like heat and Spice, after a quick scan of the simple menu i went for Lamb Chops for Starters and a Chicken Berry Biryani. We also got some Grilled Paneer Tikka and Nann. Okay so first the Biryani, it was served with Cranberries, very different, This dish wasn’t too memorable, it was good but didn’t really blow my stocks off but i wasn’t expecting it to. The Panner i found a bit dry, at this point the a manger looking dude asked if we needed anything, I said things are a bit dry, he suggested the house Daal.. and he gave it On the House! Yay!.

Theres something i’m forgetting… No there isn’t, I’m saving the best to last. Now I like my red meat and always try and order Lamb Chops. A few months ago i went to Mint Leaf and ordered £16 lamb chops and got a plate of 3 very small chops. When the Dishoom lamb chops arrived on the table i was thinking oh hear here we go again. I grabbed a lamb from the end, no knife and folk lark here, i went straight in with man bite.. what happened next was what can be described as a explosion in my mouth. Oh my, i think i had a foodgasm, it was the most tender, juicy and full of flavor piece of meat i’ve eaten. Oh boy it was good, I think i got the fatty bit of the chop. I’m having trouble to describe it, it was just delicious.

The bill came to under £40, the prices here are mixed, the price for a curry/main is a reasonable £7, but the starters are a bit overpriced.

So, this place was so good, i went again the next day with another friend!

Date of Visit 20/11/13

After Ice Skating nearby at Somerset House, my friend and i took the short walk and decided to grab a quick bite at Dishoom again. My friend had been already a few times and said the service on her experience wasn’t the best. Well, things change when you go with me!

Upon arrival at around 9.45 we were shown to a nice large table straight away, I also remembered one of the managers called Lisa from the day before and had a quick chat. We ordered drinks, so surprise i went for the same Bombay Colada again. I popped downstairs to freshen up and when i retuned my friend said that Lisa had given the drinks on the house!

We didn’t order much, no lamb chops today, i wanted a curry, so got a Chicken Ruby with Nann my friend got Sheekh Kebabs. I really liked my curry, it was a good balance of spice and flavour in a rich silky sauce. The Sheekh Kebabs looked like a stand kebab id get from my local curry house, but it certainly didn’t taste it, there was an intelligent use of lime, coriander and cumin flavours and texture that separated it from it being a standard kebab.

So, all in all, The food was a mixture of brilliant to standard, but what makes a good dining experience are different factors from service, food and atmosphere, all of which i loved and left me with a very positive feeling towards Dishoom

Another notes:
Free WiFI downstairs is a plus as the reception is not great. The restrooms are quirky.

Bhudda Bar

Halal Food Guy
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Bhudda Bar

I went here with 6 others for a friend’s birthday dinner. The restaurant is located very close to Knightsbridge station. It is made up of 2 levels, low lighting and a strong Oriental feel. The menu consists of sushi and signature overpriced thai dishes.

I arrived early (18:50) with 3 others and was told that we could still get in on the happy hour, I ordered a very nice Lycee mock-tail for £7 and got another for free.

Now a lot of the mains on the menu where around the £25 mark, which seemed a little steep.

However, we were offered the “Wellness menu” – where for £29 you get a drink, choice of salad starter, main and desert. This displayed value for money so I opted for that.

Starters I ordered the Quinoa, sweet potato & spiced feta salad, the sea bass, with rice (pictured) with Dark chocolate coated strawberries for desert and a Pina Colda to drink which was brilliant, in fact the drinks where all very good.

The sea bass was cooked well but the portion was just too small. I also had a taste of my friends chicken dishes and that tasted really good, tender, grilled well and not dry.

Service was okay, out waiter explained the menu well and was friendly. It was a friday night so there was a lot of hustle and bustle.

The wellness menu is decent value for money, but the A La carte is overpriced.

Alcohol Served Only Chicken Halal

The Gourmet Hut

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The Gourmet Hut

Another new Halal Gourmet burger joint! There seems to be a few popping up around London lately and The Gourmet Hut is one if the newest burger establishment.

Upon entering, you notice the size straight away, its small, maybe around 30 covers at most, the décor is simple and does its best to look like a hut. Service is friendly, personal and has a family run style and vibe.

I ordered some BBQ Chicken wings for starters – these were excellent, big in size and well cooked, soft and tender. The BBQ sauce was not over overpowering so i really enjoyed these wings and got my hands messy

For my burger main I ordered the Simpleton. I tend order the classic, straight forward beef burger as i acts as a benchmark and good comparison to other burger restaurants. I asked for added fired onions and chill sauce.

I found the burger to be average and i wasn’t that impressed. The issues – The bun was burnt on the edges, which meant the charred tasted of bread was rather overpowering. Also, the patty looked over cooked from the outside and was again charred, I could tell from the taste that the burgers were cooked on a char coal grill and against this is became the made identifiable flavour, not something that I enjoyed. Having said that, the inside of the burger was cooked to a medium-rare as requested. Also, there were hardly any fired onions in the burger, I love my fried onions, they really bring out a sweet taste and goes well with beef. The presentation was nice, i liked the wooded tray that the burger came in along i with the double cooked chips but hardly touched them as i was full, I really don’t like wasting food.

For drinks I ordered a mojito, there was a very poor choice of drinks to choose from, they did not have – root beer, ginger ale, or even lemonades. I was told that they were in the process of improving the drinks menu. However, it did take a little longer than expected for the drinks to arrive.

 

 

Stax Diner

Halal Food Guy
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Stax Diner

From the outside you would be hard convinced that this Dinner is a restaurant that uses and serves Halal meat across all its burgers. I’m just going to jump straight into this – No talk about decor, okay a little, its small but cosy, I actually decided to sit outside by the window sill table so didn’t really take much in, why.. because of the awesomeness of the burger i was about to eat.

I came here on a wednesday evening with a friend, i knew i wanted a burger plain and simple. I went for a Stax Burger – 28 days dry aged beef on a Brioche Bun, with grilled Onions, Tomato, Lettuce and Mayo with added onions and beef bacon – and boy, beef bacon did i just discover one of my new favourite things in the world?

This burger was epic, the moment I bit into it it was pure food porn, the taste and texture was just great and the beef bacon just really enhanced the overall taste and experience. I made every bite count and last.

We also ordered a side of chips which was more than enough for 2 people.
The service was great, our waiter was so nice and friendly and explained the menu to us in depth (my friend needed help with deciding on what cheese to get!)

Price wise, we are in the heart of the west end, but i am very happy to pay £10 for a truly awesome burger.

Kadiri’s

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Kadiri’s

Kadiri’s is known for one thing. Their famous Biryani. It’s well reviewed by the locals as a the best around so I found myself in North West London on a Saturday evening and decided to make the trip. Upon entering I was surprised by the size.. It’s really small and I was expecting a restaurant with a better décor, it was really simple, almost felt like a high street take away with a few seats. Thinking about it, it kinda was. There was a high amount of take away and pick up orders, but anyway let’s talk about the food.

A friend of mine mentioned that their lamb chops where really good, so I decided to go for those and even without the recommendation, I still would have ordered them!. Now thing is, I’ve been cutting back on my food portions lately and despite not have eaten that day, I still wasn’t that hungry. 4 lamb chops cost nearly 9 quid, which costs more than the mains. I requested if they do a half portion, but they didn’t.

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Upon arrival they looked great and where big and thick. However, I forgot to mention how I wanted it cooked, which meant they came the Indian standard between well done and burnt. This receded the overall natural taste of the meat, which made them on the dry side and they lost their juiciness. I also felt as if they maybe have been pre grilled and where not grilled from raw.

I also ordered an allo chat which was very disappointing, in taste and presentation. It was pretty bad to be fair. So don’t bother ordering that.

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Now for the main. I went for a small lamb biryani. When I arrived It came served on a plate. This is because only medium and upwards are served in a clay pot. Not how I expected it – another dinners where getting there’s served on a clay-pot with a flame underneath keeping it warm. In my head, this is how i pictured it, so I was a borderline “baby getting moody” when my friend had the quick idea of asking the waiter if he could take the plate and serve it in a clay pot. A minute later he came back with my Biryani, just like how i pictured. I was happy again.

As for the meal, was it the best. Short answer, No. But it was very good. It was layered, had a mixture of flavours but it was lacking in texture and didn’t have that x factor. I like my Biryani to be a bit sweet and the rice to be a bit soft and slightly sticky. It’s a meal that I would have again no doubt – I enjoyed it at the end of the day, maybe if I more of an appetite I would had enjoyed it more. I’m actually writing this 6 weeks after I had the meal, so im having a hard time to recall my experience.

Im sure I will go back again with family, but I need to make it clear that its a No thrills dinning experience, the place is small and décor dull and unimaginative. The focus is clearly on the signature Biryani.

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Food – 3.5
Value – 3.5
Service – 3
Presentation, Décor, Atmosphere – 2.5

Salt n Pepper

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Salt n Pepper is a Pakistani restaurant right behind the chaos of Leicester Square. There is an outdoor seating area great for dining in the sun. Inside you will find a open contemporary clean and almost clinical feel due to the brightness of the place and the large windows allowing in a lot of natural sunlight.

I came here with a group of 3 of us in total and were seated indoors as the outside area was full and sat in a booth.

For starters I went for the Lamb Chops (3 pieces) @ £6, Lahori Fried Fish and Shami Kababs. I liked my lamb chops, they were a little on the thin side and I think they should’ve arrived more sizzling. However, they had a lot of flavour from the spices used and were a great start to the meal. I did try the Fried Fish, however was rather disappointed by the taste, they were the same as fish fingers. I can’t comment on the Shami kebab as I didn’t get to try it but my friend said it was nice.

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So on to the mains. When ever I go to a Pakistani restaurant I always go for the Saag/Palak Lamb dish. I’m from Bangladeshi origin so growing up this is not dish that was cooked at home. When I was at university, I shared a flat with my Pakistani best friend; who’s father cooked THE BEST lamb saag I ever had. To this day I’ve been trying to find a Pakistani restaurant that could deliver a comparable taste. So how did the Lamb Palak from salt n pepper do? Well I liked it a lot, the portion size was good, enough for me to take home and the taste, colour and texture was decent to. Defiantly wont beat my friends dad’s, but it’s a good dish. I ordered 2 Naan to accompany my main.

My friends shared a Chicken Karahi which was overpowered with tomato and didn’t have enough spice for other flavours; it was lacking depth in ingredients that you expect from a Karahi.

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This was a quick and light meal so we didn’t order too much, however I would definitely come back as the location is ideal and food enjoyable.

The service from the manager or lead waiter was a little harsh and direct, but the waiter who I actually remember talking to from another restaurant was chatty and friendly.

I used my trusty tastecard card which gave me 50% off the food bill, which made the total less than £30 with a saving of £22.50.

Salt n Pepper, 32 Orange Street, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7HQ

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Satay House

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Im a big fan of Malaysia and have been 3 times on holiday. So a group of friends say they are heading eat at Satay House came up I jumped at the chance for some Malaysian food.

I dined with a group of 5 of us in total and managed to get a last minute table on a friday night. The restaurant is hidden away behind the many Arab restaurants on edgeware road. Satay House itself is very small, but we managed to get large big table downstairs which was within what can be described as a cave.

We ordered a variety of dishes and shared everything. My friends had already eaten here before and raved about the roti canai, which is a traditional malaysian bread. I ordered the chicken satay, which came with 6 small sticks and peanut sauce. I think the size of the chicken was too small, but very similar to what you find on streets on Kuala Lumpur.

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For my main I went for the beef rendang, something I always go for, with rice. The other mains were 2 chicken dishes, one a green coconut curry the other a spicy one. We also had an anchovy, prawn and aubergine curry. My rendang was really nice, I liked the texture, taste and size of the pieces of meat.

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I tried the prawn and aubergine dishes and thought they were good too.

The bill came to £100 for 5 Inc service. So that’s £20 a head Inc service. I think we over ordered, as there were 2 dishes untouched. So value wise is just above average.

Good food, nice setting, friendly service.

13 Sale Place, Edgware Road, London W2 1PX

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Al Souk

Halal Food Guy
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We arrived just before 9 on a Wednesday night and this cosy and local restaurant wasn’t that busy, only a few tables of people dining. The decor houses a modern Arab world, surrounded by a lot of wooden styling, along with the use of bright neon purple lighting. I liked the Islamic geometric pattern that encased the bar area, it looks really nice. Picture in gallery.

Choices on the menu featured the usual suspects that one would find in a typical Lebanese restaurant and wasn’t over populated or confusing. For starters we ordered the obligatory Tabbule salad, pastry, grilled Halloum and Batata Harra, shared among my family of 5, we are light eaters. The Tabbule lacked punch, it was missing that hit of zest that gives you that kick. The Batata Harra on the other hand was very good, I really liked how it was cooked, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Definitely one of the best I’ve had. For mains, we ordered the mix grill, lamb shish, lamb burger and a half grilled chicken.

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Yes, 4 mains. My mum hardly eats so she grazed off my dad’s plate. The burger was the surprise dish of the night, at under 6 quid with chips, I really impressed with the value and taste of the burger. The patty of the burger was thick, fresh and very tasty. I’d go back just for the burger. I decided to go for some grilled chicken and swapped the rice for chips. Chicken was grilled to a nice crispy texture on the outside and very tender on the inside, I liked the marinate and taste, it was simple and flavoursome. My brother and dad had the grills, i didn’t taste, but my brother said that the lamb was overcooked and judging from the look of them you could tell from the start. It was definitely on the well done side and looked burnt.

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Each dish came with rice or salad, i also have to say that the rice was very good as well, I found it very light and zesty.. It’s rice, but it they did something different for me to take notice. Drinks wise I went for a mocktails on offer and opted for a pint colada and my sister and brother a mojito. Mine was above average, sweet but just a tad too much pineapple. The mijito were a bit bitter and needed to be sweeter, but that’s if I’m being harsh. Mockatils @£5

Service was a interesting one. The staff were very helpful, friendly and pleasant. However, one could tell that they were new. Service was a bit on the inexperienced side, small things like not bringing extra spoons for sharing a dessert or a spoon for the chilli sauce. English wasn’t also the first language for one member of the service team, which meant asking off menu questions was a tad tricky. There was also a small incident with a smoke alarm going off and staff nor being able or knowing fully what to do. But I’d rather have happy clueless service than, a rude waiter who knew what he/she was doing. So i can overlook it and say that it’s a hard world out there and people need to make a living. I dined here using my tastecard, which gave me 50 percent off the food bill, that’s 30 quid. So the bill came to under 10 quid a head. So value was brilliant with a tastecard. However, without the card I still think it’s decent value. This is Gants Hill, Essex after all and I think the only lebanese restaurant around, so I would recommend a visit. Food – 3.5 Value – 4 Service – 3 Atmosphere – 3

Al Souk 36 Woodford Avenue, Gants Hill, London IG2 6XQ

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Amina D’Italia

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With the recent headlines of pizza express and halal food hitting the papers, the idea of a halal Italian was somewhat an ideal place to go to eat at. So, introducing Amina D’Italia, situated on mile end Road, Stepney green. From the outside, there’s not much indication that the restaurant serves halal food, I feel like they are missing a trick, as finding specialist halal Italian food Is rather rare. I feel they could of at least of a clear to see halal sign or a advertising board on the street, as the restaurant does get easily lost among the many shops surrounding it.

Inside, is a somewhat small and cosy sitting, wooden logs on the walls and an attempt to create a romantic scene. However on my visit the restaurant was empty, i mean not a soul. Arriving after 7 on a Tuesday evening I found this a rather ominous omen.

My visit to Amina D’Italia was thanks to Zomato who provided me with a gift card to dine here. The menu had a good selection of starters and main courses, which made ordering a time consuming affair, however for starters we were recommended to try a platter of assorted starters, so that’s what we went for.

So here comes the main part of my review.. The food. Starters included the usual suspects, in fact there were loads of different small pieces of party finger food. Mozzarella sticks, Mozzarella balls ( i think) Salmon bruschetta, tomato bruschetta..The problem I had was that the selection was comparable to a tray of party nibbles that you can buy ready to pop in the oven from Iceland. It was nothing special, the selection was wide and to be honest we were rather full on just the starters. The good point was that I think it was value for money based on the quantity of food, but lacked quality.

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At this point my friend and I were full and after this average selection of food were reluctant to order more. However, at this point we hadn’t ate any meat. The selling point of coming here was the Halal factor, so i decided to try 2 classics, lasagna and spag bol with meat balls.

This is where sadly things changed. Now, I know as someone that’s likes their spice, Italian food is maybe not the most obvious cuisine of choice to excite my taste buds, but I do appreciate food that makes good use of ingredients to bring out flavours . I sometimes cook these dishes at home and know that the power and heartbeat these dishes comes from the sauce. Make a good sauce and the rest falls into place. On this occasion, myself and my friend could only stomach one and I mean just one spoon on each each.

I found the lasagna lacking any flavour or depth. I don’t enjoy lambasting food, but I really didn’t take any pleasure in eating this tasteless and bland dish. I have to make the frozen food ready meal comparison again, despite looking nice, this lasagne wasn’t up to any standard that I would like. The same went for the spag bol. Both dishes were underwhelming and disappointing. I was expecting the food to carry a slightly increased “Indian style” of flavor, by this I mean the use of extra spice or chillies, due to the fact that Anima D’Italia is from what I saw a Bangladeshi run restaurant with Bangladeshi staff. But, it just proved to show that perhaps they should stick to making traditional foods and leave the Italian food to a specialist.

Overall, I feel Anima D’Italia had a lot of potential, but the lack of patrons at the time I visited was a clear Indication of quality of food of and their popularity. Me and my friend were actually a little sad that the place was so empty. This place could be doing so much better in terms of the number of customers, it could be because it was a Tuesday?

There is a lot of room for improvement. I’ll let you decide if I’m being harsh, however after comparing notes with other friends who have visited the views are ones that echo mine.

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