Author Archives: pickyglutton

Nando’s vs Roosters Piri Piri review – cheap and cheeky chicken comparison
★★★☆☆ / Steak/chophouse

Nando’s vs Roosters Piri Piri review – cheap and cheeky chicken comparison

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With lockdown, I have fewer respites from the amateurish tedium of my own cooking. It was this, combined with the need to run errands for an ill dining companion, that led me to pucker up for a cheeky Nando’s for the first time in years. At the same time, the existence of a notable competitor in the form of Roosters Piri Piri, a franchised chain with branches in London as well as farther afield, piqued my curiosity. There’s only one thing for it – a takeaway piri piri chicken-and-chips comparison. Continue reading →

Kauboi Ramen review – the barbecue noodle soup Texas-Japan mashup you never knew you needed
American / ★★★★☆ / Barbecue/BBQ / Japanese / Japanese Noodles

Kauboi Ramen review – the barbecue noodle soup Texas-Japan mashup you never knew you needed

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Kauboi Ramen is an eatery seemingly custom-made to muddy the argumentative waters swirling around authenticity. Set inside the compact bar area for Texas Joe’s, Kauboi Ramen serves up Japanese-style ramen noodle soups – but with Texan-style barbecued meats instead of the usual chashu pork. Continue reading →

Macellaio RC Union Street review – the Italian steakhouse that can’t tear itself away from pizza
★★★☆☆ / Italian / Pizza / Steak/chophouse

Macellaio RC Union Street review – the Italian steakhouse that can’t tear itself away from pizza

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‘What’s an Italian steakhouse?!’ The answer, of course, is a restaurant that serves steak cut from Italian cows. It’s a revealing response – pasta, pizza and pesto cast such a shadow over the perception of Italian food in our collective imagination, that anything else is literally inconceivable. If goldfish really do have a memory of just three seconds, then our gestalt intelligence is seemingly limited to just three things per subject. Continue reading →

The Georgian review – Clapham’s Caucasus restaurant that must survive
★★★★☆ / Georgian

The Georgian review – Clapham’s Caucasus restaurant that must survive

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No, not that Georgia – the other one Updated 24/03/2020 – corrected mislabelled/misidentified dish At the time of writing, the entirety of London’s restaurant industry – and indeed the UK’s – has entered a period of intense uncertainty. The Covid-19 coronavirus crisis has forced the shutdown of literally every sit-down restaurant in the capital (along … Continue reading →

Chuku’s review – Nigerian tapas takes Seven Sisters by storm
★★★☆☆ / Nigerian/West African

Chuku’s review – Nigerian tapas takes Seven Sisters by storm

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The entire menu reviewed starting with all the vegetarian and vegan dishes The surprising thing about Chuku’s, to me at least, isn’t that this Tottenham restaurant serves Nigerian food. Although comparatively uncommon, Nigerian food isn’t too hard to find in London’s southeastern suburbs from Nigerian restaurants to (broadly) pan-West African takeaways. But those eateries not … Continue reading →

Yah-So review – look beneath the chintz at this Jamaican restaurant in Croydon
★★★★☆ / Jamaican/Caribbean

Yah-So review – look beneath the chintz at this Jamaican restaurant in Croydon

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Bring your loved ones – and even your frenemies – to this Thornton Heath restaurant We all, at some point or another, have to break bread with people that we’d rather spend less time with – not more. Although there’s always the distant hope that it’s *this* meal that will finally help put that fractured … Continue reading →

Soju Reading review – the sizzle and thrill of Korean barbecue in nearest Berkshire
★★★★☆ / Barbecue/BBQ / Korean

Soju Reading review – the sizzle and thrill of Korean barbecue in nearest Berkshire

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Kimchi, grilled bulgogi and chilled noodles in east Berkshire The very question of whether Reading is a part of London would’ve been ridiculous just a few short years ago. This quasi-commuter town in east Berkshire, which has always been within easy reach of the capital, is slowly being drawn closer into the Big Smoke’s orbit … Continue reading →