Category Archives: Grill

Chick’n’Sours

October 8, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Fried Chicken you say? Don’t mind if I do. There has been an increase in what I would like to coin as ‘gastro’ fried chicken places over the last year and you know how we love our chicken.

Chick‘n’Sours in Shoreditch is a hip and trendy chicken place which offers an almost oriental twist to fried chicken, we would like to say that they don’t advertise to having an oriental twist but the flavours used suggest so.

Being a fried menu we decided to balance out this evil by having a fresh and zesty summer salad to begin with. I doubt it did any good as we also whooped down a selection of pickled goods that were rather unique to our vocab like the pickled watermelon. Strange but nice.

For mains it was simple, chicken. Elena and I had the House Fry which consisted of a huge drumstick and thigh piece and came with some more pickled watermelon. The meat was plentiful and so tender that it flaked off the bone. Now, when we have fried chicken we love it to be heavy on the batter as it’s pretty much the best bit of the process, the amount of batter you get on this chicken is a wonder. It’s super thick and tasty. However, we did find a few health and safety issues with eating it. It was so hard and crispy that it actually scraps your palette as you struggle to get through it leaving you a tad sore. It also becomes a chore to eat with all the effort that you have to put into biting through the hard batter. So a food heaven became a bit of a food hell very quickly.

Our friends tried the Tender which is boneless pieces of chicken in the same batter so there were consumption issues there too and they also tried the Spicy Disco Wings which were grilled so easier to eat as they didn’t have the coating.

The homemade elder flower soda was so yummy and refreshing that we each knocked back three glasses. They change their drinks daily depending on the ingredients they receive so ask what’s on offer.

The place gets backed very early so expect a que after 7pm. It’s not a huge place so expect people to be waiting behind you, this can be a tad annoying.

It’s not really all we had hoped for but the drinks were nice at least. One day we will fond the perfect fried chicken place.

Chick’n’Sours
390 Kingsland Rd, London E8 4AA

American, Burger, Grill

Hoxton Grill

July 5, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Shoreditch, such an eclectic mix of dining experiences with a wealth of different people and trends. Hoxton Grill is a chilled out bar and eatery with a lovely range of cosy seating options, fun activity suites and booths and a fusion restaurant to cater for all.

Saturday is heaving as with all locations here so: book, book and book, especially if you want to eat.

Being processco lovers it’s hard to understand when a place only offers one type of processco so please be prepared to not be able to ponder over the different types and put everything you learnt at wine swigging class into practice.

To start with we had the quinoa, courgette and feta salad and wait for it we had another salad with baby gem, crab and avocado salad. However, the healthy eats stopped here.

I loved the quinoa salad so much that I have made it at home since. The crab was a bit questionable and too fishy for my liking which is odd to say about something with crab I know.

For mains we got a bit dirty, well 3/4 of us did. One healthy bastard got grilled cod, oh la la. My bacon queen Elena naturally had the bacon and blue cheese burger along with our other friend and I sampled the cheese burger.

This had to be the longest wait for food ever. We made two round trips to the toilet, took selfies galour and had time to get up and go to the bar area and try and get our friend a date. An hour wait in totally but we didn’t mind as we were having fun and hoping the food would be worth the wait.

Elena started moaning from the moment the burger hit the table. She had two patties and both were burnt to a crisp. As they were burnt it left a chargrilled taste to everything which couldn’t even be hidden by her bacon love.

My cheeseburger was a simple meaty cheeseburger. The patties were meaty and medium rare which was rather annoying and I would have liked to have been asked how I would like my burger if they were going to do that. The meat wasn’t packed full of flavour which I would expect some sort of jazz hands if I’m expected to pay £12. I was starving and it filled a whole and thats how I should look at it at that time of night. I won’t even start on the bun. Chips were nice though 🙂

We tried to sweeten the end of the meal with a massive smore but that failed to satisfy either, nice idea though.

Hoxton Grill is great for a nice evening out for some drinks and meeting new people. However, it’s not the right place for a tasty, memorable meal that’s served in reasonable time.

Hoxton Grill
The Hoxton, 81 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU
http://www.hoxtongrill.com

Burger, English, Grill

Hotbox Brunch

May 23, 2015 Fork & Talk Leave a comment

Elena and I came here a few months back and fell in love with the menu, staff and decor of this place.

Today we have returned to sample their brunch menu which is only offered at the weekend and is said to be rather heavenly so we thought we would put our forks to the test.

Upon entering the place for brunch the place has a more homely feel to it. The benches are set with tea cups and China sugar bowls which makes it feel like a totally different place to the evenings.

Being a Sunday morning I had to have a coffee of some sort to begin with before I could even look at the menu. I was intrigued to find out that Hotbox use Robusta beans and upon tasting it you can feel that these beans have a smoother, longer and richer flavour and I’m glad I found a place that does this blend rather than arabica which my taste buds have gotten so used to. The taste is not as full bodied as arabica but is sweeter on my taste buds. Not sure what my partner in crime would think of this as she is a strong tasting coffee kinda gal! The beans are purchased from a company called Black Sheep Coffee if coffee lovers are interested in getting their hands on some.

After speaking to the incredible waiter (curly haired, young with a mustache) I was encouraged to try the Chicken thighs and Waffles as apparently only that morning had the head chef perfected the waffle recipe to complement the chicken to perfection and well I had to be part of this famous moment. I must admit that I was scared of trying this dish as in my head the combination just doesn’t work. However, when the dish was served I was so glad that I had picked this beauty. Crispy fried chicken with the most buttery and fluffy waffle. You didn’t really get much sweetness from the waffle so it was almost like a bun for the juicy and spicy chicken thighs, in my mouth it felt like I was eating a chicken burger. I was not at all tempted to smothering my chicken with maple syrup as my brain couldn’t handle the idea but I tried it with just the waffle and it was heavenly. Dipping out of sweet and savoury just felt like a dream and a sin.

To accompany my dish I ordered that heavenly mac and cheese that we had gushed about last time. Last time we really emphasised the smokey flavour but during the brunch menu the recipe is changed so rather than smokey it had a spicy after taste. I think I prefer the one from the dinner menu even though this one is pretty good too.

One of our friends decided they would try the liquid lunch deal which is an all you can drink for £25. You have a choice of Bloody Mary’s and Prosecco. Sounds like an amazing offer but our wonderful waiter helped us work out that it was only really worth it if you were to drink four drinks or more. Unfortunately, I was feeling rather delicate this Sunday brunch so decided I would steer clear but I will be back to try this ‘challenge’ soon.

Huevous Ranchoros and Eggs Benedict were the other dishes our friends decided to try on this occasion. The Eggs Benedict is served with pork belly so there is a tad twist to it like most of the Hotbox dishes. I couldn’t help but try the black means from Huevous Ranchoros and OMG, so much flavour for a veggie dish. The guacamole was fresh and chunky and so tasty that they even sell it as a side.

Interesting Info: when I had first looked at the menu I had thought about getting the burger or the beef tacos but once I had spoken to the waiter it was like someone had shot me in the foot and told me Santa wasn’t real. He advised me that if I chose the meat dishes at the weekend I wouldn’t be getting the best of the flavours from them as the meat would be the end of the stock of meat that Hotbox had!!!! Basically according to the waiter the deliveries for meat come at the beginning of the week so all meat dishes are at its best during the week and especially at the beginning. Now, when we came here for the first time it was a Saturday as you remember and we were blown away at how amazing the meat was and that’s at its ‘not so fresh’ moment, so all I could think about was how much more amazing can it get at the beginning of the week. Well there is only one way to find out so I will have to tell you once I have done a Mon/Tue test soon. How I love my life. I better check Elena’s schedule 🙂

So there you have it folk. Hotbox is the place to go for the brunch at the weekends. Try the other dishes on the menu and let us know which menu you prefer, lunch or dinner?

Hotbox
46-48 Commersial Street, London E1 6LT
hotboxlondon.com

Burger, Grill

Hotbox

February 24, 2015 Fork & Talk 1 Comment

Hotbox, meat lovers heaven. We are in love with this place.

The interior is what I will now coin as the Shoreditch look; bare brick, dimmed lighting, reclaimed timber furniture and lots of candles. The seating is similar to a school canteen, Wagamama style so you get to meet lots of people or if you are Elena pretend they don’t exist and focus on who is in front of you which luckily for her was me. The restaurant is so hot right now that it’s packed to the brim. We were also dining next to some famous models on our visit but we won’t name drop.

Hotbox has a very stream lined menu and we have come to the conclusion the restaurants that cut it back in terms of content usually have every dish spot on or as the kids say ‘on point’.

We started off our visit with a trip downstairs to their bar called 46 and Mercy. Very small and cosy with a combination of the bench seating and some sofas. Now, my favourite bars are the ones that have table service and well 46 had table service, whoop whoop. The bar staff are tentative and very friendly and clearly people that love their job. They really help to create that fun atmosphere that the bar has, added with upbeat music, it is a great place to just chill and hang out with your friends. We had some interesting cocktails which were high in alcohol content so it didn’t take me long to get tipsy. The complimentary pretzels kept us entertained as we attempted to resemble phallic objects. They also tasted great, well you know how we love our free stuff.

Once we got to the restaurant we decided straight away we could cover more ground if we shared stuff and boy was that a good decision. We ordered beef rib tacos and a pattie with rib, all the dishes are served with house pickles. When we saw smokey mac and cheese on the menu we had to order them as a side and well we added a portion of sweet potato fries just incase we didn’t have enough to eat 😀

All the food is presented on a chopping board which I love the rustic look of. The first thing we devoured was the soft shell tacos. We had to get in there with our hands and there was juice dripping everywhere. However, I got so lost in the flavours I couldn’t careless that I looked like a wild animal. The tacos were filled with juicy rib beef, rocket, chipotle mayo and crispy fried shallots. Each bite was like a party in the mouth with one flavour break dancing after another. The meat was just that, MEAT! Tender with a few crispy bits here and there, with seasoning all over.

The 4oz pattie was topped off with cheese, onions and more rib beef. The pattie was cooked medium rare and all that goodness was encased in a brioche bun. Now we didn’t come here in search of the best burger in town but we have to put it in our top 10. What a burger! The meat just melts in the mouth. The burger had a spicy kick to it which was much appreciated and just enhanced all the other flavours in it.

The smokey Mac and cheese is the best we have tasted and I mean ever. Creamy béchamel sauce with perfectly cooked pasta and a crispy breadcrumb top. So moorish. I could have eaten two portions of those as a main! It had a smokey taste throughout and I really need to find out how they do it so that I can copy. The sweet potato fries were on another level. I often fear how these will be at different restaurants as often enough they end up being soggy. However, Hotbox received another tick with the fries which were seasoned and triple coated so uber crispy on the outside and smooshy soft on the inside.

I am the one that has to tell sweet Elena that there is no room for dessert but after having amazing drinks, followed by an amazing meal I just had to see what dessert would be like which of course made my partner in crimes day. We had to go for the strangest sounding thing on the menu and order deep fried Oreo cookies. Omg. Each Oreo had been coating in doughnut batter and fried, looked hideous but boy did it taste good. It was served with vanilla ice cream and a pot of chocolate sauce. When you bite into these treats you expect a crunch however, it’s so soft all the way through. You get the taste of a sugar doughnut but you also get the cakey version of an Oreo cookies. It was seriously delicious and so worth the sick feeling of being stuffed. We were in food coma. Result.

The surprising part was the bill as we managed to spend under £25 each which was a bargain for the quality of food we had eaten. As we paid our bill we sat and planned when we could come back and taste their breakfast menu so keep tuned for that review.

Hotbox
46-48 Commersial Street, London E1 6LT
hotboxlondon.com