chikn – W1U 6SH

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The chikn I visited was on Baker Street in London, the restaurant faced competition from fellow burger rivals as there was a Nando’s, KFC and McDonald’s which were all a stone’s throw away from each other.  

                           Firstly, taking the time out to visit the restaurant came about from recommendations, pictures on Instagram and reviews from important websites such as TimeOut. After extensive research, I found that the brand was founded in 2010 and currently have 2 London based branches: Soho and Baker Street. (CHIK’N, 2019).

What struck me at first was the shop front, colours of navy blue with hints of bright yellow and pink gave the shop a hipster feel. Furthermore, once I stepped inside, the restaurant was well lit with exposed lighting, a funky LED sign and an hilarious insult thrown at KFC’s Colonel Saunders with what seemed to be picture of him, covered with a happy and smiling emoji. chikn had stuck to the blue and pink colour scheme interior with wooden features to make the space feel like home with high tables and standard seating available. chikn was well decorated with slogans such as, ’Fried chicken done right’. The menu was a mix of chicken burgers, strips, wings, fries, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The navy blue and splashes of hot pink made it bold. Furthermore, it was refreshing and simple with Korean influences such as, K-Town and Samurai Sauce. The menu was easy to understand with the options available to the consumer. However, it was disappointing that I had to pay for a burger, fries and drink separately – It did not come as a set price meal.          

I took the safe bet and ordered the Straight Up Burger which consisted of a fried chicken patty, lettuce, buttermilk & herb mayo and pickles served in a soft burger bun. I also ordered some regular House Fries; the total of the bill was £7.90 – £5.95 for the burger and £1.95 for the fries. I received a buzzer to wait and collect my food, In addition, my food took longer than expected, therefore the staff were apologetic and offered me a complimentary soft drink in consolidation for the late arrival. In advance was a bay where complimentary cutlery, mayo and ketchup was served. The burger was medium sized, the patty was juicy however on the smaller size. The burger was structured well and the sauce was thick and creamy with a slight kick. The fries had skins left on them, the fries were thin and crispy. In my opinion they were too thin for my liking which could have given them more texture. The bun was soft and wasn’t grilled enough to get the best out of it, however it tasted good.

Overall it was a positive experience, similar opinions were given by my fellow diners, the positives were the environment, interior and elements of the food, however the size of the burger was too small for my liking. Would I come back here again? Likely given the taste was good, however for my next visit I would order a double patty burger to achieve better value for money.

Review – chikn

Burger Size – 2.5/5

Sauce – 3/5

Taste – 3.5/5

Bun – 3/5

Environment/Interior – 4/5

Grill Street – S1W 4XE

I visited Grill Street by chance last month after venturing down Farnham road in Slough – The curry mile or food street hub of Slough. The key was to find a quick and tasty burger that would fill me up.

The design of the restaurant was what struck me at first. The bold and bright sign of Grill Street outside. The yellow and black gave it a New York theme which also emulated the Taxi’s in New York as supported by the large spray-painted mural and a reference to New York with Jay-Z, ’I’ve got 99 problems but my burger ain’t 1’. All it needed was the cliché Hollywood flag of America and I would’ve been in the big apple.           The lighting was bright, a small variety of lighting was used, it was simple and didn’t have much of a wow factor. The menu was laid out clearly and simply, it was effective and gave a variety of options to the customer and wasn’t confusing, it was easy to find the different variety of burgers offered. It was reasonably priced, 2 meals came to £15.00, The Peri burger meal was £6.50 and the Uptown Angus meal was £8.50, a £2.50 upgrade to make your burger a meal.                                                                                                         

A gourmet beef and spicy Peri chicken burger was ordered, the buzzer system was used and personally – It took much longer than expected or maybe I’m just being dramatic because I was starving. When the food finally arrived, the burgers disappointed regarding size. Patty to bun ratio was annoying as I didn’t go to try the bread, however the taste was decent, the extras inside were tasty such as the jalapenos and melted cheese. The beef burger was dry, and a thin patty. The Peri burger felt dry and the marinade wasn’t spicy even though I asked for a hot flavouring. A key to a good burger is the sauce, therefore Grill Street didn’t deliver as only a basic mayonnaise was used in both burgers, mayo is important to me given I was born in Brussels, Belgium.                                                                                                      The fries were okay; Medium cut, well cooked with good flavour and an option to put salt or not with disposable packets. However, an overall feeling of the experience was that the restaurant has invested more in the interior of the shop rather than the taste of the food and in my case, the burger.

My fellow diners had a similar feel to the experience at Grill Street, would I come back here again? Highly unlikely, I wouldn’t come out of my way to travel 1+ hours. I would rather try something different or stay safe with a tried and trusted burger e.g. McDonalds Fillet-O-Fish

Review – Grill Street

Burger Size – 2/5

Sauce – 1/5

Taste – 3/5

Bun – 2/5

Environment/Interior – 3/5

Hello everyone, I would like to wish you a warm welcome to my blog, Burger-Boy blogs. Even though I am a student at university, I am a master and king of the burger. From patty to bun to the sauce, I know it all and will aim to give you a lowdown of tasty burgers all over the United Kingdom and some of the foreign burgers I have savoured in foreign countries. I believe that as well as the taste, the look of the burger and design of the restaurant are crucial to our burger experiences. My inspiration to start this blog came from halal food bloggers such as Halal Girl About Town. Halal Girl About Town has given us the best places to eat, including secret locations for Muslim diners to try and simplified the difficulty of finding a high quality halal serving location. https://www.halalgirlabouttown.com/ Furthermore, this is what I will be aiming to do, finding the best burgers while saving your time and risking my life to go far and wide in finding the best burger’s worth digesting and savouring!

A little information about the man behind the legend

• I was born in Brussels, Belgium and moved to Hertfordshire, U.K. when I was 6 years old.
• I am a university student in London – My favourite subject is Interactive Media.
• I love Cricket, Food, Comedy and Arsenal (When they win, so that means never).
• I own a family bakery business.
• I am opening a burger restaurant in 2020.
• I speak 4 languages.
• My favourite chef is Gordon Ramsay.
• I love Italian culture – The food, wine, scenery, Vespa, Fiat 500s. If I could I would add an Italian name to my real name, my best friend is Italian.
• My impossible dream is to become a stand-up comedian, however I am too focused upon business and trying to become and entrepreneur for the moment.
• I hate talking about myself so I am not sure why I am writing these bullet points about myself.

stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled as burger merchandise such as T-Shirt and Hats are on the way with the logo Burger Boy. The greatest burger blogger, well atleast in my humble opinion.

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