2016 Year In Review
It’s been a busy 2016 for Feed the Lion.
We’ve covered some incredible restaurants and desssert parlours during this time and had the pleasure of both tasting and presenting to our readers some truly outstanding dishes.
And at the stroke of midnight and the start of 2017, here’s a year in review.
Tucked away in the crowded streets of Soho is a charming little restaurant called Ma’Plucker that’s endeavouring to serve halal chicken in a variety of innovative and exciting new ways.
Crispy Coated Buttermilk Dipped Thigh Burger, £7
This chicken burger, particularly given its large size, was great.
Not quite as moist as it should have been, but still far better than all the other chicken options, especially that breadcrumb exterior, which was beautifully crisp and fragrant.
Sen Nin has the distinction of being the first Japanese restaurant to open in Islington, south London, and the third such cuisine we’ve had the privilege of reviewing (the first being Chikara Teppanyaki, followed by Hare & Tortoise).
Sen Nin’s Teppanyaki experience is elevated through entertainment expertly delivered by chefs who use a combination of interactive humour and juggling of cutlery and other utensils (empty or otherwise) during a theatrical cooking process involving lots of fire, clinging and clanging of metal knives and cutters, as well as a huge fire show that’s needed to decontaminate the surface.
It really is an experience and half!
But, the star of the show was without doubt the lobster, cooked as it was to perfection, and presented with a finger-licking creamy and garlicy mayonnaise sauce with enough chilli not to over power the sweet flesh of this gorgeous crustacean.
Teppanyaki Whole Lobster, £34.50
Hold the press, as they say, because we-are-bringing-you something quite extraordinary!
We are talking the very first halal WAGYU BEEF here baby at Burgista Bros, sourced directly from the land of the Aussies, and combined with three – not one, not two, but three – slices of Turkey Bacon rashers, Applewood Cheese, Fried Egg, Onion Marmalade, Beetroot, and a whole host of other goodies, all for £13. Don’t be too dismayed by the price tag though because that’ll instantly be forgotten once you’ve extended your jaws beyond the point of no return and taken that first bite.
Let’s just sum the entire experience up as follows: if we could give this solitary burger a 10, we would!
Blessed be those chickens who died so that we might have the privilege of devouring such generously sized wings because, quite frankly, these were to die for!
Just take a look at these:
Wings of Love – BBQ & Sweet Chilli, £4.50 per portion
Easily 180-200g each, these were certainly some of the biggest we’ve had the pleasure of tasting with marinades that were quite something to behold at Band Of Burgers.
Cabana Brasilian Barbecue outside White City’s Westfield mega shopping centre in West London declares itself the “Home of the Mighty Malagueta Chilli”.
And the following dish was quite something.
Spicy Malagueta Chicken – Best-selling flame grilled spicy, sticky chicken in a secret marinade, £8.95
The chicken was as soft and as succulent as you’d like chicken to be. Coated in a thick, chilli glaze, it went wonderfully with those soft, sweet red peppers.
This 14-day dry-aged Tomahawk was just cooked to medium and was amazingly succulent, meaty, chewy in places, and very, very satisfying.
The side we opted for was the spicy rice. Glad we did too because not only was the rice well cooked, but also aromatic with the spices lingering on the palate and a light pleasant burning sensation left at the back of throat.
All in all, the rice went really well with the steak, the crunchy and fresh coleslaw, and the assortment of well-cooked charred vegetables – vine tomatoes, carrots and courgettes.
DAAWAT menu at Darbaar
AN INVITATION @ £35 PER PERSON
Chef Abdul Yaseen recommends this menu to be ordered for the entire table to enhance their dining experience.
Wonderful assortment of dishes here to leave you spoiled for choice.
Darbaar has pedigree, exudes class and confidence, and represents the achievements of a chef at the top of his game.
If you love meat, then you’re bound to love Halalnivore – a “Gourmet Meat Club” that offers to deliver the freshest quality cuts of meat straight to your door.
We ordered ‘The Grill Box’, it only made sense that we grill these.
And what better way to do that than a good old iftar barbecue. In this case, Feed the Lion’s annual Ramadan BBQ:
It’s obvious that a lot of thought and planning has gone into the establishment of HS&Co., and we couldn’t help but be impressed by both its decor, and the regimented service we experienced.
HS standing for Halal Steak which is the star attraction cooked in it’s special Josper grill.
Now, a Josper Grill is a unit comprised of a grill and an oven, and aimed at the very demanding HoReCa sector.
It’s also highly rated by steak houses including the Head Chef of HS&Co.
The first ever NATIONAL HALAL BURGER DAY 2016 was introduced and we intend to increase the restaurant numbers significantly in 2017 offering 20% off all burgers on the day.
As OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNERS to London Halal Food Festival, Feed the Lion was at the Tobacco Dock in East London to provide comprehensive and up-to-date, as in LIVE, coverage of this year’s prestigious food event.
Using the power of social media, including Live Facebook Feeds, Tweets, Vine posts, and Instagram, we conducted interviews with:
- 2012 Masterchef winner, Shelina Permalloo
- 2013 Great British Bake Off contestant, Ali Imdad
- Asma Khan of supper club fame Darjeeling Express
Take a look for yourselves below and this highlights showreel:
Located in Debenham’s, and with a menu designed by MasterChef winner Ping Coombes, Chi Kitchen is a very impressive restaurant. In particular this Duck & Watermelon Salad with cashew nuts and Thai herbs at £7.25.
This was arguably the dish of the evening. An unbelievable salad that not just looked the part, but also challenged the taste buds while exciting the palate. This is probably as close as you’re going to get to a salad taking you on a journey across the six taste sensations, and all the food textures known to man.
Flaming Cow took dry aged to another level with its vintage 40 day, dry aged, 8oz burger burger.
Not only did it exude the delightful aroma of a well made burger, but the beef patty was easily one of the most flavourful we’d ever tasted, and one that was as close to perfectly minced as a burger patty could get.
Vintage – 40 day dry aged 8oz beef patty, American cheese, diced white onion, gherkins, house mayo, ketchup & mustard £9
Mango Tree is a fine dining Thai restaurant with outstanding dishes. Not only does the food match the exquisite design of this modern Thai restaurant, but surpasses it. There were dishes we had on the night that left us collectively speechless.
The one dish standing above all the rest: the wagyu steak.
Weeping tiger neur wagyu – sliced sirloin of wagyu beef steak served with north eastern style spicy sauce, £58!
Do not, we repeat, DO NOT be put off by the £58 tag, because we assure you this wagyu steak is worth every penny.
And there you have it, a look back at the outstanding dishes we’ve tried in 2016.
Believe us though when we tell you that there’s more… much more to come in 2017.
But, we’d love to hear your feedback of what you enjoyed (or what we’ve missed out on), so let us know below.
