KFC - 11 Herbs and Spices? Yeah right...

KFC have claimed for a long time now that they have a secret recipe which boasts 10/11 herbs and spices which makes their chicken taste so good. Nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if it was less than half of that.


The meals I used to get at KFC were the family bucket, because whenever I went there it was with the family, so the typical meal would be a few pieces of chicken, chips and a side order. These days I'm more willing to try special meals like the Wicked Zinger which includes a chicken sandwich. It's meals like that (along with the spicy wings) save KFC's popularity.

The actual chicken piece meals have become almost tasteless, the thigh in particular, where there is way too much batter and a disgusting amount of fat in it.

KFC have got to get their act together with the way they prepare their chicken, otherwise they could just become a generic fast food restaurant.

McDonald's - Still the best fast food restaurant chain on the planet

McDonalds is still going strong despite its controversies and criticisms in the past decade. For me, it's still the best fast food restaurant out there. It blows its immediate rival, Burger King, out of the water.


On the topic of Burger King, the most important thing that BK lacks compared to McDonald's is the quality of french fries. McDonald's do them just right, crispy enough on the outside but still maintains an inner fluffiness that BK just lacks. When eating BK french fries, it's like eating one of those salt and vinegar french fries crisps - it's too hollow. Also you can really taste the spices and herbs that have been added to the McDs fries but when eating BK fries it's just like you're eating hot potato.

Another point that McDs beats BK on is value for money. When you have finished a McDs meal you usually get a great satisfaction in terms of quality and quantity and the price is reasonable, but with BK you have to pay £1-2 more for one of the premier meals and still not get the satisfaction that McDs brings.

The Big Mac was the premier meal in the 90s and the early parts of the '00s but this is no longer the case as McDonald's released the McTasty (which I feel is their answer to BK's Whopper) which is an extremely tasty and meatier version of the Big Mac. I don't if it's a 1/2 pounder but it sure feels and looks that way. Sometimes I feel like a kid because of it's size. Kind of like how I used to not be able to handle the Big Mac as a kid because of my small hands.

The restaurant chain has cleaned up its image, especially since investigations and documentaries like "Super-size Me", introducing fruit packages for kids and stuff like that. They've also got a wide selection of desserts including cookies, muffins and my favourite the McFlurry. Its branches also tend to be more modern looking and cleaner with much more comfortable seating than the plastic, hard-on-your back benches of the 90's

One criticism would probably be the state of the toilets but even that has been improved

Domino's Pizza - Best place for takeaway pizza

Domino's pizza have been serving the best quality pizza (for a chain restaurant/takeaway). Pizza Hut used to seem to be the only chain restaurant that specialised in pizza.


I admit the whole experience of Pizza Hut used to be good: the garlic bread and the BBQ chicken wings made great appetisers and when your pizza was served it came hot on a pan and tasted great. But then it seemed the quality deteriorated because the cheese in the deep pan and stuffed crust pizzas seemed way too chunky and this made eating the food more of a chore than as a pleasant experience.

Now Domino's Pizza's UK branch has been here for several years now and as a result are gradually emptying Pizza Hut branches across the UK. They have now made us Britons do what the Americans have done for ages: eat takeaway pizza so you can watch TV.

You have the option of two sauce bases: tomato or barbecue. I'd recommend that you try the barbecue because it tastes great with the toppings and cheese.

For toppings, I usually go for pepperoni passion or meat feast, but there are other great pizzas like meteorite and you can choose your own topping as well. There are a wide selection of toppings to choose from and you can choose to trade toppings, like say chorizo (italian sausage -tastes great) for beef.

The other great thing about Domino's Pizza are the constant offers. And when I mean offers, I mean real offers (not this 10% off for students rubbish). The most popular ones are probably, the Buy one get one free and the 50% off. This is why Domino's is so popular with students.

My one gripe with Domino's would be their side dishes. The chicken strippers and potato wedges pale in comparison to Pizza Hut's chicken wings and garlic bread.

Amigos Pizza Nottingham

The story behind Amigos Pizza is an interesting one. Amigos Pizza Nottingham used to be part of a chain of pizza and burger takeaways but eventually went bust (which in itself is a mystery as Amigos Pizza is located splendidly between Lenton and the University at Derby Road hence having full promise of student customers). The place got bought out by a kebab shop magnate and got completely reinvented into a typical Kebab Shop.




Now what, you may ask, makes this strange transformation so notable? Well by still providing tasty burgers and pizzas whilst adding Kebabs to the menu, Amigos was able to secure a stronger hold of the student clientele that walks through Derby Road. Their food is fresher and cheaper than Chip Box, but it’s best to let the food talk for itself:



The Pizzas: Amigos Pizzas are definitely a cut above other Kebab shop pizzas. The cheese is nice and stringy, the tomato sauce has a nice herby taste to it and the dough is springy and not too oily. Complaints I often have about Kebab Shop pizzas is that often your lips smell really bad after having their pizzas but this is rarely the case with Amigos. Despite being quite good, these pizzas still do not compete with Italian restaurant pizzas or Pizza Hut or Dominos Pizzas, their stand strong only against other kebab shop pizzas.



The Kebabs: One special mention that must be done is towards Amigo’s Chicken Kebab. Their chicken kebab is the reasons I come back again and again, they have the best chicken kebab I have ever tasted. If you are ever in Amigo’s the one thing you must try is their chicken kebab. The meat is perfectly tender and newly cooked and the spices mingle with the fresh salad so beautifully you’ll want to eat another after you finish the one you are eating. I personally really recommend one eats the chicken kebab with mayonnaise as the pairing is really good. As for the other kebabs, they are pretty much to the same standard as other kebab shops but theirs a bit more expensive, so really I’d get a doner kebab from somewhere else. But again, their chicken kebab… Amazing!!



The Chicken Wings: The chicken wings in Amigo’s are really good but also really small.



The service: The staff at Amigo’s are easily the friendliest Kebab shop staff I have ever met. When I go there everyone says hello and they even know my name and my favourite orders. They also cook to serve very quickly and maintain their shop very hygienically.

Chip Box Nottingham

Easily abut 60-80% of students at the University of Nottingham have eaten from Chip Box at least once. Its great location alone (along the way from the University Park towards Lenton, the most popular student housing area) ensures that plenty of the hungry students heading home after a long day of lectures will pass by there. With only competition from Amigos Kebabs (which is only open after 5) and from Subway (which is small and always full) Chip Box has secured themselves a place in the memories (and stomachs) of plenty of students.

“How about the food?” You ask? Well after consulting all my friends and colleagues about their opinions of the food there (and obviously eating there quite often) I now present you a review of their food:
Fish and chips: The signature dish of any fish and chip shop and how do they fare? Actually not amazingly well, most of my contacts have described the fish and chips there as being ok and edible yet nothing special, preferring the recipes they know from their own homes. I myself find that the fish is definitely ok with the fish being fresh and the batter crispy, yet I have never been a huge fan of their chips. They seem to have no shame in serving cold and/or soggy chips.

The Burgers: My favourite comment about their burgers is “wet” and this is far from a compliment. Their burgers are more often than not squishy, moist and wet and quite thin at the that. Furthermore they partner the burger with horrible floury baps, not good old burger buns.

The Kebab: Yeah, despite not being a kebab shop they still do attempt to serve kebabs there. More often than not these are served in cheap pita bread, not naan. The meat itself is of decent quality and the salad they put with it is quite fresh.

The Chicken: Didn’t look too appetising at first, but very tasty once I got stuck into it. The chicken pieces are quite large for something non-KFC but fortunately don’t have the crappy- excuse batter that a lot of the local takeaways have.

The Service: The people working at Chip Box are actually very nice and despite often being under heavy pressure never take it out on the clientele. They are also very personable and even remember your order if you eat there often enough.

Value for money: Before I would have certainly said that their prices seemed very fair but with their recent surge in prices with no significant change in food quality, I would say that it is not worth it.

Venice Pizza... No we didn't go to Venice for Pizza...

I looked past the confusing presentation of the lamb doner kebab: packed with meat with the salad in a tiny corner intermingled with chips and soaked in 4 different sauces.
The kebab gave a good first impression, the meat actually tasted like “meat” (rare for the kebab takeaways around here) and there was plenty of it – too much perhaps.
Pretty soon though I realised that I was just passing cold, tasteless food into my body and the takeaway needed a reheat. By that time, there was little meat left (due to the moronic presentation of the kebab). I was just left with too much salad, too much naan, too much sauce, some chips and huge chunks of cucumber and tomato that were just revolting to look at.
Overall, completely underwhelming.

The Flaming Dragon has Burnt Out

Advantages: Good location in Nottingham

Disadvantages: The food and restaurant

I have eaten in very good Chinese restaurants.
I have lots of Chinese friends whom I eat with.
I cook chinese food well.

Flaming Dragon is not a good chinese restaurant.

In my opinion this argument suffices to tell you to not bother eating here but I'll give a few more points to drive the message through.
Flaming dragon is one of many mediocre Chinese buffets that have sprung up around and inside medium sized cities in the UK (like Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry etc.) It has about three tables of food from which you pick out the food you like. Out of the 70 or so dishes they had available i only touched about 8-9.. I only liked three. Most of these dishes are just imitation chinese adapted to english taste but are not really authentic nor carry good quality. The set-up is also really horrible as the tables and chairs are really close to each other and you are practically eating with the people in the next table. The drinks are way overpriced as I got a small glass of coke for over 2 pounds.
If you want to go to a good chinese restaurant go to the ones where you sit down and order from a menu. These buffet style ones are just sad... SAD.

Strada

I really like Strada and according to all these other reviews so does everyone else! Strada, for those of you who have never seen or been to one is a chain of Italian restaurants located around the UK. Most big cities have one.
Now some of the more traditionalist ones amongst you will be exclaiming "What? Italian chain restaurant? That's just not right." Italian restaurants have mostly been coupled with the image of being rustic and traditional. But it must be said that Strada does pass with flying colours. Their food is fresh, well cooked and authentic. They general style of the restaurants is elegant, quiet and very date-friendly and the general staff and service there is excellent. Do be warned about two things though: Firstly Strada, despite being a chain restaurant, is rather pricy (about £15 a head minimum) and secondly, their menu is quite innovative so don't expect your usual pepperoni pizza and spaghetti carbonara on it. If you want a simple Italian dish and not to pay too much don't go to Strada. But if you want something fresh, new and to eat it somewhere elegant then by all means go to Strada. I like Strada and I hope you do too.

Chiquito: A Good Mexican Chain Restaurant

I really like Chiquito. I've been there five times and I've eaten there thrice (twice the place was so full we couldn't get a seat!!) and every single time has been absolutely amazing. For those of you that have never been or seen one, Chiquito is a chain of Mexican Restaurants found all over the UK. Most big cities should have one.
The first time I ate there I decided to try out all their appetizers so a friend and I ordered their nachos and their chicken wings. The Nachos were just perfect with the cheese evenly melted out in all places, generous amounts of salsa and guacamole and top quality beef sprinkled on top. The chicken wings were also pretty good, nice tangy BBQ sauce and well sized.
The second time I went I just went for drinks and dessert. I got the rum filled profiteroles and again Chiquito did not disappoint. The Profiteroles were freshly made and had a very generous dose of rum in them. I left a bit tipsy.
The Third time I went I got the chimichanga and this was easily the best chimichanga I had ever had, the outside was crispy and fried to perfection and the inside was moist yet well cooked.
The service at Chiquito is really good and the staff are really friendly. The atmosphere is also amazing as it is very authentically mexican.

A must try.

Dad's Kitchen

After eating takeaways as a Nottingham student for more than two years, the choices can get limited: pizza, kebab, and Chinese are the usual ones.
So when I discovered Dad’s Kitchen, which specialises in Jamaican cuisine, I was intrigued. Although, they don’t open as late as the likes of Dino’s and Mario’s etc., they have a variable selection of dishes and their customer-service is very friendly.
I had the jerk chicken and plantain, which is a pretty good combination, seeing as there is a lot of sauce that goes with the jerk chicken. The sauce was sweet but savoury and made for a good dip for the plantain.

Arena Kebab

I've ordered from Arena Kebab Nottingham twice. The first time I ordered I got a Doner Kebab and chicken wings. The wings were large and tasty and the doner kebab (although pricy) was very large and the Naan bread was just right. The bread held strong and I didn't find myself playing a balancing act trying to make sure the kebab meat didn't fall too heavily on one side or the other. My friend got the mixed tikka chicken and doner meat kebab and he loved his. The week after we were with another friend and we decided to get Arena again. This time the naan bread was too dry, there was not enough meat in the kebabs (we ordered chicken kebabs this time) and the chicken our friend ordered was too plain. In short it's just like any other kebab shop, you sometimes get a good kebab and sometimes a bad one.

Planet Pizza 3

Planet Pizza 3 (or the third… I really don’t know/care) is another of many kebab/pizza/sfc take-aways located in Nottingham. The one thing they have that sets them apart from the rest is that they do have stuffed crust pizzas, at your regular kebab shop pizza price. Could this be the cheaper solution to getting an expensive (yet frankly considerably better) stuffed crust pizza at Pizza Hut or Dominos, you ask? Well, nearly. Their pizza stuffed crust is effectively stuffed with cheese but a rather sad amount that can just be tasted. I must say their pizzas are a lot better than all your other kebab shop pizzas and clearly their chef used to work at pizza hut. But it’s not quite there. Cheap alternative: Yes. Replacement: No. Enough said.

Antalya Nottingham

If you are tired of your under-average kebabs (See below: Luigi’s) and want to tuck into some real high quality Turkish food then its best you check out Antalya in Nottingham. This traditional Turkish restaurant actually has two parts. One: an elegant dine-in setting with large seating areas for dinners and parties. The second: A simple yet very tasty take away. The food is of amazing quality and authenticity thus restaurant has a recurring clientele and I can see why. My biggest criticism towards Antalya is that it’s a very dark restaurant as the lighting is quite poor and the windows are always covered. I suppose for a romantic dinner with a date this would be nice but generally the darkness is not very atmospheric. I should mention that being quite a classy restaurant the price range follows suit and if you are planning to eat there do expect to pay at least £15 a head. All in all a good restaurant and a must try when in Nottingham.

The Lemon Tree Nottingham

We ordered from the Lemon Tree a week ago and all our stomachs said after we finished was "Meh!". The Lemon Tree gave us the most mediocre chinese take-away meal we have had in a while. Let's start course by course.

Appetizers: Prawn Crackers.
The prawn crackers were more like prawn sloppy joes as they were so oily I could feel the pimples wanting to come out by just touching them. To think prawn crackers are so easy to make...

Appetizer: Chicken wings
We got the salt and spicy chicken wings and well... actually they were really good and cheap too at £2.50 they are the cheapest wings you can get around and are actually really good value for money.

Main course: Beef Fried Rice
Now this was the saddest excuse i've ever seen for beef fried rice from a chinese restaurant. normally Beef Fried Rice is really lovely with mixed vegetables and with the lovely soy sauce and beef juice in the rice but not this one. They just had fried beef on some egg fried rice... with very little egg. Really a disappointment.

Main course: Chicken Curry w/ Egg Fried Rice
This was not worth the money paid for it. One would have thought it would only pass of as a school lunch. Not enough chicken and too many mushrooms. The taste of the actual curry sauce was quite bland. The fried rice was pretty pathetic: little flavour with hardly any egg. Very underwhelming.

Capocci Nottingham - An Insult to Italian, Spanish and Mexican Cuisine.

The review for this restaurant will be particularly accurate. Why? Because I have made the awful mistake of not only eating in this terrible restaurant once but twice.

The first time I went there I was with three girls I had met at a concert, and they were the ones that chose to go there, so really who was gonna say "no", right? We ordered the paella and two of the different pastas and a chicken steak . I know what good paella is and what Capocci has is simply yellow rice with vegetables (and a tiny bit of seafood), it tasted just like the frozen paella you get at cheap supermarkets!! As for the pastas, the pasta was way overcooked and it tasted more like eating baby food than anything else. The chicken steak was probably the best dish and even so it was pretty weak, it was way overcooked and the seasoning had not gone through so it tasted like paper.

The second time I went there was with a friend that wanted to know what mexican food tasted like. We passed by and despite me telling him how awful my last encounter with this restaurant was he insisted on going in . We ordered the nachos and let me tell you, this was the weakest excuse for nachos I had ever seen. They simply got cheap nachos and poured the matching salsa sauce with some beans and cheap supermarket brand cheese on it. The worst part was they left it in the oven too long so the nachos were burnt and it took ages to arrive.

So really, if you're in Nottingham and want Spanish, Mexican or Italian Capocci is NOT the place to go!

Just 4 Students / Luigi's - A bad takeaway with a new name

They were over 20 minutes late and that was only because we had to give their driver a step by step instructional guide as to how to navigate around the university. This would have been somewhat understandable had the restaurant been located far away from the University but the thing is it is located in Beeston, Right next to the university!! This is ridiculous, you would expect a local driver to know his way around two areas of Nottingham: the city centre and the University of Nottingham (which really, is all Nottingham is known for). To top that off they gave us the wrong food, and it wasn't a pleasant mistake like getting a pepperoni pizza instead of a margherita, no, they gave us some cold chicken wings and a giant box containing a random menagerie of kebab shop items. They clearly had just stuffed whatever was left over at the end of the day into that box and thought they could get away with it. There was burger meat, salad, kebab meat, a chicken wing (admittedly huge, and looked quite tasty) chips all messily stuffed into a very thin chicken box. I would like to meet the person who would choose such a random assortment of food. Just 4 Students, you have been found out as just a rebrand of Luigi (the driver told us)!!! The actual quality of the kebabs that we ordered wasn't that great either. It was just bread and meat. Frickin ridiculous. Get some proper cooks! Goes to show, Luigi's had to change their name to fool students into buying their food again. What a joke...
Everyone knows that Luigi never had anything on Mario, so what convinced you that things would be different. You didn't even deserve a 1 star rating, that's how bad you were. Disgrace!!!