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.