Restaurant review: SHAKA ZULU (Camden Town)

The post-Christmas back-to-work lull one experiences in January can be quite depressing. To alleviate those January blues somewhat, London restaurants are just waiting to be explored by you, and with Groupon, LivingSocial and Wowcher deals facilitating all this, it seemed rude not to.

First thing’s first: the décor of the place was absolutely exceptional. Here’s a photo: -

Restaurant review: GILGAMESH (Camden)

Gilgamesh advertises itself as a pan-Asian restaurant, bar and nightclub. I visited it with my brother using a LivingSocial deal that I had bought for £34. The deal entitled us to afternoon tea and free-flowing Prosecco for two hours. I personally tend to find LivingSocial deals more honourable than Groupon ones, and the 'unlimited Prosecco for 2 hours' part of the deal appealed to me.

Restaurant review: CHAI THALI (Camden)

A few weeks ago, me and my friends from my old work had a much-needed catch-up at Chai Thali. One of my friends, Sarah, had said it was a restaurant that specialized in Indian tapas, at which I was pretty much sold.

Bar review: FIFTY FIVE BAR (Camden Town)

A busy cocktail bar that has some very alcoholic drinks available at Happy Hour, The Fifty Five bar markets itself as a more upmarket alternative to the dingy pubs prevalent in Camden.

To make room for more punters, there was outdoor seating. Drinking in the fresh air was fun, and it’s good to offer the option to those who have an aversion to the obnoxiously loud levels of music played indoors. Here's a picture of us sat outside.

I do wish, however, that the managers would have been so kind as to install outdoor heaters, as The Woolpack (for all its flaws) had. We visited on a chilly January night, and British weather being what it is, we definitely felt the cold.

The quality of the cocktails varied; my friend loved hers, whereas I was left underwhelmed with the Espresso Martini, preferring the one I had in Camden's Grand Union.

Further suggestions that I would propose to make this place even better for customers is if they extended Happy Hour by an hour, and made the drinks ever-so-slightly cheaper. Bottles of Prosecco were being sold for £23, which I feel was a bit of a liberty.

Still, it’s hardly like Fifty Five Bar needs to pay any heed to my advice. Business was booming there, even with the overpriced drinks. It’s just a shame that the managers didn’t use some of the funds to take better care of their customers, and attempt to keep them warm.

Grade: D

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By the way, as you may have gauged from the grades I divvy out, I don't often award As. So when I do, as I did to Bird, it means I really loved it. Thus, my friends and I went there again two weekends ago, and rather than order wings, I had a burger. My best friend Anna (who this blog is named after) ordered a waffle burger. Here they are:

They were insane; I still proudly stand by my A-rating to Bird.

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I go to a far few restaurants and bars in London with my friends. Here be the compendium of all my reviews of them.

Restaurant review: BIRD (Camden Town)

Last Wednesday, my friends from my old company and I had our monthly catchup and Bird, an American fried chicken restaurant in Camden, the venue of choice. To my surprise given the busy time of year, the place was fairly empty and we were seated immediately.

It being a Wednesday, the deal on offer was a dozen chicken wings and the house beer for a tenner, which I was all over. I also had some cheesy Korean fries, delicious and reasonably priced at £4.50. The chips were so good they wouldn't have been out of place at the equally high quality On the Bab restaurant, a Korean venue.

I think your choice of dips makes a huge impact on how much you enjoy your wings. I had the sticky soy sauce and the Nashville hot, and both complemented the chicken brilliantly - I was tearing into it with my fingers, table manners be damned.

However, my friend Nick had a different sauce (it may have been buffalo), which was poured all over his wings before served, and thus, removed the crunchy quality of the wings that is one of the main sources of its appeal. Thus, if ordering anything with sauce, I would recommend you ask them not to pour it over your wings and arrive separately in a pot, like the ones pictured below.

Apart from that minor foible, I had the time of my life at this restaurant. The waiters were attentive whenever we needed extra serviettes, but more than that, astutely judged that we were four friends who had a lot to say to each other, so thus were not IN YOUR FACE in the thirsty pursuit of a tip like some central London waiters are, so let us be, which was  much appreciated.

The final bill was very affordable, and management kindly let us sit in our booths and chat long after we'd finished consumption of dinner, which really is a welcome change from haughty places which allocate you a 1 hour 15 minute time window (or something along those lines) and are all but chasing you out with a broom once you've used up your allocated time.

My brother loves fried chicken too, so I will definitely be visiting Bird again, if not this venue, then one of its other London ones. I recommend you do so too!

Grade: A

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The rest of my restaurant reviews are listed here. If you would like me to review your place, email me at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com

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This is us. I'mma do a quick Outfit of the Day, because why not?!

Cardigan: Primark

T-shirt: H&M

Skirt: TK Maxx

Tights: Calzedonia

Earrings: Monsoon Accessorize