Thursday, 4 February 2010

Hungry House - Holy Cow, Bhan Thai, Hiro & Sarracino

Today I thought I’d take a bit of a restaurant detour and talk about that favourite British activity; ordering a takeaway. Whilst it can sometimes be a bit of a pain – not having enough cash, restaurants not taking cards – there’s a site I use which makes everything that little bit easier.

What’s it called?

www.hungryhouse.co.uk

Now admittedly there’s probably a few reasons I like it. Firstly diners can review their meals, a great way to get an unbiased look at how the restaurant really is. Secondly you can pay on card which means you don’t have to go through the whole ‘have I got enough cash dilemma?’ after ordering a takeaway. After all, who wants to scrape down the back of the sofa looking for coins?

What does it do then? Essentially hungryhouse is a half-way house between you and the restaurant. You order from the menu on the site and once you’re done and paid-up, it conveys the order over to the restaurant. They then have the choice to either accept or reject your order and will deliver according to when you want it (either ASAP or choose a different time). You can split items on the bill; add special requests and pretty much have an entire phone conversation without having to pick up your mobile. If anything it’s clearer because it’s in black and white on a screen! I have a few favourite takeaways. North-West London has some great takeaways and I’ve eaten some awesome dishes from quite a few. So in no particular order: my top takeaways near me.

Holy Cow – This is an amazing Indian takeaway which is just around the corner from me. If you go in to collect your meal you get free poppadoms (always a plus) but the meals are of a good-size, always hot and it tastes fresh. Plus if you live nearby, sometimes you’ll see David Mitchell from Peep Show. I’ve seen him in there twice now!

Bhan Thai – I love this little Thai place and it’s pad thai jay with beef is amongst the best I’ve ever eaten. Their thai green chicken curry is also good and their starters are excellent – I particularly like the pork wontons and chicken satay skewers. Bhan Thai always delivers really quickly and their food is normally piping hot and doesn’t need microwaving. Brilliant!

Hiro – I’m kind of ‘meh’ about this one as of late but normally they are right on the ball when it comes to their food. Their duck noodles are wonderful, beef satay is fantastic and their prawn crackers are tasty and crunchy. I had their beef in Peking sauce the other day and it was pretty vile – sickly, bright orange and tough beef – and wouldn’t have that again. They’re sometimes quite slow to deliver but most of their food is delicious and they have a large variety of dishes and duck which is something not enough do in my opinion!

Sarracino – This Italian has delicious pizzas and the best arancini I’ve ever tasted. Just go. Go now. It was delivered quickly and tasted fantastic. My only gripe is that they didn’t take the cherry tomatoes off the pizza as I’d asked and that they only take cash – No card payments allowed.

So the next time you want a takeaway and don’t know where to find a decent list of restaurants in the area, take a look at hungryhouse and see what’s on offer. The reviews are a great way of finding out how meals are, the fact that staff members reply by email to your reviews and thank you for them - apologise if meals weren’t up to scratch – is brilliant. I cannot recommend this site enough!

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