kebabish Original 230 Mile End Road, London E1 4LJ

Kebabish Original, also known as The Thrill of the Grill is a chain of fast food restaurants which now has over 60 branches throughout the UK.

 

The restaurant sells grilled food and curry.  This combination is no stranger to Stepney Green.  Stepney Green and mile end is full of rather scummy Bangladeshi restaurants selling low quality chicken, burgers and curries made from dodgy packet ingredients.

 

Kebabish Original is really rather a mixed bag.  It is often quite busy which is partly due to the fact that the chain is fairly well known in London and partly due to the fact that some effort has been made to employ people who can actually speak enough English to help people with the menu and generally make people feel welcome so, surprise surprise, they seem to have been successful in attracting students and others in the area who want quick cheap and cheerful food.

 

Kebabish Original is probably a bit better then than the worst of the chicken places along Mile End Road.  It is probably in competition with outlets such as Lollipop Limited next to the station and Grillz Base (formally Barbecue  Base.

 

Some of the products sold by Kebabish Original, in particular the grilled chicken, the pakora and the samosas are excellent.  The chicken is crispy and it has that nice smoky just off the barbecue taste.  The samosas are unusually large and they are full of vegetables or meat.  The pakoras come in a large portion and they are full of vegetables.  I’d also recommend the sheek kebabs.  They are dense and made from reasonable quality lamb.  The lamb chops are also spicy and generally not too over cooked.  The grilled dishes are served with onions and they reach your table on a sizzling platter which all helps with presentation.

 

I have had the curries from Kebabish Original.  I had a lamb karahi and a vegetable curry.  They were not bad I suppose though they were a little greasy and I suspect that packet sauces play a part here. 

 

The grilled dishes can be served with chips which are fries and they are disappointing.  They are just cardboard, thin  and taste like they are cooked in cheap oil.

 

Kebabish Original sells a chicken tika burger which is really quite pleasant but the quarter pound beef burger is spongy and I doubt it’s 100 percent beef.  If you want a beef burger go to Lollipop limited near by or at lunch time the Greedy Cow on Grove road at Mile End does burger chips and a drink for £5.95 which is excellent value.

 

Sadly, the lamb doner meat is some of the worst kebab meat I have had anywhere, even in Stepney!  It was soft and spongy and very processed.  Hot Lamb Luncheon meat!

 

In general, the food at Grillz Base just down the road a bit towards white chapel is better quality food all round but it is a lot more expensive.  The owners of Kebabish Original seem to want to do a good job and initially the restaurant has been popular so I wish them success.  If they have any control over it however, they do need to up the quality of lamb doner kebabs and beef burgers.  On the whole though Kebabish Original is quite clean and staff are helpful.  I give it 6.5 out of 10 and with a few better quality food products  such as curries and kebabs the  mark could easily go up to 8.

closure of R Bar on Mile End Road London

Finally, after basically limping it’s way along for about 2 years or so the R Bar on mile end road is finally closing.  Today is in fact the last night.

 

This pub has served some interesting food during its time and it’s a shame to see it go.  I’m not sure however that its closure  is really much of a surprise.  I don’t believe the landlord took responsibility enough for the direct running of the place e.g. working regularly behind the bar and becoming a person that locals knew.  It’s important for any pub opening next to wetherspoons to have something unique in order for it to survive.  At various times, the R Bar employed cooks preparing Turkish food and Mediterranean food of really high quality but they never stuck at anything for long enough.  There is a real lack of pubs in the Stepney Area where as it seems chicken places can just be opened at will.  I do believe the area could support at least one other pub if it were ran well.  It would probably need to serve good beer and reasonably priced food, but there is a largish body of students and other well paid people living in the area who would I suspect appreciate something better than Bangladeshi chicken shit to eat every day!

 

I am told that yet another Indian take away is to open up in place of the R Bar.  If it’s another chicken shop then I think there is cause for some complaint to the council as surely there must be limits on the number of any type of business that can just open in an area.  I will keep a look out to see what kind of business does replace the R Bar.