I went to meet some friends for lunch today and it was agreed to meet at Bill’s in Muswell Hill. Although I’ve been to different Bill’s restautants before, it has only been for breakfast and never eaten off the main menu. Arriving for 12 on a Saturday means you get to choose from both the breakfast AND the main menus.
With all this choice I knew I’d have a problem deciding. To aid to my stress there were also 3 specials, one of which was one of my favourite ever – Chicken Satay. With a bit more pondering I got my choices down to only two.
1) Buttermilk chicken – crispy buttermilk chicken, seasonal,coleslaw, smokey chipotle mayonnaise, baby gem lettuce and tomato in our seeded bun served with sweet potato fries.
2) Chicken satay & Stir fried noodles -grilled chicken skewers marinated in creamy peanut satay, coriander and red onion sauce, stir fried spicy egg noodles with a coriander, chilli, lime and sesame oil dressing, crisp baby gem lettuce, cucumber and radish pickle, and a little extra peanut satay sauce for dipping.
My love of fried chicken knows no bounds. I do love trying fried chicken at different places, and served with sweet potato fries – my idea of heaven. But since a trip to Thailand a few years ago I have fallen in love with a good chicken satay. Decisions decisions!
In the end I went with the chicken satay as this was offered as a special and I didn’t know if I’d get the chance to try it again.
When it arrived I was instantly disappointed. When you order any satay dish the main tenent of the dish is the satay sauce. I knew this satay sauce would have corriander in it but didn’t realise it would have so much in it to make the sauce green!
The chicken skewers tasted great. Although there was some corriander in the marinade, it wasn’t overpowering. The same could not be said for the dish of satay sauce. The radish and cucumber salad could have been presented a little better, also. I think that radish should be run through a mandolin (the kitchen utentil, not the musical instrument!) and the cucumber could have been cut into match-sticks. This could have been placed on the plate without the need of a pointless dish.
The stir-fried noodles served on the baby-gem lettuce was tasty. You can see they aren’t as ‘stir-fried’ as most people would expect and some people might even say it was just some spagetti! I enjoy the noodle/lettuce combo and is a good serving suggestion when cooking at home.
The total cost of the Chicken Satay special was £10.95. I’d say that it was worth it but be warned, it will have more corriander than you expect. I am glad that I have tried it as it means I don’t have to have it again. If you are a big fan of proper chicken satay then I’d say pass on this and try something else on the menu. I know what I’ll be doing next time – The Buttermilk Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries!
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