Yalla Yalla’s Chicken Shawarma

Chicken shawarma wrap at Yalla Yalla

On first glance it seems my food photography has hit a new low.  Yes, this is a filled tortilla on a sheet of paper with nothing but the faintest print on the opposite side to identify it.  Although the title of this blog post claims it to be a chicken shawarma from Yalla Yalla, it could, in fact be anything.

There is a very good reason for this terrible photo.

Since discovering the takeaway counter at the Fitzrovia branch of Yalla Yalla, I have made frequent lunchtime visits.  They have a number of wraps on their menu including shawarma, kofte and Lebanese sausage, and vegetarian options of falafel and halloumi.  Each wrap is served with a pot of sour cream and one of a medium-hot tomato-chilli sauce.  All of them cost less than £5, which is a bargain for this part of London.

The wraps are all delicious, but they are not photogenic.  Every time I have attempted to photograph a cross-section it looks so mangled that it is almost impossible to decipher the individual components.  This is common of other wraps too – you should see some of the shocking burrito pictures I have saved in my phone.  Sadly they look completely unappetising, hence why I have photographed this wrap untouched.

This particular wrap is a chicken shawarma, which I usually only eat in the small hours of the morning from a small takeaway on Lordship Lane.  I have convinced myself that the more genteel surroundings of a central London restaurant makes it a viable option for lunch as well as late-night booze fodder, which is just as well as the shawarma from Yalla Yalla is so good.  Smoky pieces of tender chicken with some tomato, pickles and a pinch of sumac, toasted until the flatbread goes crispy.  There is no lack of flavour, and the ingredients work well, especially when the pots of chilli and sour cream are added, but I do have one small bugbear:  the wraps are pre-prepared.  I understand the pressures of a lunch service means that assembling individual kebabs is not the most practical approach, however I do feel a bit sad seeing all of the pre-made wraps stacked up behind the glass display.

Despite this, the wraps always taste fresh and I keep going back for more.  The lamb shawarma is also very good.

Yalla Yalla, 12 Winsley Street, London W1W 8HQ.

Spit and Roast’s Buttermilk Fried Chicken Burger

Buttermilk fried chicken burger from Spit and Roast

All you need to know about this sandwich is in the following sentence:  it is the thing I always crave when I have a hangover.  There you go.  Only this wouldn’t be a very good blog if I allocated only one sentence to a sandwich, so I will elaborate further.

I discovered Spit and Roast one god-awful Saturday morning when my friends convinced me that I should go to Brockley Market with them rather than languish around on the couch with a box set, a litre bottle of coke and a bag of doughnuts.  I was hungover, it was raining and series four of Mad Men had just arrived in the post.  In a moment of weakness (or strength, depending on how you look at it), I put on my coat and went out.  When I got there and saw the words BUTTERMILK FRIED CHICKEN  on a blackboard, I knew I was saved.

Until this point, I had never understood the appeal of fried chicken in the morning, I would usually wait until at least after closing time before indulging, but then I had never had fried chicken like this before.  Up until now, it was whatever I could get on Rye Lane after the last train has kicked me out at Peckham Rye station, and it was never good.

Spit and Roast have been kicking around the various London street food markets for a few years now and, aside from a few seasonal specials, have not deviated too much from their original formula of rotisserie chicken and an excellent fried chicken burger.  The latter is what saved me from my hangover on that rainy Saturday and restored me to normality.  I have re-ordered many times since and it has become one of my all-time favourite sandwiches.

Spit and Roast’s fried chicken is marinated in buttermilk and given a well-spiced coating.  The result is moist, succulent meat with a crispy skin with just the right amount of grease (i.e. not too much).  This is served in a soft bun with a slaw, made up mainly of white cabbage and red cabbage, and a Korean hot sauce with a base of Sriracha.  The beauty in this sandwich is that it all works together so well – the crunch of the slaw emphasises the crunch of the chicken coating, and the hot sauce brings out its spice.  There’s a decent amount of chicken in the sandwich for the money, and although they do offer it with a side of chips, I’ve always found the sandwich substantial enough not to need them.

Never change, Spit and Roast.

Spit and Roast, at various street food markets across London.  Check their Twitter for details.

Attendant’s Royal Chicken Sandwich

Royal chicken sandwich from Attendant, Fitzrovia

This is not the first time I have been to Attendant.  In fact, I have been going there for coffee at least twice a week since I started working in Fitzrovia a year ago.  I had my appraisal there and frequently meet colleagues there for meetings.  Initially it was the novelty of meeting in a converted public toilet that spurred me on, but I very quickly realised that they do very, very good coffee.

Let’s get the obvious characteristics out of the way first.  It is, indeed, an old public toilet.  With above-ground property prices soaring out of control, business owners are coming around to the idea of these subterranean spaces.  There are a few new ex-toilet openings in London, I am told, another one being WC in Clapham, but apparently this one was the best-preserved and least vandalised of them all.  So much so, that they have managed to keep the porcelain fittings intact and make a feature from them.  I was fortunate enough to be in there whilst the owner was recounting the history of the space. Fascinating.

Despite being in Attendant for coffee and cake so frequently, I had yet to try any of their lunch options.  Now that I am often out looking for lunch in Fitzrovia (or ‘sandwich-hunting’ as my colleagues call it), it seemed like a good time to start.  Attendant usually has three or four sandwiches on offer at lunchtime, as well as some rather delicious-looking avocado on toast that I have yet to try.  Once selected, they will gladly heat it up for you in a sandwich press before you either take a seat at one of the ‘urinals’ or head back to your office.

My sandwich of choice was the Royal Chicken, nothing, I was informed, to do with the recent royal baby announcement, rather that it was a take on the old coronation chicken.  The chicken was breast meat and (I think) roasted.  Along with this was a curried sauce, a little mayo, some sultanas and a herb salad.  The bread was good quality wholemeal bread, that lent itself well to being lightly toasted so the sauce sunk in and softened the inside.  I’m always partial to a good coronation chicken, but this is a great, slightly pared-down alternative that does not have the excess creaminess or overwhelming flavour of curry powder that many of them do, rather it is subtle and given a freshness by the addition of herbs.

It is £5 (isn’t every sandwich in Fitzrovia right now?) But is substantial enough to be your main meal of the day.  If you’re really keen to splash out, get yourself an americano and a lamington too.

Attendant, 27a Foley Street, London W1W 6DY (it’s underground!)

Recipe: Chipotle Chicken and Courgette Quesadillas

Chpotle chicken and courgette quesadillas

This is already my second quesadilla recipe on this blog, which shows how often I have no time to make dinner.  This time, I have used up an awkward quantity of leftover roast chicken I had lurking in the fridge:  too much for a sandwich, not enough for a pie.

The beauty about quesadillas is that, as long as you add the all-important cheese, you can fill them with just about anything.  For this particular recipe, I have added courgette, onion and garlic to the roast chicken and flavoured it very simply with chipotle paste.  Chipotle paste is one of my all-time favourite storecupboard staples as it brightens up so many things:  a spoonful in a chilli gives it a delicious smokiness, it is wonderful added to a hot wing glaze and divine in a grilled cheese sandwich.

I used about 2 tsp in this recipe, but you can use as much or as little as you wish.  If there is somebody in your party who prefers a spicier quesadilla, add a quick slick of hot sauce to the top of the filling before you fold the tortilla.

Chipotle Chicken and Courgette Quesadillas
Serves two

Olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium courgettes, diced
2 tsp chipotle paste
Leftover roast chicken
Salt and pepper
4 tortilla wraps
100g cheddar, grated

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onion, garlic and courgettes until soft.  Add the chipotle paste and stir in.  Finally, stir in the leftover roast chicken and transfer to a plate.

Heat a separate pan over a medium heat and add a small drop of oil.  Using a scrunched up piece of greaseproof paper, spread the oil around the pan – you want it to be very lightly coated.  Place the tortilla wrap in the pan and, working quickly, spread a quarter of the chicken mixture over one half of the wrap.  Top with cheese and fold the other half of the wrap over to make a semi-circular shape.

Cook for a couple of minutes until browned, then flip over with a spatula and cook the other side.  Transfer to a board and cut in half.  Repeat this process with the other four wraps.

Serve with guacamole, salsa and a little sour cream.

Gitane’s Chicken with Yoghurt and Parsley Sauce Roll

Chicken with yoghurt and parsley sauce roll at Gitane, Fitzrovia

I first came across Gitane during my first week of working in Fitzrovia.  I popped out to get some lunch and found that Kaffeine and the Scandinavian Kitchen had queues snaking out of the door.  Not wanting to throw in the towel and go running back to Pret, I pushed on a little further and found this little cafe just a few paces along.

Despite having little presence online beyond a very simple website, Gitane is almost always packed.  When I have gone online to seek out new recommendations in the local area, it is always named with great enthusiasm.  Once you venture past the doors it is easy to see why.  It is a small, but very bright and airy space, with a counter on one side selling vibrant and colourful middle eastern foods:  homely looking tarts, bright salads filled with vegetables and grains, and tiny little cakes of rosewater and pistachio.  In the winter there are always spicy soups to warm you through and fresh breads, and they almost always have a hot option – their harissa salmon is a big favourite.  Last week, however, was the first time I had been in for a sandwich.

There were a number on offer, but it was the slabs of bright yellow chicken wedged into seeded buns on the counter that caught my eye.  £5 later, one was packed into a box and accompanying me back to my desk.

The filling for the sandwich is rather impressive.  At first I thought it was merely a huge chunk of breast meat, but I was delighted to find some equally large pieces of thigh meat nestled underneath.  Both the white meat and the dark meat were incredibly moist and flavoursome and coated in a delicious saffron, yoghurt and parsley sauce.  Accompanying the meat was a large slice of tomato, a couple of pickles, more parsley and a further dollop of yoghurt.  The bread was a glazed, seeded bun.  At first it looked a little on the small side, especially given the amount of chicken nestled within it, but it did its job of holding everything together well.

A sandwich of this kind is not a traditionally middle eastern dish, however they manage to get it just right with the combination of ingredients.  £5 is perhaps a little steep for a take-away sandwich, but the quality and quantity of the chicken makes it well worth it.  I will be back at Gitane time and again.

Gitane, 60 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 7QF.