Eating out is not cheap. There’s the tube fare there, the £3.50 for a small glass of Coke Zero and, if the place is particularly trendy, a flower wall surcharge may be added to your bill. Everyone’s taste buds are different, but TikTok “foodluencers” seem to have a penchant for places that basically self-write headlines for right-wing outlets like, “£14 harissa hummus? No wonder millennials can’t get on the housing ladder!”, or “Woke” (ethnic) restaurants fleece yuppies in Marxist wealth redistribution plot.”
Sometimes it is not worth the risk. You could cook at home (using our brilliant recipes, perhaps?) but sometimes one cannot be arsed. Enter fast food, with its bad reputation for poor quality, low nutritional value and lacklustre flavours. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Some fast food restaurants have real hidden gems and, with franchising becoming an increasingly-popular business model in the UK (think German Doner Kebab or the dessert parlour Creams), there are more decent fast-food options than ever. US chains like Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Popeyes are entering the UK market, while Jollibee and Marumage – popular chains in their countries of origin, the Philippines and Japan – are expanding steadily across the country.
At warm belly, we believe that good food can come from the unlikeliest of places. So, join us in appreciating the best of what the UK food scene has to offer in terms of fast food.
Chick ‘N’ Rice: Pepe’s Piri Piri – £5.50 – £7 depending on the branch
In my eyes, the best fast-food option out there is the Chick ‘N’ Rice box from Pepe’s. It is near-perfect. A mountain of spiced, lightly-oiled rice is topped with grilled, peri-peri chicken. The rice tastes like a well-flavoured biryani; its yellow colour somehow making the melody of flavours in the dish sing louder. The chicken is incredibly tender and, after being finished off on the grill, has a beautiful charcoaled taste. The meal comes in a box that, on first inspection, looks quite small, but is more tightly-packed than a free Ryanair carry-on. There are easily two portions in each box. There are several flavour options, but I go for ‘hot’ (warning; unlike their competitors, hot really means hot). The rice must be topped with Pepe’s legendary garlic mayo sauce. As well as cooling the spice, it adds moisture to every bite, making it completely addictive. Nando’s wishes they were this good.
Berlin Strasse: German Doner Kebab – £5
A recent addition to the menu, the Berlin Strasse is a lahmacun wrap; a thin, bendy flatbread topped with spiced minced meat, which comes with doner meat, chips and salad. Personally, I can find GDK a bit repetitive; their sandwiches are so stuffed to the brim with meat that they can be a chore to eat. The Berlin Strasse is the most culinarily diverse item on the menu. The lahmacun is a perfect vessel for the doner, chips and salad, fortifying everything with a herby, peppery crust. The nicely-seasoned doner meat is more appreciated with this pared-back offering. The final flourish of fresh parsley and lemon adds another kick missing from the rest of the menu.
Zinger Ricebox: KFC – £4.99
One of the most derided items on the menu, I doubt the haters have even tried the ricebox. A zinger fillet is served sliced on seasoned rice, with bean salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, sweetcorn and a dollop of garlic mayo: a wonderful harmony of textures. KFC fries are notoriously bad, so this is the perfect alternative. If this was sold in a food market everyone would be raving about it. Trust me and give it a go.
Banana and Syrup Porridge: Pure – £2.90
One of the most underrated lunch-time spots on the high street, Pure’s creamy porridge is the most slept on breakfast option. Their rolled oats are soaked and cooked in oat milk, resulting in a perfect mix of softness and bite. There are several topping options but my go-to would be the banana and golden syrup with an add-on of peanut butter (+60p). It puts the tote-bag-and-Brompton-bike brunch places to shame.
Chilli Cheese Baked Potato: Wendy’s – £2.79
A baked potato? With a burger? Don’t knock it ‘till you try it. Can you have too much of a good thing? In my opinion, yes, with fries being a prime example. The first few are divine. The next couple are still tasty, but the last few become bland and unappealing. A baked potato, on the other hand, never raises one’s expectations too high. In fact, I’m always surprised at how good they are – especially the chilli cheese one from Wendy’s. The fluffy potato is topped with beef chilli, nacho cheese and shredded cheese, which makes it feel far more decadent than the usual ‘side’. When I go to Wendy’s, I often shun the burgers for one of these.
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