As I head full speed to my first 40" waist trousers, sit back and enjoy the results of my and a few other bloaters' research...
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| Although Kingsley Road is awash with kebab houses this one deserves to be singled out. The £1 kebab rolls are delicious, and I frequently enjoy one when sober - high praise indeed! The £2.00 chicken in (freshly baked) nan bread also comes highly recommended and has the advantage of being cheaper than anything Colonel Sanders can muster up. You also get the satisfaction of seeing your food cooked to order. |
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| As a pizza guru I think that these places take some beating. The food tastes good, and you get friendly service in very pleasing surroundings - with a beautiful view of the bus garage. The only worrying thing is that they have live music a couple of times a month - I live in dread of wandering in there and coming face to face with Mark Handley prancing around. |
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| Top, top curry house. The decor is "basic" but the first thing you notice when you walk in is the smell of baking nan bread (a bargain at 65p) and rich, spicy sauces. The food is robustly flavoured, comes in generous portions, is delicious, and extremely good value for money. Friendly, laid back staff as well. Another advantage of this BYO place is that if you run out of booze, the offy's just next door! Highly recommended. |
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| If you've been overindulging in the spicy food and a certain part of your anatomy resembles a Japanese flag, it might be time to give more traditional food a go. The Heston Fish Bar on New Heston Road flogs, amongst other things, cod and chips that even a northern bloater would approve of, Steve. Come here any Friday evening and you'll see a queue of punters snaking out of the door. Even when it's pissing down. I blame this place for the failure of my (admittedly half hearted) 'fitness regime'. After an hour in the swimming pool opposite it's far too easy to come in here for a bag of chips which, let's face it, rather defeats the point. |
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| Extremely popular Chinese take away, in an area that for some strange reason is awash with them. Nothwithstanding my comments above, I'm especially fond of the beef with chillis. They also look after the saddos, Steve, with some good-value meals for one. |
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| TCHFKAS (The Curry House Formerly Known As Sahib's!) is Heston's only curry house. I am pleased to report that they do not exploit their monopoly status, and offer the usual range of dishes at prices you would expect to pay in Hounslow proper. The chef here is no stranger to the finalists' list of the National Curry Chef Competition. I seem to remember reading that he came in the final three a couple of years ago and split his prize money with a charity and the rest of the restaurant's staff, which I thought was a nice gesture. (They still sell the dish he won with, something called 'Chicken Lollypop Masala'. Daft name, but great dish.) I live near this place and so use it for take-aways mainly because the time it takes them to prepare a chicken dhansak is just enough for me to get a quick Stella in the excellent Old George just over the road. They have an above average buffet every Sunday. |
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| About 5 minutes' walk from Ayia Napa's monastery (just behind the Pizza Hut) is the excellent Odin restaurant. My companians (who know a thing or two about food) gave it the thumbs up on our recent visit to Cyprus. As well as the usual Cyprus and Greek specialities such as halloumi (grilled cheese - delicious!) and kleftico (slow cooked lamb - ditto!) they also do a few Scandinavian dishes. The staff really make this place though, obliging my friends' more bizarre requests (don't ask!) with good humour. One on particular night when our fruitless efforts to operate such items as a salt cellar and sugar bowl attracted the attention and amusement of surrounding tables (who were presumably under the impression they were witnessing some sort of chimps' tea party!) we were rewarded with a gratis bottle of house wine. Presumably for the free entertainment we provided. Not Ayia Napa's cheapest restaurant (but if you want cheap, feel free to join the other pikeys at the nearby Burger King), but for reasonably priced, authentic Greek food in a relaxed atmosphere, you really can't do better than this place. |