Saturday, 26 August 2017
REVIEW: Giraffe's new tapas menu
I used to be seriously obsessed with Giraffe. It was one of my favourite places to eat whenever I went to London – I was obsessed with their flavours, the cocktails, the whole ambience... not to mention the little plastic giraffes they used to put in your drinks (do they still do that?). And then I don’t know what happened. I think I discovered other restaurants and just... moved on. Sorry, Giraffe.
But it’s ok, because they invited me back to try out their new tapas menu! Well, it’s not that new – they invited me absolutely AGES ago, and I was rubbish and have only just got round to going. It’s a great deal though, you get 3 tapas for £14.95 or 5 tapas for £24.95, and there’s an offer on right now where if you go for the 5 tapas option, you also get a bottle of wine! Amazing!
Obvs we went for the five-and-wine deal because OBVS, but it was difficult to choose just five dishes. There are some delicious sounding options like pan-roasted chorizo and honey, patatas bravas, tacos, gyozas, flatbread, Japanese style chicken... hungry yet? QUITE. Here's what we went for...
Tacos - Barbacoa pulled beef and shredded chicken
There are three kinds of tacos on the menu, and we had to go for at least two of them because damn, we love them tacos (the third kind is a sweet chili plantain option). These were great, especially the beef, which hit us with some serious sweet and spicy flavour. Both were topped with sour cream and guacamole. I must confess I found the chicken tacos a little bland, and would have preferred a heavier hit of flavour - but perhaps these are designed for people who prefer subtler flavours. It's fine - next time I'd just get double beef.
Baked topped hummus
We had a heated chorizo vs hummus debate, but ultimately went for the hummus because it was topped with spicy beef. Beef! I was also keen to make sure our meal was filling, and figured the flatbreads would help. This was delicious, beautifully spiced and flavoured. My only criticism is that it only came with two tiny bits of flatbreads! We ended up having to leave some because there's only so much hummus you can eat off a spoon, y'know? A couple more flatbreads would go a long way.
Yaki gyozas
Nom nom nom, dumplings 4eva. These were great - chicken dumplings, deep fried then topped with an orange miso glaze and drizzled with a sweet chilli sauce. Perfectly crispy, slightly sweet and super tasty.
Karaage chicken
Saving the best for last - GOD this was good. Japanese style fried chicken served with a honey and soy dip, and it blew us both away. Next time we go, we may just order five portions of this each - we were fighting over the last one (sidenote - odd numbered items in sharing dishes? STOP IT, EVERYONE). The chicken was all thigh meat, so incredibly juicy and moist and the flavour was amazing. I'm going to need to have this again, and soon.
We also nabbed some sweet potato fries as a side, which went perfectly with this brilliantly eclectic mishmash of dishes (I think Giraffe might have been the first place in the UK I ever had sweet potato fries, y'know) and for dessert we couldn't resist churros. They came with a choice of dips - chocolate orange and Dulce de Leche, and being the caramel addict that I am, I was a fan of the latter. It really should be more socially acceptable to clean pots out with your fingers. So good.
It was a seriously delicious meal, and I loved that it was such a big mix of cultures - no need to decide what cuisine you want to choose! I'd definitely head back there to eat my weight in tapas again (well, mostly that chicken).
Giraffe is at Spitalfields Market, London E1 6DW (and branches nationwide). The restaurant kindly paid for our meal in exchange for this honest review.
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Essbeevee | Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, St Albans, Tring food, lifestyle, & parenting blog. All rights reserved.
All of this looks delicious - I've never actually eaten at a Giraffe restaurant but now you've got me really tempted!
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