The Spot, Kilburn

Sunday 20 June 2010 | |



London is an unbelievable city to live in for a 'foodie'. It may not be as economically competitive as, say, New York City and it may not always have the Wabi-sabi conceptualised sheen of Tokyo, but there's still numerous options all over the city. A large number of these are 'ethnic' restaurants, showcasing the food of migrants living in London, usually in suburban areas. Despite this, there are some holes that need to be filled: 'American' food. In particular, food from the South. Sure, there's Bodean's, but where's the cornbread? The chicken and waffles? Well, they're at The Spot in Kilburn, apparently.








Southern fried chicken with waffles and collard greens (£6). Seriously good fried chicken. Crispy, tender and full of flavour - paprika and cayenne mainly. The fresh-made waffles are also very good. At the right level of sweetness, made even better when topped with a knob of butter and some maple syrup, provided. Goes surprisingly well with the chicken. The collard greens are perhaps my favourite item though. From the same family as the cabbage, these are traditionally cooked down with 'hog jowl', but considering The Spot is fully Halal, the pork is overlooked. Instead, they use coconut oil, which gives it a distinct flavour. It's absolutely delicious though: creamy, salty and moreish.

Crispy catfish, biscuits and coleslaw. The coleslaw tasted homemade...in a good way, of course. The biscuits were also very good: salty and buttery, but perhaps a touch too dry. The catfish was fantastic. Well seasoned, crispy and moist fleshed fish. Generous portion, too.

Seafood gumbo, fries and waffles. Probably the strangest combination of the three, but still very good. The seafood gumbo hid a pleasant spiciness in the liquid, whilst the bits of various seafood (prawns, squid, not sure what else) were well cooked and good tasting. The fries were great for frozen, perhaps because they were seasoned with chilli as well as salt.

There are a couple of problems with The Spot: the place only has about ten seats, while the food takes ages to come out (which suggests it's freshly cooked, but twenty minute wait for some fried chicken is a bit much when you're hungry). I'm a fan of the place though. They're passionate about the food they're cooking after various staff trips to Amy Ruth's and Sylvia's in NYC. It's also great fun trying to create the strangest 'combo' thinkable. I just wish I lived a little closer to Kilburn so I could take the food away when all the seats are taken...


See also: Matthew's post on The Spot, on the excellent It Ends With Dovi blog.


17 comments:

Grumbling Gourmet said...

Damn it! you beat me to it! Glad to hear it's as good as I'd heard... For £6, that chicken sounds excellent and I'm definitely a fan of throwing waffles in alongside meat like that. A wonderful concept, though looks entirely like a takeout joint. do they have seating there at all?

Hollow Legs said...

This looks really interesting; I've been wanting to try food from the Deep South since I saw Josh recreate some recipes over on Cooking the Books.

M. A. Salha said...

I agree the chicken is quite good. I want to try that catfish. The man 'n' cheese was unspectacular when I went but that's because it hadn't been made fresh. Credit where credit is due, though, we needed a place like this.

Su-Lin said...

Oooh, very keen to try that fried chicken. Not entirely convinced by the halal collards though! :)

Joshua said...

Didn't know anywhere in London did Chicken and Waffles, will have to pop over and give it a go.

London Chow said...

Hmm, the waffles look more like a thick bread with indentations. lol. A smattering of melted chocolate would complete the picture!

Ibzo said...

Grumbling Gourmet Haha, I went to The Spot about two months ago. Just got round to writing it up... There are about ten seats in the place. VERY small.

Lizzie Yeah there's probably no where else like it in London. Worth trying out. Not sure how authentic it is to be perfectly honest, but it's bloody nice, irrespective.

M. A. Salha The catfish is good. Mac and cheese is always sold like, cold it seems. It is in Outsider Tart as well, anyway...

Su-Lin Haha. The collard greens are really good. Salty and buttery. What's not to like? The fried chicken was really good when I went. I'm gonna visit again and I hope it's consistent.

Joshua Yeah this isn't the sort of place that's gonna appear in Time Out. It's on Willesden Lane, Kilburn - nothing else of note nearby, to be honest. The chicken and waffles were worth going over there for, though.

London chow :) The waffles were really good! Perhaps they should have been more crispy though, good point.

BribedwithFood said...

I have walked past this place so many times and always wondered, but was too chicken to go in... Ah, well, guess I'll have to go pronto now.

Thanks for testing it out ;)

Adam said...

Have you been to the burger place a couple of doors down?

Alex said...

As a lifelong fried chicken devotee and, since travelling to LA, a big fan of Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, I was eager to give this a go until I phoned and was told that they don't do delivery. I can't be arsed with it now and am just gonna pop to KFC.

What are the portions like btw? For £6 you'd expect AT LEAST three pieces of chicken - and that doesn't include little wing bits either...

Anonymous said...

i heard they only cook fresh mac an cheese on sunday that better not be tru

Anonymous said...

Following an excellent meal and time on Saturday 17.03.12,I went to order again tonight, and what a disappointment. 1) We ordered at 1925 got there at 2000, food not ready, why because they could not contact me via mobile. Fine (That's my fault-bad reception)the order needed to be substituted, but the rest of the meal should have been ready 2)No apology or attempt to compensate for the extra 40 minute wait 3) When I did receive my order, it appears this particular cat fish had been on a diet. The Spot does good food, can't lie, but it needs to work on its customer service. Won't be making another trip over the river again.

Anonymous said...

Try STAX in Carnaby St for chicken n waffles! Want to try the spot but too many reviews say the wait is too long

Anna Schafer said...

The chicken and waffles? Well, they're at The Spot in Kilburn, apparently. lån penge

Anna Schafer said...

As a lifelong fried chicken devotee and, since travelling to LA, a big fan of Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, I was eager to give this a go until I phoned and was told that they don't do delivery. I can't be arsed with it now and am just gonna pop to KFC. låna

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