Another weekend, another take-away! Kind of…
I’ve ventured out of Bedford and headed to the bright lights of Luton Town as there’s a gig on at the George II pub. Before the drinks start flowing however I need to fill my belly so my friend and I wandered down the road to AFC.
AFC is obviously not in a grand location, it’s just out the back of the Arndale centre (you may call it “The Mall” now… because renaming it will make it less skanky apparently), across the road from what used to be buildings but is now a waste land car park within the grounds of modern ruins.
When you see the outside of the shop it’s not exactly welcoming, you step in side and it’s not eth most pleasant of places. It could do with a good clean in the dining area the beige hue that seems to be draped over the area may just be down to the age of the fittings.
The guy that served us was for want of a better word, indifferent. He really didn’t seem like he gave a shit whether we would actually order something or not and when we did he still didn’t seem that pleased about it. This might just be a one off as I’ve eaten here a few times before and they staff have normally been quite pleasant. What I did find a bit odd was the random people behind the counter that grabbed food and then popped off out of the shop. Perhaps they were staff going home of delivery staff but they weren't wearing the slinky purple t-shirts the other guys were wearing so in all honesty they could have been anyone… if fact I’m now wondering if I couldn’t have just done the same?
Anyway, we both have 2 pieces of chicken and chips (fries), they ask if it’s eat in or take away (we’re eating in). The food comes and it’s served on a plate, I am in favour of this as takeaways are almost always served in cardboard or polystyrene boxes even if you’re eating in. These items should on be used for walk out or delivery orders since they are disposed of almost immediately and are a massive ecological nightmare.
The chicken comes and I’m disappointed to see two pieces of dark meat. I am by no means a chicken snob who poo poo’s the dark meat & only eats the white meat, I love the dark meat but it’s like the pudding part of the chicken to me. Breast is the mains, dark the afters… The breast should be chicken piece number 1. If you order one piece you get the breast, two pieces should be breast & leg, 3 pieces should be breast, leg, thigh etc.
Putting my disappointment over the lack of breast (stop it!) to one side I notice that the southern fried coating is a bit patchy however the coating is crispy and is holding on to the chicken (In the past I’ve mentioned the floppy batter issue most chips shops seem to have, well this is also noticeable with southern fried coating on chicken at quite a few places too). The chicken meat is very juicy and tasty but a little bit pink in the middle.
The fries are next (which I have smothered in the very tasty Chilli sauce), Remember when Burger King introduced its “Stealth Fries” a few years back? Well, compared to these BK’s fries are frickin' rubbish. What you get at AFC can only be described as the perfect French fry! They’re long, they’re straight and they’re bloody crispy on the outside yet REALLY fluffy on the inside. The vinegar & chilli sauce have not at all affected the structural integrity of the tasty little monster either yet they’re not at all greasy.
For those of you that think magic isn’t real are wrong, it IS real and you can see it, touch it, taste it in the AFC French fries!
There’s a lot more on offer at AFC including kebabs, pizza and curries. Now this is what I don’t like about modern take-away establishments. I feel that a place called AFC (where the “C” stands for chicken) should only sell chicken and side orders. I’ve not eaten anything but chicken from this place myself but one online review I found said this:
"My korma was vile like chicken in sugared cream the Jalfrezi was also awful the rice was not nice curry so horrible I couldn’t eat it nor could my daughter was an hour late and all cold."
Perhaps I should cut this bit out as I’ve never experienced it for myself but it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m of the opinion that places need to stick to one area, if they did I feel that the quality of said items would improve. I would never order a curry form a fried chicken shop myself because I’d rather go to a curry house where I know that the curry will be made as it should be. In some respect I feel the person who wrote that review kind of had it coming to them.
Enough of that though let me get round to the last item here, at the start of this review I mentioned the inside of the establishment, what I failed to mention was that they have (and this is brilliant) a sink in the dining area!
A SINK, FRICKIN’ GENIUS!!! Napkins just don’t do the job on greasy chicken fingers but a nice hand wash will do very nicely. It’s ugly and a bit odd to see it there but it works. There’s also a hand dryer for after (isn’t that good).
So, to sum it all up. Fries’ = like the God’s themselves have lovingly crafted them , chicken = juicy but a bit pink (something I’m a bit wary of), service & premises = mixed.
I’d give it a 7 out of 10 based on the chicken & chips (French Fries) but will knock it down to 5.5-6 since the inside of the shop isn’t exactly pleasant. I’ve yet to try anything else on the menu so if anyone else here has tried other items on the AFC menu or ordered in then I encourage you to speak up and post your experiences below.
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