Chick chick chick...Chooks!

A rare lunch catch up with my sister and her boyfriend at the weekend, offered the perfect opportunity to try something new, and knowing them to be connoisseurs of trendy urban eateries, burgers and the like...I booked us into Chooks

Chooks is the new diner style restaurant on Haven Green, the second site for the restaurant originating in Muswell Hill. Chooks is Aussie slang for Chicken. Funnily enough, hubby and I were trying to figure out what exactly is Australian cuisine...and despite the name, we are none the wiser. But whilst the name is just about the only Aussie thing about the restaurant, they do do some 'beaut' chicken.

At 1pm on a Saturday we arrived to find the place pretty empty, so there was no trouble taking our table for the 4 of us plus baby in pram. However, there were a number of bookings that filled the place up over the next hour or so. The atmosphere was relaxed, the music was loud but ok and we settled in to look at the menus.

Perusing the menu

Between us we sampled a good selection of food. I had the High Noon Chicken Tacos, Hubby had the 'Hog 'n Chook combo', my sister had the buttermilk chicken with mash 'n gravy, and her boyfriend had....the burger! We all agreed that the buttermilk chicken was really delicious, and better than other similar dishes we've sampled in the local area. Even the self-declared chicken hater relished the juicy meat and nicely spiced batter. The ribs were sizable, the chips fairly average. The mash was good and creamy, and the slaw interesting and a nice variation on the normal.

High Noon Chicken Tacos

Hog 'n Chook Combo

For drinks, 3 of us ordered milk shakes. These came in the usual flavours vanilla, chocolate etc as well as banana maple which was yum. These were extremely filling though and didn't leave much space for dessert. 

The one dessert we did try was the peanut chocolate cheesecake donut. Quite a mouthful in more ways than one. It was a nice size, and a tasty indulgence to end the meal. We will return though as on the menu was a deep-fried mars bar...definitely one to try another time!

Service was excellent, good fun and attentive. They were also very accommodating of our pram and welcoming of children with colouring in sheets available. Decor is modern but not overdone. 

Chooks is a welcome addition to ever expanding Ealing restaurant scene.

Summary score table /5
Food Deliciousness:	4
Drinks Tastiness:	3.5
Service Skills:	4.5
Atmospheric Vibes:	3
Recommendation Score for a Casual Eve:	4
Recommendation Score for Showing off Ealing:	3
Total average score:	3.6

Plenty of choice in just a few Lime Yard(s)...

Having suffered through the cold first week in January, Pete and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner out. A restaurant seemed to offer the best balance of warmth from someone elses superior heating and dishwashing skills, as well as more variety than our bare cupboards could provide.

Having been awed by the new look Ealing Broadway centre, we thought we'd try one of the new places on the 'restaurant strip' (I use 'strip' in the loosest sense given the passages other hospitality nightlife spot 'LA Confidential') and plumped for Lime Yard.

Warm and cosy from the outside, we stepped in and we're quickly greeted and shown a to a table. The welcome was warm and hospitable and we settled ourselves with the menus.

Dry January ran the risk of failing at the first hurdle as the cocktails were very reasonably priced and there was a good selection...but we opted for a juice instead (halos polished) and both choose the strawberry and ginger cooler which was surprisingly good. It was long, tasty, crisp and satisfying. A good dry January choice after all!

Virtue done for the day, and burgers were the order of choice. I'd heard good things about the buttermilk chicken so choose this whilst Pete picked a good ol' hamburger. Whilst waiting for them to arrive we pondered the decor...is it 'french train station meets mid-west', or 'industrial cafe rouge meets park bench'? The jury is out.

Overall, the food was tasty but average. The hamburger was a bit dry and my buttermilk chicken fairly unremarkable. The portions were sizable though and the generous portion of spicy chips certainly hit the spot. Puddings were, in my humble estimation, a bit small but given the mains they were actually probably quite well balanced.

Lime Yard serves decent food at a decent price, and redeems its self on the drinks and cheerful service. It's a welcome addition to Ealing's new troop of restaurants.

Summary score table /5
Food Deliciousness:	3
Drinks Tastiness:	5
Service Skills:	4
Atmospheric Vibes:	3
Recommendation Score for a Casual Eve:	4
Recommendation Score for Showing off Ealing:	2
Total average score:	3