THE BLUES KITCHEN Restaurant Review – The Coolest Place To Eat In London Town

rating:4.5

Written by Adam James. Edited by Adam Rayner. I had wanted to go to The Blues Kitchen in Camden ever since I€™d tried unsuccessfully to get tickets to a Pete Doherty gig there. The artist€™s name was going to remain anonymous, for fear you€™d stop reading this review immediately due to my poor musical tastes. I€™m often on the receiving end of stick from friends about liking this lovable rogue. But please remember the phrase €˜each to their own€™, and forgive my guilty (in more than one way when it comes to him) pleasure, and stick with me. This is of course not a music review, but a food review.

The Blues Kitchen is situated on Camden High Street, and is a 5 min equidistant walk from either Camden Town or Mornington Crescent tube stations. Upon walking in our eyes are immediately drawn towards the superb looking bar. Minimal lighting behind each row really showed off the impressive selection of spirits; mostly bourbons, but near every other spirit one could want is represented also. It all combines to give a real modern feel to an old saloon style bar. Which is a feeling continued with wooden flooring, tables and stools throughout. Around the edge of the front windows are some huge tanned leather horseshoe booths, which look amazing. Both help to give the feel of another classic American setting €“ the Diner. But, with the bar, the lighting and the music, it€™s clearly very much an adult€™s only version.

We start with a hard milkshake. The flavour of vanilla, peanut butter and a shot of bourbon was recommended by our waitress as a staff favourite. Served in the classic metal cup that it€™s made in, you could easily get 3 full glasses out of one serving, and it did not disappoint. The flavour was sensational, and the bourbon gave it a lovely kick. I forgot to ask which bourbon they€™d used out of their twenty or so on the menu. But it tasted so good I cared about as much as it mattered.

Now whilst it is very well known about the portions, service and even quality of a lot of the food in the US, another thing that really impressed me when I visited was how common it was for establishments to be very good eateries, bars and late night music venues all under the same roof. Often as quickly as they could clear away plates of €˜all you can eat tacos€™ from the tables, people would be dancing on them. It seems to me that in this country we still seem to prefer one place to eat, and then one to drink and dance. Of course that€™s no bad thing, we do both pretty well. It€™s just that the €˜all under one roof€™ thing appeals to me more these almost 30€™s days. Which was exactly the mission statement told to us by manager, who expressed his desire not just to bring authentic American cuisine to London, but serve it in an environment that took you to the other side of the Atlantic. To do this he has turned The Camden Blues Kitchen into this one stop shop, for great food, either at the bar or at a table, great booze and great music with live acts on almost every night of the week.

On to the food and we started with a sharing platter, which had a bit of everything you€™d expect; mini-ribs were tangy, and sticky. The Buffalo Wings had an impressive amount of meat, but were not quite spicy enough for me. There was a bowl of chilli, which certainly was though, and was served with a textured, tangy and definitely homemade guacamole, creamy, rich sour cream and sweet and delicious salsa and the usual nachos to dip into them. No cheese, but no matter, the dips were good enough I didn€™t let this mar my nacho moment. The delicious sweet potato fries were great for these dips too. They were fluffy and light on the inside, but crispy golden, almost honey coated on the outside. But better still were the Padron Peppers. Small individual char grilled green peppers, which actually looked more like small green chillies. The fact they did would€™ve put off a lot of people I think, but I would€™ve quite happily eaten a bucket full. Their charred outsides, and tangy insides were a real delight.

Next up were two more cocktails, again staff recommendations. The Mint Julep (bourbon, mint and sugar) was an interesting, and very refreshing drink, but the Woodberry Chilli (bourbon, raspberries, lemon, cranberry and fresh chilli) was far too bitter for me. I also wasn€™t too keen on the chilli in it. But it was clear that the cocktails were both fairly well made.

The Seafood Jambalaya and New Orleans Gumbo both arrived, with big excitement and expectations, and were both sensational. Such rare dishes to see on menus in the UK even at American restaurants. Though I have heard them batted around in American TV and film often and on my daily fix of Man Vs Food, I actually had to read the menu to get it straight in my mind what they were. Just for those of you who, like me, had to pause and think, a Jambalaya is a rice bases dish, akin to a paella, while a gumbo is closer to thick stew. The Jambalaya contained ample servings of perfectly cooked seafood, including mussels, crayfish and the biggest prawns that I have seen in any kind of melange. The rice was soft and coated with the perfect amount of spicy bayou sauce to make it moist but not sloppy. A tad on the spicy side, but that just meant it was right on the money for me.

The Gumbo, their signature dish contained thick, juicy lumps of chicken, sausage and more of the gargantuan prawns all smothered in a thick, unbelievably rich, spicy tomato; it had an amazing intensity. Well worthy of being called their signature dish. It€™s a tough call deciding on which of the two Creole dishes was best. And I chose not to decide. One of each the next time I return.

There were a couple of misses though; the Fried Chicken was very dry, with a poor distribution of crispy coating. While this is a sign it was clearly homemade, and refreshingly did not resemble the kind of chicken that tries so hard to be KFC only to fail in triplicate because it doesn€™t look, smell or taste like the Colonels finger licking€™ goodness, it also tasted like something you might make yourself at home in the deep fat fryer. The Cajun chicken burger also failed to impress. The bun was toasted and a really great selection of bread; the toppings fresh and juicy but the burger itself rather dry and while flavoursome lacking. The French fries were also surprisingly poor. Pale, tepid, very thin and not crispy €“ if fries are to be thin, they must be crispy! Far better were the sweet potato fries. But these were forgotten after the food highlight for me €“ Cajun Blackened Prawns. Again they were sizable prawns and perfectly cooked. Sizzling juicy, and plump, with an amazing dry spicy flavour and served with a delicious Creole Mustard dipping sauce. YUM! After a break and a thorough examination of the quickly filling venue €“ it€™s getting near 9 and the band are warming up, it€™s time for some people watching. The clientele are a real mix of young rockers ready to dance the night away when the band comes on; students enjoying a cocktail, middle aged guys looking for a beer or burbon and some cool tunes in a dimly lit, vibrant bar, office workers out for some after-work drinks and an elderly couple in the corner enjoying a burger. And a couple of food fanatics come critics like myself and my editor who are agreed that we felt cooler just by being sat in a booth that is raised from the bar area and sort of just around the corner from the stage. We were able to hear the band when they came on but were not deafened by them.

We moved on to dessert. The Vanilla Cheesecake lacked any discernible base, which was disappointing. Creamy, fresh and complimented by the sweet, fruit coulis it ticked the boxes for a vanilla cheesecake but didn't take me to another level. The hot Choc Brownie delivered warm and with a scoop of quickly melting vanilla ice cream. Deliciously sweet and bulging with chocolate goodness, it had a few too many nuts for my liking, but I understand lots of others like nuts, with their high protein content and all. So by now it€™s 9.30, and the sound check has started, and the lights have dimmed. People are flocking towards the stage at the back. And as far as combining a one-stop restaurant/bar/music venue? Mission accomplished! The Camden Blues Kitchen is the ultimate experience in American dining, whilst also getting the vibe and atmosphere of a saloon bar in the Deep South that has local, upcoming musicians performing every night of the week.

This Sunday €“ Thanksgiving Sunday, don€™tcha know?! €“ they are holding a special Last Waltz tribute. For those of you who don€™t know, The Last Waltz was a Scorsese documentary that covered the final concert of the band €˜The Band€™, which was held on Thanksgiving and where some of the greatest musical artists of the generation including Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters and Joni Mitchell, joined The Band to play out their greatest hits. After serving an authentic Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings €“ think Christmas dinner with pumpkin pie instead of Xmas pud €“ a tribute band and guests will recreate the set from that night. It proves to be an awesome evening €“ I will be there and recommend you are to. But hurry because Turkey, pie and places are limited.

A three-course meal at Camden Blues Kitchen will cost you from £25 - £35 excluding drinks and service charge. For 50% off food and drink visit them on a Monday night. Camden Blues Kitchen is located at 111 - 113 Camden High Street London NW1 7JN. For more information or to book a table visit http://www.theblueskitchen.com/ If you are a fan of The Blues Kitchen and believe it to be the best American Restaurant in London, remember to register your vote when the polls open on 25/11/11