REVIEW: SKINNY KITCHEN
To the casual observer, The Skinny Kitchen looks like an artisanal little restaurant, perfect for the traditional hipster. Whenever I walk past it on the street, my eyes are immediately drawn to the twinkling fairy lights in the windows and the hard-wood furniture. For well over a year I walked past and wanted to go in, but didn’t, partly because it’s intimidating; it looks like a place for people who have their lives together, who go to the gym, and drink smoothies. I do neither of those things, I am not a vegan, and I definitely don’t have enough money to just casually eat lunch there. But when my mum came to visit me, I dragged her there, so I could try their food, and have her foot the bill.
Most of the food on the menu looks like it came out of the dream clean eating guide: quinoa, acai, avocado–all the favourite foods of the health-nut millennials. However, there are options if you actually enjoy eating real food. There are two burger options, chicken satay, and beef; with options to make both meat-free. On the menu, there are several options with meat, several that are vegetarian, and there’s the option to make any dish vegan by requesting different ingredients. I have to give Skinny Kitchen kudos for trying to provide healthy food for everyone, no matter what dietary requirements they have.
Personally, I had the avocado quesadilla, it is vegetarian, but there’s the option to add chicken, which I did. It was amazing and really big, I didn’t manage to finish it, but when you’re paying £6 for a quesadilla, it better be.
The variety on the drink menu is so great that it needs its own section; I found it hard to choose just one. There are fresh pressed juices like ‘Strawbazzle’, smoothies, protein shakes, iced tea, and cocktails. All the drinks sound fairly amazing from the descriptions; each drink has one which also pronounces the health benefits of the ingredients. However, again the cost could be an issue, with the cheapest smoothie priced at £5 and a small orange juice at £3, which could be a promlem, especially for the cash strapped student.
The staff were super up-beat and friendly. They told me and my mum about the health virtues in the food we ordered, and it sounded like they genuinely knew what they were talking about, and cared about how healthy we were being. The service was also really good.
Overall, the food was good. The menu has been replicated in various brunch places in London, so you can probably guess that you’ll find smashed avocado on toast. The drinks were what really made it stand out for me. I have never seen such variety, and I will go back just to try more of them. However, the price puts me off, the atmosphere seems to be aimed at students, but the prices are more suitable for people with full-time jobs. So, go to The Skinny Kitchen, but make sure someone else is paying for you.
