Look sharp people, this Saturday is Something On A Stick Day. Yes, really. Look – it’s real.
You’ll surely want to get stuck into some impaled foods to celebrate this momentous occasion, but don’t be indiscriminate when it comes to your pole noshing and rod gobbling. We’ve selected the capital’s best sticks which skewer the competition — so, without further ado, here are London's best six on sticks.
1. Chicken shish at Lahore Kebab House
Whitechapel’s Lahore Kebab House serves what we reckon to be the capital’s finest chicken shish. The plump pieces of meat are moist, mildly spiced, visibly flame-licked and seductively smoke-scented. Bonuses come in the form of an array of other fine Punjabi dishes and a BYO policy.
2. Fondue at St. Moritz
There can be no better excuse to eat off sticks than fondue. Head to oh-so-old-school St. Moritz on Wardour Street — it’s the oldest Swiss restaurant in London, around since 1974 — where you can choose between five different cheese fondues and two stock fondues before enjoying a chocolate fondue for dessert.
3. Lamb köfte at Mangal Ocakbasi
The intricately-spiced lamb köfte are a highlight at much-loved Dalston Turkish restaurant Mangal Ocakbasi. Juicy and tender, the freshly grilled skewers of minced meat are well worth queuing for at busy times. Some token salad, thick yoghurt and warm puffy flatbreads are all you need to go with them.
4. Lamb skewers at Silk Road
Camberwell’s Silk Road serves cheap and flavour-packed dishes from the Xinjiang province of China, close to the border of Mongolia. The food here is heavily influenced by the area’s neighbouring countries, and much of it is more reminiscent of Middle Eastern fodder than Chinese. A shining example are the lamb skewers, lavished with a little chilli heat and cumin, and served with alternating chunks of tender lamb meat and chewy but rewarding lamb fat.
5. Yakitori at Asakusa
Mornington Crescent’s Asakusa is one of London’s best izakayas — informal Japanese eateries. The range of yakitori here includes crispy skewered pieces of chicken skin, bursting bites of chicken heart and strips of deep-flavoured ox tongue.
6. Anything at En Brochette
Pop-up act En Brochette — which is currently residing in The Gunmakers pub in Clerkenwell — has an entire offering dedicated to things on sticks. On Friday (27) they’re holding a special event in the downstairs space at Mother in Shoreditch. Tickets cost £30 and will get you canapés and a cocktail (drinks are the only things not served on sticks) before a feast of skewered grub.
What else is stupendous and comes on a stick? It’s not a joke, we really want to know. Tell us in the comments below...
