Tinseltown American Diner @ 104 Heath St. Hampstead

Friday afternoon saw the completion of the wingmen review hat trick and a trip to our neighbours Tinseltown. After a leisurely stroll up the hampstead hill we arrived at the American style diner famous for its US style shakes.

"The Ambassador"

 
As an ambassador for chicken wings it was a no brainer when i saw “the ambassador” sitting neatly in the VIP shake isle. The decision had nothing to do with it containing a handful of Oreo cookies and Ferrero Rocher but I digress....

First item on the agenda was the first item on the menu! Wings. Three different types to sample a classic BBQ , Cajun style, and fiery Piri Piri. With all 3 ordered and a side of Jalapeno cheesy fries to keep them company it was time to relax and get to the know the Ambassador.

Mountain of whipped cream and smooth vanilla ice-cream along with the chocolates was heaven, not too thick either so brain freeze didn’t pay me a visit but I do wish he had warned me about the wings....

They were a real disappointment.

First up were the Cajun and put simply they weren’t Cajun, it was a very mild curry sauce. I questioned myself until I saw the bill which even said “curry wings”.  The sauce was extremely heavy and thick, almost a yoghurt consistency and I may be proven wrong during the Wingmen’s journey but curry sauce and a chicken wing aren’t normally the best of friends.

Cajun Wings

Second up were the Fiery Piri Piri wings with a seemingly daunting  3 red chilli’s on the menu’s spice index. Again I was surprised to find no heat or spice whatsoever. In fact, very little difference in taste from the Cajun with an equally thick soupish sauce.

Piri Piri Wings

Finally, we reached the home straight and the classic BBQ chicken wing, following the first two I wasn’t expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. A rich, sticky, sweet but smoky BBQ sauce was smothered on the wings and was a good end to an otherwise fairly average meal.

BBQ Wings

 It must be said that the size of the wing was impressive but they lacked any kind of coating which meant they were neither crisp nor crunchy but instead quite wet and squidgy which wasn’t to my liking.

Presentation

Unecessarily simple for a restaurant, seemingly just plonked on a plate with no garnish or accompaniment. Staff when asked couldn’t differentiate between which was the Cajun and which was the Piri Piri (little did we know at this point that there wasn’t really any difference), but thankfully the second colleague that came over could...

Coating

Due to them seemingly being a “boil in the bag” job meant there was no real coating to speak of. Sauce was far too thick and not as described on menu.

Meat

A plus point – big big wings with plenty of meat but needed to be cooked or marinated in the sauce to get the flavour into it.

Spice

Real lack of heat or spice to any of the wings besides the Cajun which had a handful of unexpected Cumin. Generally quite bland with no bold or punchy flavours.

Value for money

£4 for 3 wings and a plate isn’t great. Considering the lack of quality or care that had gone into them it becomes really quite expensive compared to what else we have seen.

In summary, you can’t argue with the quality of the milkshakes and would go back tomorrow for another, the styling of the place is really cool and has a lovely atmosphere with friendly staff but it’s not one for The Wing Men. The various wings we tried need a lot of work to meet our seal of approval

Overall Rating: 2/10

 Tinseltown is open from Midday to 2/3am everyday. (104 Heath St, London NW3 1DR)

@tinseltownuk
facebook.com/tinseltownuk