Pepe's — Restaurant in Great Britain

Alright hear me now, after years of hearing my friends go on and on about the somewhat legendary chicken and rice box from Pepe’s. As I’ve moved back to Southend I decided that it was time to try it. I got it with peri-salted fries and a tango which ended up being nearly £10. So I had high hopes for the community acclaimed chicken and rice. I normally don’t get rice when I go out to eat but chicken and rice is the most known and well liked this in this establishment, so I had to oblige.

This box came packed to the brim, filed with hot peri sauce, chicken and supposedly spicy rice. It came with a tub of garlic sauce. The hot peri seasoned chicken had a zesty, lemony edge to it which I wasn’t sure if I liked or despised it as it’s deeply infused in the roots of the pieces of chicken. The rice itself isn’t spicy at all, it was lacking any kind of kick. It’s saving grace was the peri sauce that came with it that immensely enhanced it’s flavour and actually made it quite enjoyable for most of it. The chicken was cooked but it wasn’t tender or succulent like advertised but more like tough chicken breast that had seasoned decently well, which was a bit disappointing. They do give a decent amount of chicken so there’s no need to pay £3 extra for more that’s definitely not worth it. I think it would be better value for money if it was around £4.50/£5. 6.5/10

Peri-salted fries

These fries were a conundrum as they had the best Peri salt I’ve ever tasted it was seasoned soo well I was perpetually shocked. The fries themselves weren’t that good as they were lacking the crispness and even the fluffiness to be constituted as good fries. BUT the salt they used on those fries was fantastic. If they improve on their fries they have something on their hands that can possibly rival the likes of Nando's and Roosters but just in the fries department. 5.5/10

Overall culinary review : 6/10 For more reviews check my...

Awful service. I went there with my wife and daughter for lunch. The till staff took our order and gave me the receipt with a serial number. We waited about 30 minutes for our number to be called but when we saw people who came after us were getting food long before us and our turn was not coming, I went to the till to ask how long it might take to deliver our food. The till staff told me its already cooked and coming up soon. Then we waited another 15 minutes and when there was no update, I went to the counter again. This time she checked my order number and realised my order details was not given to the kitchen and food was never cooked. As my kid was so hungry I decided to take the refund and went to another restaurant. I wasted 45 minutes for nothing. I know their food is good but with this type of customer service they will lose clients. I will...

Thought i’d give Pepe’s one more go (last time my chicken wings had FEATHERS all over them). Pepe’s really need to work on cleaning their chicken properly. This time I ordered through tastecard, I called Pepe’s as it was getting late and they stated ‘we’re not on tastecard’, well they are on there and my payment went through. The girl who answered didn’t have a clue as she was new so I asked if I could speak to someone who may be able to help, I clearly heard the man in the background say he didn’t want to talk to me, I was then put on mute and then the call hung up. I tried to call back multiple times and no one was answering to help. Disgusting customer service, I don’t mind that an error has been made but what has really upset me is the fact no one was even willing to have a conversation with me to help. Definitely will not be...