Spice Hut (Manor Park) — Restaurant in London

Spice Hut has become somewhat of an institution in East London and synonymous with Real Taste.

For those of us who were there at the beginning of its inception you will know that it was Real Taste that gave East London the 'real taste' of Bengali doner.

The proprieters had a conundrum on their hands. Trying to sell your typical turkish doner would be tough to the Bengali market. It was simply too bland and too dry for their palatte. They needed to somehow make what was already pre made doner spicy.

They therefore decided to take what was fast becoming a choice 'orange' chilli sauce in the PFC scene (more on that later) and add their own twist to it. With this break through they cooked the doner with this concoction with some onions and herbs. This yielded amazing results, completely transforming the flavour and texture of the lamb doner.

This however wasnt the end, putting their previous skills at the Indian restaurant to good use they decided to turn the humble pitta bread into a nan. Freshly made in the tandoor, drizzled with a little butter, they realised the Bengali's would lap it up.

Oh and did I mention the big bottles of mayo, ketchup and chilli sauce? At a time when you had to make do with a manky 10p sachet at the fish and chip shop which barely had any sauce in them, Real Taste decided they were going to literally give the stuff away. Freely available for the customer on the counter, it was up to them now how liberal they wanted to be. Take away? Not a problem, take as much of the polystyrene filled sauces as you wanted. Hell they'd usually over fill the containers so much that I doubt anyone has ever made it home without some sort of minor sauce explosion in their bag.

So what about the orange sauce? This had gained traction in the early to mid 90's from two PFC establishments. The stepney green branch and cannon street. I couldn't say for sure which one came up with it first but along with hot wings this was the beginning of the PFC revolution. Tower Hamlets and London for that matter has never been the same. KFC in comparison just seem like amatuers. What you don't do chilli sauce? And that secret bland recipe? Come on lads.

You might be thinking why is this lemon talking about Real Taste on a Spice Hut review?

Well as with anything, the two partners had a bust up and one decided they'd set up shop next door... spice hut was born! This truly was the golden era of bengali doner kebab. We were spoilt for choice and the quality and service was second to none. My man at spice hut did everything to out do real taste. We were enjoying french fries as opposed to the thick variety served at Real Taste, bigger portions, the introduction of the 'red sauce', the introduction of the burger sauce, garlic mayo, complimentary After Eight mints, table service and beetal nut with pan! The price was cheaper too!

Today if you ever hear anyone say let's get a Real Taste what they actually mean is Spice Hut.

What of Real Taste today? It is a mouse compared to it's former self...and Spice Hut? Well it's still doing okay but the old guard have either left or don't care anymore and the doner is not the same nor is the service. It's a shame because they could have capitalised on their success, streamline their business in the 00's and become a bengali household name up and down the country. When they did eventually open other stores, the pricing became inconsistent, the quality of the doner went down and service became hit and miss. I'll still go to the original store over the others because you just don't get that Spice Hut vibe (What's left of it) any where else.

Many a doner have been burnt whilst frying showing a lack of care when cooking, doner meat losing its moistness suggesting they've cooked it beforehand hand and left it in the bain marie to stew. Fridge not working in the summer. Unkept cooking and seating stations. These are some of the observations on my recent visits.

With all said and done, Spice Hut still has a special place in my heart and for that reason alone I've given...

Worst chicken donner I have ever had in last 10 years. Not real rotating grilled donner cut chicken they used left over chicken tikka peices to mash up a donner. I had a little concern which they brushed off and said they have fresh cut meat but clearly those chicken are not.

Burnt spices with a few overcooked pieces of chicken.. I had to throw in the bit straight away. I would have add a few pictures here but there is no option to add. I lost my apatite complately and ruined my lunch time.

I worked and owned a chicken shop in the past so I am talking from experience. If you want real chicken doner kebab go to a place where you can see.. they slice off from rotating donner grill chicken in front of you or at least you can see they have rotating chicken donner.

When a shop start doing good business they start forgetting about good quality and customer satisfaction. This could be the staff who start cutting corners. Dissapointing...

They don't understand english... I'm an immigrant myself so I'm not racist, most probably they are, because I've seen how they treat their own and how they treat me... Even worse they are scammers they hv one price outside and another one inside! Tell them that and they pretend they don't understand, ask for money back again nothing... Than they show u the most expensive price which is on the table probably the other lower prices from outside are for their own Ppl, don't like that if u go to European shop prices are same for everyone and they treat everyone the same. Food is not so bad but because of the other things I will never go to...