Namkeen — Restaurant in Chatham

To all the New Jerseyans or anyone that's visiting the Chatham, NJ area, check out Namkeen @eat.namkeen. It's a Pakistani flair to Nashville Hot Chicken.....We are familiar with Prince's(The Family of Andre Prince Jeffries - The originators of the Nashville Hot Chicken) and Hattie B's, both of which I had the pleasure to eat at, but Namkeen is different......and I LOVE IT!!

The Sandwhich:🐔🐔🍗🍗🥪🥪 I decided to go with the Clucking Waffle Sandwhich....It's hot chicken, with pickles, coleslaw, chipotle aioli, on a jalapeño and cheddar belgian waffle....doesn't that just sound amazing?? Don't think of this as a sweet chicken and waffle dish. Oh no, this is very much so, a savory chicken sandwich that has replaced an ordinary bun with a pillowy soft waffle. The chicken is boldly seasoned with some high kicks from the hot sauce. I did ask for the mild because I know my limits when it comes to spicy foods, but the mild was still a bit too spicy for me, but trust me, the sandwiche was amazing!

The Side:🍟🍟🍗🍗 For a side item, I picked the Pataka Fries and added Nashville Chicken to it. This dish comes with fries, chipotle aioli, and a spicy maple glaze. The fries were certainly then highlight of this meal. The chicken and fries were both crispy even with this dish packed with sauce. This is something I certainly will come back for!!!🤤🤤🤤

To wrap up, the food here is amazing, and I must say Namkeen is certainly paying  Nashville Hot Chicken and the Prince  family homage with it take on hot chicken. I will certainly return. Although the food was excellent, one small suggestion, instead of canned sodas and fountain drinks, I would have loved some sort of lemon, lime, and lavender frozen drink to cool my mouth down with....🤣😅......Please consider working on a drink menu because, again, the chicken is 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Restaurant Rating: 90 out of 100% (A-)

IG:...

*UPDATE - The restaurant has replied below. They claim there was a printer issue that delayed my order. I do not believe that was true. No one else was waiting for their order. If it was a printer issue, all orders would have been delayed and other people would have been waiting at the restaurant causing a backup. This was not the case and I was the only person waiting. Mistakes happen, but please accept responsibility. Even if there was a printer issue - which again I don't believe - that should not delay orders.

Minus 2 stars because they forgot our order and made us wait 40 minutes. I'll explain this later, but if you order to go then your order should be ready in 10 minutes. If not, check with the person at the register to make sure they didn't forget your order or else you'll end up waiting a long time.

The chicken was good, but the sides weren't great. One of the sandwiches was much smaller than the others in our order (see the photo). Based on these two things, I couldn't justify a higher rating.

If you're nearby and want fried chicken, get the Nashville sandwich. I was OK with the medium spicy and can go up a level in heat. Skip the waffle sandwich. It's more of a novelty item since you can't taste the cheese or jalapenos.

The issue is how online and to go orders are handled. The receipts are printed then stapled to bags. Those bags are then placed in a pile with no organization. This can cause someone's order to remain at the bottom of the pile with new orders continuously placed on top of it. I believe this is what happened with mine. Unfortunately, I'm sure this has happened to others. It would have been better if they comped a sandwich, but we only received an apology.

I'm sure my review won't impact their business too much, but I hope they use a better system to avoid this issue...

The first impression for this spot in NJ sure went well! Namkeen is a couple owned restaurant and the staff were all so generous. The service and food was phenomenal. The interior of the store is cute but they had tables set up outside. The staff was fast to serve and Amena checked up on us a few times. All of their menu items were fantastic and we were NOT disappointed. The crunch on the chicken makes me want to come back for more and the coleslaw is served fresh. Oh, and it's decently priced! The hottest level is "BLAOW!"The spice level was perfect to my liking. I have a high tolerance for spice but for my friends it was extremely spicy. After trying BLAOW they were sweating profusely, noses were running and it took awhile for the burning sensation to calm down. Keep in mind if you have a low tolerance for spice. As for the heat levels “Hot” was disappointing. It barely had any kick to it at all, just a heads up for non spice lovers. For me it was worth a drive to NJ and I would totally come back. I would recommend this spot to all my family and friends who would like a halal version of Popeyes or Chick-fil-A!

You must try this fusion of Nashville Fried Chicken and Pakistan hence their name, Namkeen! Their spice level makes your insides cry but in my opinion it’s totally worth it! The additions of the pickled onions, mint chutney and coleslaw gave it a refreshing crispness, slightly cutting through. Some sandwiches will immediately put me in a food coma, but Namkeen seems to be doing something right. You can adjust the spice levels, the description of each spice level is inspired by Eminem's "Lose Yourself" — Naked (calm and ready), Mild (palms sweaty), Medium (knees weak), and Hot (BLAOW!) Wait on it, currently at Nj but coming...