A Taste of North America - Zaks

I’ve always craved American food such as burgers, hotdogs, steaks and fries. Living in Norwich our options are always limited. On the off chance, I decided to contact Zaks if they do any halal dishes. Behold they replied saying all the hotdogs are halal.

Décor/Atmosphere

The branch I went to was the Mousehold branch. I have driven past this restaurant many times wishing I can eat there. Set in the middle of the woodlands area, you walk up towards the restaurant, the lighting on the building reflecting on the trees makes it look beautiful.

The inside décor has an American yet pub-style feel to it. I liked it.

Décor verdict 10/10

Service

It was a busy evening. When we arrived we managed to get the last table. I asked to confirm that the hotdogs are all halal which they did. The service was a little slow but I think it’s reflected on how busy the restaurant was. There was an error with my dish which I’ll explain below however it was rectified straight away.

Service verdict 7.5/10

Food

The halal options are limited. There are 4 hotdogs on the menu. The sausages used are beef and they are HUGE. We ordered the New Yorker and the Chilli Dog. All dishes come with a side.

New Yorker

Served with Zak’s slaw, onions and pickles. The hotdog complemented with the slaw very well as it gave it a nice crunch to each bite.

Chilli Dog

Served with Zaks chilli, jalapeno cheese sauce and onions.

When the food was brought out from the kitchen, the waiter realised he forgot to tell the kitchen to change the Zaks Chilli to a vegetarian version, as the current version was beef chill which isn’t halal. The waiter took the food back and replaced it with a fresh one.

Once I got the food, it was worth the wait. This was spicy but it was very tasty. The chilli was good. The sides were of good quality.

There was so much food and we couldn’t finish it.

Food verdict 8/10

Price

The hotdogs are £9.95 which includes one side. They gave me a discount for the mistake they made. Ignoring that the prices were of good value.

Verdict 9/10

Conclusion

The hotdogs were of good quality. The atmosphere was good. The service was slow however they made up for it by noticing the mistake themselves. Just be wary when you order that this doesn’t happen to you.

Let’s hope they add more halal options in the future because I will definitely like to try the other dishes.

Final Verdict 8/10