Rita's Bar and Dining

Well call me late off the mark but on Tuesday night I visited Rita’s Bar and Dining who are doing a current residency at Birthdays on Stoke Newington Road. OK, I will be honest – I was actually driven there by a sense of panic after seeing that they plan to move location in April so I dashed to try it out whilst they are still on my doorstep. Apologies in advance for the photos - the place is pretty dark/ not iphone photo friendly! 

I took with me my old school friend Vanessa (a Dalston virgin). Rita’s opens at 7 so we arrived at 7.15. Thank god we weren't any later as by 7.30 all the tables were full with a nice mixed east end crowd who were all there for one reason – fried food. Whilst sipping on a pretty darn good Margarita – nicely named ‘Rita’s, we tackled the menu. 

The menu is pretty small, a good thing because as it was I wanted everything. We went for the Sichuan Sticky Squid to start. I then decided to try the Friend Chicken Roll as I had read rave reviews and V opted for the Pulled Pork Sandwich special. We also decided that we obviously needed some Mac’ and Cheese to wash it down.

The squid was a big bowl full of sweet sticky squid strips, and after a few seconds I felt the familiar mouth numbing tingling brought on by Sichuan pepper. Then the pulled pork arrived… the sandwich was a full on 12 inch sub type number. I tried some and the pork was melt in the mouth good – this has been my second pulled pork experience in less than a week after StreetKitchen’s pulled pork burger last Thursday and I think it’s safe to say I’m a pulled pork fan (I’m not quite sure how many more times I can write pulled pork in this sentence). 

The Mac’ and Cheese was just what you would want it to be – cheesy and addictive. To be honest though, if you put guacamole and jalapenos on anything, I’m happy. Then my Chicken Roll arrived in a paper brown bag with the Rita’s logo – a nice original touch though possibly a bit of a waste of paper if I’m going to be picky. The fried chicken was the crunchiest I've had and the garlic mayo added a nice kick. My only complaint was that it fell apart a bit and let’s just says I was quickly a mayonnaise monster face (but it was worth it). 

The meal came to £38 (without service) for cocktails and the food and we were both stuffed - pretty good value if you ask me! As I said, Rita’s have recently announced that they are leaving Birthday’s in Dalston soon and have yet to announce their next location (the waiter pretended not to know despite my pretty desperate questioning). I hope they stay East but wherever they go, I will be close behind begging for more. 

Rita's Bar and Dining
Birthdays, 33-35 Stoke Newington Road, 
London N16 8BJ