Greidy's Wings and Strips
DOWNTOWN TOP RANKIN’
GREIDY’S HAVE CLOSED THEIR RESTAURANT BUT CONTINUE TO OPERATE AT NUMEROUS STREET FOOD EVENTS AND POP UPS ACROSS THE CITY
In the world of ‘street food’, Greidy’s have achieved national celebrity with their fried chicken, having won a 2020 British Street Food Award and BBC One’s Best Street Food Award 2021.
And with their first restaurant opening coinciding with the second occasion of ‘Boy’s Supper Club’ the timing is impeccable, knowing I’ll not get remotely the same enthusiasm off my wife for fried chicken.
It’s a Caribbean rum shack kind of vibe with its mix of corrugated metal, tiles and wood; a cool reggae soundtrack; and walls adorned with competition certificates. It’s BYOB if you want booze—no soft drinks were harmed on our visit—but an application for an alcohol licence is already underway.
Greidy’s Interior
Owner Jay Reid’s passion and absolute refusal to cut corners is the key to Greidy’s success. He’s whipping up our excitement explaining his quality control means less than 90% of the chicken makes it through the first test. Then it gets brined to prevent the meat drying out, whilst tenderising and seasoning it in the process.
Impressed? I am yes, now can I have my fried chicken? Oh, no, no, no… It’s then washed in apple cider vinegar and only then does it begin 24 hours in its marinade.
I’m not normally a breast man; I’m more of a thigh man or a wing man. But I’m fully enthralled by Jamie’s explanation of the jerk fried strip marinade that’s promising layers of spice and flavour from thyme, all spice and pimento; saltiness from soy; and poke up the nostrils heat from scotch bonnets mellowed by brown sugar and a soft citrus lick from orange juice.
Now, can I have my fried chicken? Oh no, no, no… It needs to go into buttermilk and then into the dredge; a heavily spiced and seasoned ‘crack flour’ until they’re well coated and only then do they go into the fryer.
Finally, can I have my fried chicken? Still no… Not until it’s been drenched with Greidy gravy and topped with cayenne mayo, spring onion, chives, chilli flakes, fresh chillies and Caribbean dry rub dust delivering layers upon layers of flavour, some bold, some subtle but all in perfect harmony.
Jerk Chicken Strips
Our table quickly turns into a trading floor with us negotiating and swapping the variations of fried chicken joy. We’ve got jerk-fried Gravy Baby Wings, Nashville Neville Strips that crank the heat dial up an extra two notches with a hot and spicy dredge, before being smothered in a fiery spice blend, whilst still maintaining a finely tuned balance of flavours.
Nashille Neville Strip Meal with Greidy Gravy Rustic Fries
But in heat terms it doesn’t come close to the nose punching, eye watering hottest dish on the table; Buffalo Wings drenched in a citrus loaded Buffalo sauce, topped with aioli mayo, spring onion, chives, chilli flakes, fresh chilli and cayenne dusting. This is pure sadomasochism.
Buffalo Wings
We’ve also got a Sriracha Thai Fried Strip Meal although, by now, my taste buds are struggling to remember their specific roles other than joining together for a zing-tingling explosion of flavour. I want to be very clear here… that is not a complaint.
Sriracha Thai Fried Strip & Bacon Cheese Rustic Fries
We’ve also got most bases of ‘house cut twice-fried rustic’ loaded fries on the table; with candied bacon and cheese; Greidy gravy; and if you were pushing me—and I mean really pushing me—to choose a loaded fries winner, it’d be the Honey Soy with the lift of sweetness, alongside sriracha mayo, spring onion, chives, sesame, chilli flakes, fresh chilli and five spice dust.
Honey Soy Rustic Fries
The Greidy’s meal options also come with a pot of seasoned slaw, playing the role of mouth cooler whilst also ticking off one of my five a day.
Seasoned Slaw
Stirchley’s embarrassment of culinary riches has gained a new Pershore Road / High Street bookend, with OPM at the British Oak, it’s now got Greidy’s at the Lifford Lane end.
And at £14 for my jerk fried strip meal with loaded fries; I am a fully converted breast man and I’ve now got the tools to work on converting my wife to the joys of fried chicken.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
2 Fordhouse Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham B30 3BP
