[Invite] – click here

Located on the Ely High Street at the very back of the Spar shop, is an often overlooked food outlet called “The Ladz”.

You may remember The Ladz for its brief time open down Mill Road, in Cambridge. This restaurant has since closed but is alive and kicking only a short journey away in the city of Ely. It is an easy place to miss, with only a couple of small logos on the front of the already very busy looking Spar shop. I have mentioned The Ladz to several people in Ely who were completely unaware it was there.

I would describe The Ladz ‘a takeaway with a good seating area’. Like most takeaways, it specialises in a variety of popular dishes, such as pizza, burgers, chicken, milkshakes, chips, and more. Nobody is going to be left out, with something for absolutely everyone.

Smash burgers

The smash burger craze is still very much in vogue with The Ladz offering their signature smash burger. This is made with a ball of mince, which is pressed hard onto the grill for that extra crispy texture. The burger consists of two patties in total that are topped off with strip of peri chicken for good measure.

The burger looked good and was a decent size. The bun was nice and thick but also managed to hold the burger together really well during my dining experience. Overall, it tasted great and had a nice soft gooey centre (mostly credited to the cheese) but also came with a nice crispy beef pattie that worked well together to created a diverse texture on the bite.

If I had to be critical, I would say that it lacked a certain flare that would make it stand out from other burgers. It was almost like it was missing something, like a zesty or spicy sauce (Grill Plug springs to mind). With that said, it is still a good all rounder that won’t offend anyone.

Lamb chops

Watching these bad boys on the grill was a thing of beauty. Brushed in a mildly spicy sauce, these 4 lamb chops were bursting with colour and flavour.

They were soft and tender while still being strong enough to hold together on the bone, making them perfect for eating with your fingers. For me, these cutlets of delight were the highlight of the evening. I highly recommend you give it a try!

Peri chicken

Another dish that really took me by surprise was the peri chicken and the “mango tango chicken”. The peri chicken was covered in a lemon and herb sauce that added a sour yet fruity flavour on top of some incredibly tender chicken. This was a real winner and I haven’t been this excited by chicken in a while. The mango tango was like being slapped around the face by the Tango Man. This incredibly cheeky number was unashamedly fruity, zesty, and hits you hard the moment you take a bite.

Superb!

Pizza

We were given one of their Ladz Specials. A pizza that is made from cheese, peri chicken, onions, corn, peppers and chillies. I also noticed a few black olives on there.

These were not the sort of toppings I would usually go for but I still enjoyed it. I was particularly fond of the pizza base which was nice and soft. Unfortunately, the ingredients were sparsely scattered on top with an insipid taste that failed to jump out and grab my attention making it feel a little bland.

Milkshake

The team at The Ladz do a killer milkshake. Mine was a creamy and smooth vanilla with biscuit (biscoff?) sprinkles on top that gave it a satisfying crunch. It was delicious and incredibly refreshing. The size was good and was the perfect sweet send off to my incredibly large savoury meal.

Conclusion

The Ladz is a great every day takeaway that offers a bit of everything for a fair price. Part of getting the most out of the restaurant is knowing what to order. If you know the menu well then you will be rewarded with some quality gems for a real bargain. I highly recommend the lamb chops and any of their chicken (but especially their lemon and herb and mango tango).

Nothing here will offend you and everything is done to a fair standard but some dishes may leave you feeling a little flat or at least struggling to compete with some of the other high quality establishments in the Ely food scene.

Lucky for you, I have done the work for you!

Check out my video here.

Thanks for reading!