New York Xpress American Hip Hop store in East London
The New York Xpress American Hip Hop Street Wear is another in my ongoing series of photos from my travels. This one is from Whitechapel, in East London, and it's part of my small but growing series of pictures of commercial ventures in London that name themselves after US places (Tennessee Fried Chicken, Texas Fried Chicken, Dixy Chicken, Chicago Fried Chicken and Ribs (Halal!), Manhattan Loft Corporation, and so on). Link
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Hmmm... I would stick to the blogging if I were you. Photography is not your thing...
There are many examples of misplaced fried chicken shops, including the mostly inexplicable Kennsy Fried Chicken here: http://badgas.co.uk/chicken/list.shtml
My Favourite example, from my neighbourhood in Manchester, is Kansas Fried Chicken. They get to keep the "KFC" then, which seems to be the main point of several names. Does Kansas have any particular cultural or culinary association with fried chicken? Who cares? Kansas Fried Chicken also serves only halal meat as well... just like in Kansas, I'm sure.
Once, while on a back street of a tourist district in the Greek island of Zakynthos, I noticed a restaurant called Chicago Steak House... normal enough, except that it featured a cowboys and Saguaro cactus theme, and it inexplicably also had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on the sign.
Not so long ago I lived directly opposite that store! More 'Aldgate East' than Whitechapel.
The best wacky East-London kebab store title was one that oddly attempted to recreate French Connection UK's 'FCUK' with 'Fried Chicken U Kebabs'. We also have 'ChickPizz', which sounds as much a sequel to 2Girls 1Cup as an establishment bringing together the twin delights of Chicken & Pizza.
In Manchester's "Curry Mile" (really recommended, btw), there's a shop called "Hentucky Fried Chiken" (yes, that's "Chiken" instead of "Chicken". We've always loved that.
I once saw one of the numerous halal fried chicken shops in England (not sure if this was in London or elsewhere) advertising that their chicken was "cooked to an authentic recipe from the Rio Grande" (or something similar). Which evokes images of cowboys frying chicken over campfires (because that's what they did, right?)
A few years ago, the London Evening Standard's ES magazine ran a whole photo spread of similarly inappropriate US-themed chicken establishments. My favourite, though, is still FCKF near Old Street...
I live around the corner from FCKF! Walk past it every day.
There are so many great catch-all American restaurants in the UK that serve kebabs, fried chicken, pizza, and hamburgers all at the same time. There was one in Grantham I always walked by called "Burger Chicken Pizza Kebab House," in huge letters on the front, painted to look like an American flag.
This store is not named after a US place. It's named after a city in the North of England.
@Kumquatkid, so the American flags and "American" on the sign are what, a coincidence?
Don't forget all those "Seattle Coffee Company" branches.
Misprision: it's an engine of art!
At the Hackney end of Hackney Road a few of the kebab places changed their name at around the turn of the century, and we had Millennium Fried Chicken and the Euro Kebab House complete with the 12-star flag and Euro currency logos on the signs. I never did try and see if I could buy my veggie burger with them.
I can see a Guantanamo Bay punk venue coming on...
I had to read that post twice. I saw the headline as describing a "new" store in "York". Then I saw the picture and said "That's far from new." Ha! I need more coffee...
I fail to see the novelty
In Kalamazoo, Mich., USA, we got Aries London Grill Singapore, which honors the Victorian era of imperialism. Old guns on the wall, Union Jacks all up in it, pith helmets, tropical decor. Menu is a mix of Indian, other vaguely Asian dishes, fish 'n' chips, and the things that make we Yankees laugh and laugh -- toad in the hole, bubble 'n' squeak, etc.
Once we were there and a bagpiper, in full authentic dress with kilt, came wailing and squealing mere inches from diners. We were scared. We thought the Revolution had saved us from this terror!
There used to be, in the hinterland between New Cross and Rotherhithe in South London, *Alaska Fried Chicken.*
I don't think that one can be beaten.
(Or, indeed, eaten)
Speaking of crazily named fried chicken joints, I was in Kyiv and spied a 'Beirut Fried Chicken' shop. The logo and colours were remarkably similar to America's favourite dirty bird.
Kebabs are not American. You can’t go to an American restaurant and order a kebab. The last thing you want is someone with a Kebab stick in a restaurant law suits for everyone. Besides Kebabs are scary and our president doesn’t like scary things.
If I'm not mistaken, the kebabs served in these places don't tend to be served with a "shish". (no stick.) But of course they're not American.
I don't know how kebabs came into the equation, but they are truly a virus (though a good one).
It has infested Berlin for decades, but it's great to see how it permutates and takes over any European city, one by one.
Watch out chickens, fried or otherwise...the KEBAB will rule supreme!
My favorite from Paris was the "Texas Pizza Bagel" or something of that ilk. I mean, Bagels come from America, and Texas is in America, right?
look at that
http://www.bigbenpizza.com/albums/exterieur/bigben.facade1.jpg
New York is named after York, in England. The USA, Australia and New Zealand share this symptom of colonial history: British place names all over, treated as original names by the inhabitants. Imagine what it's like for a British person visiting!