Giraffe is at the higher end of the chain restaurants, its strength lying in the courteous and friendly service, buzzy ambience and creative interior design.

The Venue
The interior of Giraffe is fun and colourful and you won’t miss this venue in Muswell Hill as it is smack bang on the corner of the hill. The lights are dimmed nicely for evening meals and although it is a child friendly eatery, there are booths available for privacy. Seating is spaced out and the booths have the most comfortable seats, with lamps hanging low overhead.

The Atmosphere
The background music is South American, with lots of salsa and samba sounds, adding to the fun and lively atmosphere. The kitchen is open and in view of the main dining area, and the busy activity of the cooks working hard on your meals is another good aspect that adds to the buzz of the restaurant.

The Food
The menu offers a wide variety of fusion foods, from Japanese to Mexican and there is bound to be a dish for everyone’s taste. Dishes include burritos, enchiladas, burgers and fish. For starters go for the wok fried edamame that is cooked in a soy, ginger and chilli sauce. This dish is particularly addictive and fun to share. The mix of soy sauce and chilli gives a much welcome kick and the ginger adds that extra bit of spice. The cajun spiced chicken wings are succulent and sweet but the hot and fruity dip is slightly too sour in flavour and unnecessary as the chicken had enough sauce of its own.

For mains, the herby chicken schnitzel BLT burger is well recommended; it’s everything you want a burger to be. For one, its huge and will no doubt fill up even the hungriest person. It’s packed with an appetizing combination of maple roast bacon, fresh avocado and melted cheddar cheese, standing out as a real winner of a dish. This comes with chips, which unfortunately let the dish down as they’re slightly undercooked and, as a result, hard.

Another main is the grilled pepper-crusted rib eye steak which comes with horseradish and fresh herb butter, mash potatoes or wedges and onion rings. On the menu, it seems like a promising dish, but on arrival the steak seems tasteless, under-seasoned and overdone. The wedges are delicious and crispy with seasoned coating but again, a few of them taste hard. It seems that not enough care has gone into the dish which is a big let down as Giraffe do boast quite a few good selections of foods.

Where they let themselves down with the steak they made up for with the dessert. The red cherry and apple crumble is dreamily sweet and crunchy with so many different tastes and textures to enjoy. The cold of the vanilla ice cream contrasts nicely with the hot crumble, and the spices used in the crumble give a really inviting winter warmer feeling. The Rocky Road ice cream sundae is another special dessert that is highly recommended. It is layered with chocolate chunk and vanilla ice cream, mini marshmallows, chocolate brownie and hot chocolate sauce. This is a real treat packed with sweetness and delicious gooeyness.

The Drink
The wine list is brief but represents wines from all over the world. The Acacia Tree Red is a well balanced South African wine with a juicy plum flavour. Giraffe also serve great fruit smoothies too so be sure to sample them.

The Last Word
Overall, Giraffe is a restaurant for all people of all ages. It’s fun, bright and has a real buzz about it. Service is always efficient and friendly and with a menu that covers so many global foods, there is bound to be a dish for everyone’s taste.

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