Village Vanguard, review: It’s just what you want to eat right now

Village Vanguard is the restaurant for the eternally indecisive.

If you and your better half regularly find yourself in a crushing food-choosing dilemma, then you can be pretty sure you’ll find something to satisfy that elusive craving in this corner of Stratford’s East Village. This restaurant-meets-bar sees friendly staff serve up good beers and reasonably-priced cocktails (with 2-4-1 deals aplenty), as well as a surprisingly wide range of dishes.

A restaurant that serves both eggs benedict and lamb shawarma may worry some, but Village Vanguard does a darn good job at both. Its buttermilk fried chicken is a winner (particularly when served up “dirty”, rolled in honey and sriracha sauce), crunchy on the outside and silky on the inside. A close second is its chicken shish kebab, perfectly chargrilled juicy chicken thighs served up on a fresh hearty tomato salad and khobez flatbread.

Village Vanguard isn’t fine dining, but it’s just what you want to eat right now.