If you're walking in London, you're going to see a man named Elijah Quashie. If you don't want to make a fuss, he would be happy. Don't shout "Chicken guy!" or request him to record a happy birthday greeting for your friend on your phone. Please don't make any comments or questions.
He said that he doesn't like people drawing attention to him and that he flashed a perfect set of chompers that are one of his visual trademarks. I have realized that anonymity is a privilege that I have lost.
This has been true since Mr. Quashie's show went viral and turned a cherubic looking lad from North London into a national celebrity with 870,000 subscribers. He began posting reviews of take-away restaurants that sell fried chicken on the cheap to school kids, late night partyers and anyone who is impervious to sudden spikes in calories.
The shops are not as cheap as they used to be. Inflation is one of the occupational dangers of this reviewing gig. Prices have doubled since he began his show. The combo of fries, four wings, a chicken burger and a soda used to cost about 2.5 pounds. The same meal is now $5 or $6 sometimes.
He concluded his review of the Chicken Cottage shop in West London by saying the prices were crazy. There are four wings and chips. It's repulsive. These are the times we live in.
According to Mintel, a market intelligence agency, the shops generated more than $2 billion in revenue last year, but professional critics have ignored them. Mr. Quashie, in a shirt and tie, used preternatural swagger, £5 words and local parlance to appraise fried wings with the wit and attention to detail usually reserved for prix fixe. He makes his living by making videos for his audience on the internet.
A positive review by Mr. Quashie today will cause a lot of people to visit the shop.
He found that there was red tape at the front of the restaurant that made it difficult to find out the price of each item. He had a rating system in which a five is perfect. He now ends reviews with a plea to the bossman to resist the urge to profit.
He asked Bossman to keep the prices calm after he talked about the wings at Dawley Chicken.
He sat for an interview at one of the few tables at Chicken Valley, not far from where he lives, to explain why he has never reviewed the place.
He said that if he did one here it would get flooded and the prices would go up. I need to make sure my local is protected from that.
Mr. Quashie has a wide range of topics except his age. I don't want to say. When a chicken shop employee asks why a guy is following him, he looks younger than his years, which is an advantage.
He said it's for a school project.
Mr. Quashie has never talked about prices with the store manager. He listens to the news and knows what he sees on the menu. On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics here announced that inflation had risen to a 40-year high of 10 percent, a figure derived from a basket of 700 goods and services.
The prices for food went up a lot. It is one thing to see that poultry prices were up more than 16 percent. It is one thing to feel pinched whenever you eat a box of wings. Mr. Quashie loves inflation and hates it.
Mr. Quashie said that when foot traffic slowed, most stores raised prices to make up for shortfalls. He thought that customers with the nerve to keep eating out were getting ripped off to make up for others.
The cost of living is just a ruse for owners to make more money, according to his gut.
He said the local bossman would probably say "Yeah, man, inflation, man" if there was a headline about recessions and inflation. It was $4 last week. $5.20 is the current price. It isn't my responsibility. There's a lot of that.
Mr. Quashie came up with the idea of "The Pengest Munch" after he and some friends were trying to find a place to eat. There were no reviews for the chicken shop they were near. There were many reviews of high-end Italian restaurants.
The kind of food that most people don't eat is reviewed on "Master Chef" but a lot of people watch it. He didn't have any training in food preparation. A real-life con man who posed as a prosecutor, an airline pilot and a physician was the subject of a Steven Spielberg film. If you know how to fake it, credentials aren't necessary.
He said that if he has a good vocabulary, he can make it seem like he knows a lot of things.
Mr. Quashie was surprised by the number of views the first few episodes had. A friend posted an episode of "Kid in suit and trainers goes around London reviewing chicken shops" to a forum in December of last year. The video had more than one million views after a few days.
A fan wrote in the comments section that a man needs a knighthood.
The wings atEden's Cottage were awarded a perfect score when viewers started watching older episodes.
Mr. Quashie said that the man knew his business before he fried it.
The Daily Mail ran a story about an influx of new customers and the backlash they caused.
The public face of the restaurant category was Mr. Quashie.
James Hansen of Eater London said that he showed that this high volume part of London's food culture should be treated as seriously as any other part of the city.
When Mr. Quashie is favored with extras, like bonus wings, he is sometimes annoyed. He doesn't want to be known so he has the same experience as everyone else.
Kavethan Pathmakanthan, who was working behind the counter at QFC in Neasden, pretended to be unaware of what was happening.
He said on the phone that he was an irritant.
When he watched the episode a few days later, Mr. Pathmakanthan was bracing himself for a negative review. A friend of Mr. Quashie says that the food at QFC caused him to get a rash. Mr. Quashie was undeterred regardless of whether this was a joke or not. The shop received a generally positive review.
He said in the video that it was a surprise. It is calm but there is work to be done.
Mr. Pathmakantham was very happy after he was relieved.
According to the Local Data Company, there are more than 3,700 chicken shops in the UK. The shops tend to pay homage to American culture. Miami Fried Chicken is one of the restaurant names.
Diet experts and politicians are concerned about the proliferation of these shops. The mayor of London banned fast food restaurants from opening within 400 meters of a school.
Mr. Quashie chooses shops based on recommendations from his friends and then spreads himself around geographically. All 32 of the city's boroughs have been reviewed by him. It's a good way to see parts of London that aren't easily accessible by public transportation.
He starts every review with arep check, which is a quick display of the sneakers he wears. His collection now stands at around 400 pairs. To see what the food is telling you, it is on to the shop.
There are subtle differences in breading, spices, texture, bun toasting methods, and the way condiments are put on. He liked chocolate and found it in a wing. He doesn't like small, dry or flavorless offerings unless it's deemed "nasty." Compliments begin with "calm" and go up to "bless" and "certified" before peaking with "piff" and "peng".
Many of the shops are not pleasant. He found feathers and a blue paper towel on his food.
It's not a surprise that there are high prices these days. He stood at the counter and ordered his usual combo of wings, fries, soda and a chicken burger.
He said that it would have cost $2. It's now $5.69. I don't believe it will ever return.
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