From Bradford’s Sweet Centre to Forde, Ilkley: A day out with Kalani Ghost hunter and Rate My Takeaway’s Danny Malin

I spent a day with my pal Kalani the other day.  Kalani’s known for his ghost hunting and like me for his online food reviews. As he lives in Nashville last time he was over here I took him to the Rate My Takeaway Kitchen in Huddersfield and we went to Halifax to try a Wrag Pudding. 

This time he wanted to go to Bradford. 

Bradford for me is the foodie capital of West Yorkshire. I took him to the The Sweet Centre which is 60-years-old this year. 

We had samosas and curry. Here you don’t need chutneys with the samosas because all the flavour is packed in. Even the curry didn’t have much sauce swimming around because all the flavour is already marinated into the meat. 

I think it’s harder doing simple food well. 

They’ve built up a loyal following of people who come at all times of the day. They’ve kept it simple with traditional food at a high quality and value for money. 

That night I then took Kalani and his wife Savannah with my wife Sophie and I to try Ford restaurant in Ilkley. 

Ford is one of two restaurants founded by MasterChef finalist Matt Healey who I met when doing my Christmas single at Homeless Street Angels where he volunteers his time. 

Ford is at the back of Betty’s Tearooms. Me being tight meant we went midweek because it’s 50 per cent off. The sun was shining which was the perfect setting for Matt’s restaurant and summer menu. It was sharing plates – tapas style. 

I tried the giant hash brown, Enoki mushrooms and the ultimate test for me was the kebab. The plates varied from £10-£12 each. The Enoki mushrooms had been deep fried in a light batter. Matt described it as his version of KFC. It was bang on. Light and crispy served with alioli. 

The hash brown certainly was giant made up of shredded potatoes, fluffy and super filling. The real test for me was the kebab. I had been expecting a lamb kofta style kebab. Instead it was doner style off the skewer but nothing like the dirty kebabs you get on a night out. The lamb had been slow cooked overnight and it was lovely and tender. The gluten free flat bread had then been dipped in the fat. It tasted almost like a pancake. It was sprinkled with crispy chickpeas. 

It tasted clean and fresh. I could have had this on its own it tasted so good.

You can taste these ingredients are good quality and fresh. It’s hard to do simple food well but this was spot on.