Verona Pizza. 93 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed 26/02/25.

This was Rooster Hut for years, then briefly Charleys and now it’s Verona Pizza. This visit wasn’t supposed to happen. I had belly draft in the fridge that I’d been looking forward to but coming out of work, Woza messaged and suggested meeting in The Fountain at 6. Well there was no time to go home was there? But I needed food.

I needed cash but I was so busy dreaming about pizza that I marched past TSB in my own little world, only realising when I was by The Registry. I was soon in the venue though armed with banknote.

I perused the men.The Special Verona Burger – steak house beef burger topped with fresh melted Cheddar cheese, with 2 chicken strips and 2 onion rings more than leaped out at me, but I was still dreaming about pizza. Some of the starters sound amazing like dough ball cheese, garlic bread with pepperoni and cheese with chilli cheese nuggets also catching my eye. Dips are available at the wonderfully random price of 39p each.

Of course we had to play the usual game of find a pizza without something shit on it. The Tasty Chicken pizza is listed as tandoori chicken and sweetcorn. Chicken yes please – sweetcorn can get in the bin. Yes I know I could order the pizza and ask for anything that I don’t like to be omitted but I just want to order, sit down and shut up. I do not want to enter into negotiations. I will never be accused of liking my own voice.

I went for an 8″ meat feast – ground beef, tandoori chicken, salami and ham. My days of ordering bigger pizzas are long gone sadly. This was £5.99 and I wondered if I would get the 1p coin amongst the change but the lad behind the counter was uo front asking for £6.

I surveyed the scene whilst waiting. There is a mind the step sign on the door which other places could learn a lot from. There is one table which was occupied by a couple and there was no music which was fine by me. It didn’t take long for my food to arrive and the couple vacated the table as it did so I sat facing out watching the world go by.

Pizza was great, but it was always going to be. I don’t think it’s possible to do bad pizza. Good visit this. Will be back and next time I’m having that burger whilst ploughing through the starters.

Golden Moments. 3 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed 06/03/25

Long standing curry house and probably the only one in the town centre that has been there my whole adult life. I still refer to it as Golden Monsoon though as my mate and former Corroy Products colleague Carl called it that after drunkenly misreading the sign in the aftermath of my 21st birthday bash in 1995.

This was another unplanned visit. The previous night I’d had my tea late, seriously late due to a combination of my general disorganisation and a bit more of my general disorganisation. This time I had been at work all day and was now on the way home after a good workout in the gym and I spotted the buffet night menu in the window.

Suddenly I couldn’t be arsed to cook upon getting home and fuelled by the knowledge that it was a Council Tax free month, I headed in. I have been to these nights before, usually when meeting friends or on occasion when they have put the menu on Facebook and I see that white chicken tikka is one of the starter options. See, my favourite colour even influences my eating habits.

This time there there were things to try that I’d not had before so I was well up for it. I’d heard of Chicken Rogan Jush (always thought it was Josh though) but Chicken Surma I’d never heard of and a quick Google search didn’t help.

First visit up was low key. Poppadom with mint dip and 2 boiled eggs. Solid start. Then it was starters. Vegetable Pakora was somewhat vague. Veggies have never been friends of mine. What if it was cauliflower? Would I make it to the toilet before violently retching everywhere?

The Spice Wings were amazing and the Pakora? Epic. I know not what vegetable it was and I cared less. 3rd run involved more wings and pakora and the chicken curry dishes. The Rogan Jush was spicy and flavoursome and the Surma was nice but had to describe.

I only had those three trips up. Old me would have gone up 4 or 5 times but I was content.

Another great visit this and the buffet nights are on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Well worth a visit.

Annie’s Sandwich & Grill. 82 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed 14/03/25.

We should have been heading to Camden on this day for the start of a London weekend but that all fell through. I was off work so I ventured out for munchies. This was N.E Sandwich for years but is now called Annie’s.

There was a police van parked up across the road and as I perused the menu we were joined in the shop by an officer conducting enquiries. All very exciting and I’m very easily distracted but I was focused on food and opted for a bacon, sausage and egg baguette as I’d been good on the eating front all week. This cost £3.50 which is more than reasonable.

A lady was led across the road and put in the back of the van and then three police officers gave a man a frisking and talking to. The ladies behind the counter were giving a running commentary on the events which made it feel like I was watching The Bill on Gogglebox.

The baguette came quickly and it was delightful. We had some classic tunes on courtesy of Vernon Kay on Radio 2. I had no idea that he was on said station but I like a bit of knowledge with my breakfast so all good. Tunes were like Gala “Freed From Desire”, Olive “You’re Not Alone” and my favourite by The Tamperer. Did we ever find out what she’d look like with a chimney on her?

I gave the menu another gander. The roast pork sandwich sounded amazing and I pondered what they would say if I stayed and ordered that, as a second police vehicle had pulled up opposite and I wanted to stay and watch developments. However I departed. I said my goodbyes but also gestured across the road and thanked them for the entertainment. “We she have charged you extra for that.” came the response. Good visit this. A third police car turned up as I left.

Mi Amor. 89 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed 20/04/25

There is a tradition in our family that dates back to about 23BC which is every Easter Sunday you venture out for breakfast. Eager to keep my forefathers and mothers happy I headed to this place that had reopened in the week following refurbishment.

My last time in this building was a very brief one while it was still King Balti. Craig and I sat down, ordered the usual pints of Carling only to be told it had gone unlicensed. So we marched out. I say we, it was me. Craig was protesting, “the waiter said we can get some cans from the petrol station.” I was like “no we can’t.”

Anyway so in I walked. The service was very friendly and smiley which was good. I perused the menu and opted for the full English but with no tomato or mushroom. You have the option of adding fish fingers for £1.50 which I dived on. They do a £34 sharing “Breakfast Tower” which when I finally meet a “lucky” lady, I’m treating her to.

Whilst waiting for the food I realised that I don’t know what Mi Amor means so I Googled it. It means my love. Duly noted for Breakfast Tower morning. Whilst on Google it also brought up other results including the place I was sitting in and also a bridal shop in Sutton Coldfield which I don’t I’ll have any call for.

Breakfast came quickly and yes it had two fish fingers on. I’ve since been taunted by friends for adding these on but I care not. There was also a bit of salad which was also a first for me on a breakfast.

The breakfast was great and I even ate the salad just cause I’d paid for it. Plus I was going straight to the gym so I figured I’d soon burn off that bit of radish. The latte with caramel syrup was also really good.

Music, I didn’t know what any of it was but there was nothing I didn’t take to so all good on front. Not sure what the total bill was. I paid with a £20 note and put the change in the tip jar.

Wishbone Pizza. 98-99 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed very late 21/04/25.

Craig and I had had a good bank holiday Easter Monday drinking and visited this very long standing venue late on. Normally he goes in and sorts food and I head across the road to order a taxi (back in the day we’d have piled into Zaf’s limo) and hope they come together. It’s a good system apart from one day when the taxi was ready straight away and Craig had to come running across the road, meat in hand. This time though I wanted in with him.

Craig went for his usual mixed kebab meat and chips while I couldn’t be arsed with chips so went for a chicken tower burger. Can’t tell you prices as Craig paid (I always pay the taxi) so I posed in front of the menu so you can have some idea. I don’t need to go too in-depth into this. We’ve all been there millions of times. Will visit again, no doubt.

Chaii Dosa, 91-92 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed 27/04/25.

To almost quote John Cleese at the start of the Cheese Shop sketch, I was sitting in the public Library when I suddenly came over all peckish. Ok, not strictly true. I was sitting in Katz but it’s near the Library.

This is situated in what was Balloons Wine Bar back in he day. I still remember my last visit there. It was with Swill back in 2013 when we were planning the Walsall Curry House Monopoly Board Challenge, which sadly petered out after 4 reviews. The blog is still live here if you want a revisit or didn’t know me then. On those reviews, Swill’s thoughts are first with mine underneath.

Anyway so Chaii Dosa is a vegetarian Desi street food venue. I don’t really do the vegetarian scene so this was a bit out of the usual comfort zone. Well up for it though.

Well it still feels like Balloons albeit without a drunken karaoke going on. Even the bar is still in place although it’s now unlicensed. The last orders bell remains and it got me wondering if it still gets sounded 10 minutes before chef clocks off causing a mass of Aloo Tikki Chat ordering.

I went for Paneer Pratha which are flat breads filled with Indian cheese and herbs. Thinking about it I don’t recall John Cleese asking for Paneer. He might have got lucky with that.

The music was standard for an Indian food place and it was relaxed with friendly service. The waiter even gave me his number and asked if I needed any gardening doing to give him a call. I think he;d be late for his next shift here if he started on my back garden.

Food was good, it was my first sample of Indian coffee (it didn’t have a name) and I had a a few of the cheesy chips to keep the dairy intake going. I can’t advise prices because I forgot to make a note of them because I;m a nob.

Nice place this, it’s not open on Mondays though if you fancy a visit.

Ablewell Fish Bar, 72 Ablewell Street, Walsall. Reviewed 12/05/25.

As Josh is forever having me round his house for food, I offered to buy a chippy tea for his whole family. Unfortunately his wife Lyndsey had to miss out due to having to get to work when the traffic so it was just me, Josh and his 3 kids that went.

This is a long standing, cash only chippy and Charlie who has owned it for years has recently sold up but still pops in for occasional shifts.

I was ravenous on arrival. I don’t have chips often nowadays so as a near birthday treat I had a small portion of them along with a large cod. Josh had kebab meat and chips, with chilli sauce and salad but requested no tomato. He’s been listening to my breakfast orders. I’m finally grinding him down. Fair play to him as he said to keep the cots down that the kids would share a cheesey chips. I also had a pot of gravy. Josh didn’t know that chip shop gravy was a thing.

The bil came to £22 and I’m guessing that most of that was my cod. We got back and sorted the food out. Now I try not to dabble with the 7 Deadly Sins but I will confess to a bit of Envy when I saw the kids cheesy chips.

Josh is fussy about fish and barely eats it but I let him try mine and he was happy with it, especially the batter. He was less sold on the gravy though. I absolutely demolished mine although I did give some chips away. Enjoyable visit this, especially as I don’t use it often nowadays. It’s not open Sundays though if yo’re pondering popping in..

That’s it for this edition then. Fans of Pizza 2000, if you’re wondering where your favourite place’s review is, then fret not. I did it last year ago and you can catch it here.