I visited Hanqs in a party of two at lunchtime on a weekday, and was quite surprised at the lack of customers in the diner, as I had heard some good reviews.
We were greeted at the door in true American style by a smiling young waitress. As we entered, the diner itself was spacious and the booth we were assigned to would easily fit 6 people and many large plates of food. Our waitress handed us our menus and left us to peruse the extensive menu. I was very pleased to see authentic American options without any deviation into fusion foods which is very common in Bradford eateries. Everything from hearty breakfast fry ups to slow cooked ribs and waffles to malted milkshakes. The array of choice was certainly impressive but would the taste match the talk!? I choose the Philly Cheese Steak sub and my fellow diner choose the Chicken Florentine crepe and we both opted for a side of chips. For drinks we ordered a Vanilla and a Strawberry Milkshake with malt. The drinks were served promptly, in traditional long glasses topped with cream and sprinkles; they both tasted great, with good quality ice cream and lots of flavour.
Not long after receiving our milkshakes the food arrived, served with a side salad and slightly oddly, with a wooden kebab skewer sticking out of one of the subs. I assume this was an attempt to emulate the American style of putting a tooth pick like skewer in the sandwiches to hold them together but this kebab skewer was a little long! The sides followed immediately after the mains. The chips were the nicest I have tasted in a while, quite chunky and clearly double cooked as a good chip should be! The sub was a ciabatta roll lightly toasted, filled with cheese, jalapenos, onions and steak, the meat was tender, complimented by the smooth melted cheese and jalapenos brought a touch of heat, but I would say the meat lacked seasoning which I think would of brought out the flavour better. On sampling my co-diners crepe, it was delicious, full of onions, chicken, mushrooms and spinach cover in a creamy hollandaise sauce. Portion size was just right, I probably didn’t need to have a side order but as I had ordered them I was determined to finish my tasty chips! The diner obviously uses good quality ingredients, which is obvious when seeing and tasting the food. This is definitely not a standard burger joint in Bradford, and due to its spaciousness I think it would be a great place for children’s parties and large groups wanting a more casual environment and hearty, tasty food.
I am also aware that they have embraced the hugely popular ‘Man vs Food’ food challenge concept, with set times to complete insane amounts or ridiculously spicy food. This adds to the American style authenticity and also shows the light hearted nature of the diner.
The only slight negatives are regarding the car park; the lack of signage to indicate how to get into the car park and also it is quite small, I am not sure if the diner was very busy where you would park.
