UNIT in Sheffield for American food after visiting Peak District

Boasting an irrepressibly bold shopfront, UNIT in Sheffield catches the attention well before stepping into its equally quirky interior.

Located down Headford Street in Broomhall, this spacious restaurant can accommodate up to 78 guests, with plenty of pay-and-display parking at the rear of the premises.

The place itself isn’t just rustically designed, but cleverly utilises some unconventional items too, such as a wooden gymnastic vaulting box being used as a table counter, to enhance that sense of rusticity.

With a fully Halal menu of “food you crave”, UNIT offers an elaborate menu that’s centred around a variety of beef, chicken and veggie burgers.

Rusticity at its finest! UNIT accommodate for 78 guests…

In addition to an ice cream counter with around a dozen different flavours, not only are an assortment of milkshakes available, but also an extensive dessert range of waffles, cookie dough, and sundaes.

Having launched way back in 2016, it’s safe to say that UNIT is an established part of Sheffield’s small but exciting Halal restaurant scene; and the place to consider when visiting the Peak District.

Milkshakes

Specialising in milkshakes, UNIT doesn’t just use 100% fresh, whipped ice-cream to ensure thick consistency, but also delivers on that delicious vanilla flavour.

While they have a number of options too, it was the chocolatey-flavoured ones that hit the spot for us, with the strawberry-based one having a somewhat synthetic-syrupy taste to it.

Halloumi Fries, £6.00

These thick halloumi fries should be had as soon as they’re served so as to enjoy their gooey-cheesy interior.

But, we would have preferred them far crispier than they were in order to warrant a second serving.

Mac ‘n’ Cheese, £6.00

This was essentially the perfect homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheese, which, having been made fresh-to-order, delivered on all that piquant cheesiness one would expect, with the macaroni pasta beneath gorgeously enveloped in a rich, creamy sauce.

Dynamite Shrimp, £6.50

You can’t go wrong with fried shrimps when they boast a light and crispy panko-battered exterior as they did here, while turning out nice and succulent on the in.

And though the creamy inhouse dynamite sauce delivered on that mild tanginess, it could have had more of a kick to it.

Korean Style Wings, £6.25

The inhouse Korean sauce that coated these small, but plentiful wings, was deliciously good, with that familiar sweet and savouriness coming through superbly. Finished with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, these came apart effortlessly.

High Steaks Burger – Beef patty with brisket shavings, BBQ sauce, American cheese, £13.00 (+cheddar £1.00)

A splendid looking burger which only required one important element, made more significant by the fact that the beef patty was cooked well-done: a good sauce to help bring this together into a coherent whole.

Nevertheless, this was, indeed, a proper gourmet burger, which had the flavours and makings of something epic. With plenty going on, including slithers of relatively tender brisket covered in plenty of cheese, this was a meaty affair.

While you’ll definitely need a knife and fork to finish this off, note that all burgers come with skin-on fries.

Buff Ting – Fried Chicken, buffalo sauce, fried gherkins, mayo & onion ring, £11.50

This Buff Ting may have been buff in appearance, but it left much to be desired. A pity really, since the two plump, tender pieces of fried chicken were superbly done, with a crispy-cum-crunchy herbaceous batter.

We also would have certainly preferred more buffalo sauce, the smidgen of which was dampened by the dollop of mayo it was paired with. The result was a chicken burger with barely anything else to speak of, which included the gherkin whose natural tartiness was killed off by it being peculiarly fried.

Chicken n’ Waffles – Fried chicken strips on a freshly made waffle, turkey bacon drizzled with maple syrup, £12.00

And this well crafted Chicken n’ Waffles platter only confirmed that UNIT do top-tier fried chicken!

More maple syrup please…

Kudos to them for making their waffles fresh, especially with so many other places lazily opting for the premade variety.

Despite the effort though, the waffle wasn’t quite up to the mark, turning out too soft in texture. Instead of being robust enough to support all that delicious chicken and sundry, this culminated in a somewhat mushy end. Nonetheless, give us freshly-made waffles over the tacky ready-made stuff any time.

As for the rest, then the Halal turkey bacon, although well-made and delivering a subtle hint of smokiness, didn’t bring much else. Finally, a generous portion such as this required 3-times as much maple syrup than the less-than-half-full tub we received. A dish that’s full of potential, if executed properly.

Philly Cheese Steak – Slow-cooked brisket with jal, fried onions & American cheese on a semolina roll, £12.00

In spite of its impressive size, which was required given its £12 price-tag, this Philly Cheese Steak certainly needed improvement.

For one, the semolina bread roll was cold and untoasted, resulting in it being a little too soft to encompass the amount of filling therein.

We also felt as though the ratio of salad to steak wasn’t quite right (unless you love your veg). As for the steak, then it was covered in a cheese whose piquancy simply overpowered it, with the barely fried onions not allowing its gentle meaty flavour to come through.

Smarties Cookie Dough, £8.50

Being freshly made, this cookie dough was a thing of beauty, with the gorgeously gooey, warm interior marrying wonderfully with the freshly-whipped nature of the vanilla ice cream. You can’t go wrong with this.

Michele Ferrero Waffle, £9.00

Alas, the attempt at executing freshly-made waffles was well below par. Our solution would be to down this quick-smart before it begins to collapse under its own weight.