Huddersfield Road: Fast Food Overload

This just opened down the road from me in Oldham.

It sits over the road from The Taj Mahal takeaway. You know, next to the other Indian takeaway. And the Chinese. Which leads onto the Subway, the Pizza Hut Delivery, the chippy and a number of other Asian takeaways. In fact, after chowing down in the Colonel's new outlet, I did a quick count-up of fast food joints on that section of Huddersfield Road. Within about 100 metres, there's a grand total of 17 fast food eateries.

There are plenty of other takeaways like this across the borough. There are plenty other nearby streets like this as well. In fact, you could say the whole town is “saturated” with them. Boom boom.

Is this why “41,000 people in Oldham are obese (Body Mass Index (BMI) >30), with an additional 36,000 men and 31,000 women overweight (BMI 25 – 30).” http://www.oldham.gov.uk/jsna_5_health_related_behaviour.pdf

The other question is, why do I keep banging on about fast food on my blog? And why do I keep trying out these outlets as they open? I especially shouldn't, seeing as I spend a large portion of my life in one gym or another, trying to get back to the (pretty impressive) shape I was in before I moved out. And it's not like I don't know what I'm going to experience in these restaurants. Also, a good number of my posts are about working out, and aside from that I write about Manchester, not Oldham. Hmm.

Regardless, I gave the Colonel one chance to redeem himself. The new restaurant is clean and smart. The staff are friendly. The food tastes good. I've no complaints. KFC is KFC. But seriously, that's quite enough fast food joints on Huddersfield Road, thanks. There might be one space left for a liposuction clinic. If it keeps its prices modest, it will have a LOT of business.