I tried Great Barr street food takeaway set up by 19-year-old and one thing struck me

I’d wanted to try Scran Man for a while, ever since reading about owner Blake Bentley’s success on setting up his own foodie business during lockdown. But every time I tried to order, he was mostly sold out. Admittedly, I was always ordering a bit late – after 8.30pm once the children had gone to bed – but I was disappointed I hadn’t managed to get my hands on one of those delicious looking burgers yet. So, determined, I placed an last Friday just after 7.30pm via Uber Eats. There seemed to be plenty of stock as it was still early in the evening, so I quickly picked what I wanted – The Louisiana Hot Burger, upgraded to a meal with ‘sauced and seasoned fries, sticky bbq wings and a can of pop’ for £15.50. Read more:I tried a cafe near an amazing park near Birmingham and one thing surprised me My partner got The BBQ Chicken Stack Burger as a meal also for £15.50, then we decided to try a side of mozzarella sticks for £4 and onion rings for £3.50. Altogether, with Uber fees, it cost us £39.56. Scran Man is known for American soul food, with its most popular items being Philly Cheese Steaks (more on those in a bit), burgers, macaroni cheese and fried shrimp. Blake Bentley had a decent following on Instagram when he began sharing photos of the ‘scran’ he was cooking up at home. As it was right in the middle of the Covid lockdown, eager diners started to ask if they could place orders. Soon, he was getting up to 30 orders a day, cooking them at his Great Barr home and delivering them with his brother. Now, Scran Man is its own takeaway based on Bowstoke Road. And we couldn’t wait to have a taste. The meal didn’t take long to arrive, less than 40 minutes. The paper bag was split (but this could have been the Uber driver) but the food inside the individual boxes was absolutely fine. I started with the chips first, which were covered in sauce and seasoning (perfect for me, who ALWAYS needs sauce with chips). They were warm (but not hot) and delicious, although I could have done with more sauce. The special sauce in question (a little bit like burger sauce but with a twist, I felt) was really tasty. My burger was huge, colossal even. You can see in the photo above I’m struggling to hold it and take a photo at the same time. What you can’t see is my beagle sitting directly underneath the burger while I snapped a selfie, desperately hoping a piece of chicken would slip out the side and into his mouth (it did not). It was named ‘hot’ for a reason – the Louisiana Hot Burger is described as ‘fried chicken, tossed in a spicy n sweet buffalo sauce, dressed with ranch dressing, lettuce and crispy onions’. It was spicy but deliciously sweet at the same time – the combo was a really delicious one. The ranch dressing cooled it down slightly also. It wasn’t dry, and the accompanying burger was soft and not too bready. All in all, I was impressed. I felt like it was quite good value for a special takeaway night, £15 for a meal deal – I got a can of Rio Tropical too and three sticky BBQ wings as part of the meal – the wings were juicy, moist and the meat fell off the bone. The sides were good too, but I think I would leave these off the order next time to save on costs. My partner enjoyed his BBQ burger too – it was similarly huge with a large portion of sauced fries. I feel like I should say, while we didn’t try the Philly Cheese Steak this time, my partner has tried it before but surprisingly, he said he preferred his BBQ burger quite a lot more. One thing that struck me though, is how early you seem to have to order. I have never been able to successfully order later in the evening – and for a late eater (like me) it would be great to have this option. We’ve tried our fair share of burgers near Great Barr, Perico, Piri Fino (one of our favourites), Wingers, and more. Was Scran Man a particularly stand out alternative? It’s definitely up there. What makes it special to me though, is its back story. What an amazing feat Blake has achieved setting up such a successful business at the age of 19. He’s also worked hard at giving back to the community by feeding the homeless, supporting local charities and recruiting young people – which is really admirable. I’d recommend giving Scran Man a try to keep supporting Blake – we need to do everything we can to keep our small businesses alive. Disclaimer – The food listed in this review was paid for by BirminghamLive and the owner of the takeaway did not know we were coming. The opinion above is purely that of the author.