Chicken seems the newest food fad to hit London. Not that I’m complaining, I love me some chicken and there is only so much Nando’s you can eat. With that in mind, it was time to try Chicken Shop and a group of Yelpers and I met up one slightly hungover Sunday.
Unfortunately, Chicken Shop also follows that other London trend of no reservations so you just have to show up and hope for the best. For large groups (we had about 10), it’s next to impossible to get a table so we had to split up. Not a huge problem but something to keep in mind. Luckily, my group was of the sharing mind and up for trying everything.
The hot half chicken
Naturally, you start with the chicken which comes in three sizes: quarter, half, and whole. As I learned from YGO, if you for the quarter you can opt for either a breast or leg but be sure to tell them. If you don’t, they’ll give you the first piece ready which is invariably a leg. Tastier meat, but much less of it and the sauces on offer can provide all the flavour you want.
Next, pick your style: hot or smokey. I figure you can work out what each is like. The hot isn’t that spicy though (think medium on the Nando’s scale) so nothing to be worried about. They also have hot and smokey sauces on the table for you to douse your meat.
Chickens on a spit in full view
Sides are likewise limited in number to crinkle cut fries, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and lettuce and avocado salad. The salad was meh, the fries alright but nothing special, and the corn on the cob deliciously charred. The coleslaw was the standout with a light vinegary bite and crunchy veggies. My usual gripe with slaw is that there is too much mayo/oiliness but this was light and refreshing – definite slaw win!
You can get a range of drinks from sodas, beer, wine, and even some harder stuff. Given we were all hungover, it was soda and water all around.
Apple pie with lots of cinnamon
Finally dessert which is stored along the wall in hidden mini-closets. The lemon cheesecake was suitably light and creamy with a delicate lemony flavour. The apple pie was tasty if you like such things (I prefer fruit for starters and not in my dessert) but heavy on the cinnamon. I will note that they bring a full pie to your table and you get to pick exactly how big a slice you want. Or maybe the waitress just really liked us after Yee Gan used his Polish to flirt his way into her good graces. My favourite, however, was always going be the warm chocolate brownie which was rich and decadent and made no pretence at all in being healthy. That’s what I look for in a dessert!
Terrible picture of the decadent chocolate brownie
Overall, a good meal and pretty decent value at around 15 squids per person. However, the far removed location is kinda a killjoy so when push comes to shove I’ll still go to Nando’s for my fix.
