Just where is best fried chicken in London found?
It’s a question posed by drunk revellers, hungry home-workers, city slickers, the capital’s stoners, the truant players, pencil pushers, and just about everyone in between.
Because there are no two things London has more of a love affair with than 1. fried chicken, and 2. debating just where to find the best fried chicken.
Sure, there’s nothing wrong with the soggy, salty, Colonel-cooked kind once in a while. But here at IDEAL, we love our fried chicken ear-shatteringly crispy, brow-moppingly spicy and as succulent and tender as a bird can possibly be.
We’ve eaten our way across the city, throwing back as much fried chicken as we could lay our greasy fingers on (and chugging loads of Dioralyte in the process), all the while resisting the ‘clucking good’, ‘what the cluck?’ and ‘coq’ jokes, to bring you this; our guide on where to eat the best fried chicken in London.
Nanban, Brixton
Ideal for really bloody spicy and all the better for it fried chicken…
There are two choices in this Brixton-based Japanese soul-food joint – an enjoyable chicken karage or the restaurant’s ‘angry birds’.
With the emotion euphemising the level of capsaicin-baiting expected, it’s those angry birds we’ve come to Nanban for, though we are more inclined to label them livid. Incandescent. Really bloody spicy and amazing for it.
Scotch bonnet is to thank, or blame, depending on your chilli tolerance, but the ponzu honey sweetness of the fried chicken’s glaze balances the whole affair superbly. Available in 1/2 kilo or kilo portions, this is beer food, make no mistake, and Nanban caters accordingly, with some really interesting, local crafts.
Quite possibly, this our favourite fried chicken in London…
Website: www.nanban.co.uk
Location: Brixton
Smoking Goat, Shoreditch
Ideal for crispy chicken covered in a complex and sticky Vietnamese fish sauce glaze…
….But wait. Smoking Goat’s signature fish sauce wings may just take the crown.
Like the angry birds of paragraphs gone by, these guys also lend themselves to beer swilling and brow mopping – there’s some serious chilli-heat on display here, but there’s something deeper too, offered in the form of a Vietnamese fish sauce glaze that is salty and sweet in equal measure.
The crisp and crackle of the batter is by no means dampened by the sticky, glorious dressing, and it’s fair to say that ‘moreish’ would be underselling these truly great wings.
Sure, this might be something of a case of hyperreal simulacrum, as Smoking Goat’s version likely came via US chef Andy Ricker’s version, who himself based his cult fish sauce chicken wings on a Vietnamese street-food classic. But all that doesn’t make the Goat’s wings any less delicious…
Website: smokinggoatbar.com
Location: Shoreditch
Chick-King, Tottenham
Ideal for fried chicken done right with some real heart and soul behind it…
Speaking of cult status, Tottenham’s Chick-King is one of London’s most popular fried chicken joints, with queues regularly snaking out of the door and onto the High Road, especially (but certainly not exclusively) on match day.
Not harmed by being bang opposite the Spurs stadium, Chick King’s fried chicken isn’t popular simply because of its geography and a sense of loyalty or convenience; this is properly good gear, crispy in all the right places, beautifully spiced, and stubbornly, resolutely affordable.
Yep, even in today’s inflated market, opposite a football stadium that cost over £1 billlion to erect, you can get a fried chicken and chips for less than £2. As hugely amiable owner Alex Tryfonos says, Chick-King is for the community. Long may it continue.
Website: Facebook
Location: Tottenham
Manna, Tottenham Court Road
Ideal for arguably the best Nashville Hot Chicken Bun on the side of the pond…
We don’t think we’re putting it mildly when we say that acclaimed restaurant group JKS’ first foray into the world of food courts has been something of a success.
Its flagship southern Thai restaurant Plaza Khao Gaeng has received rave reviews in various wings of the national press, and the ground floor ensemble of nine kitchens is exciting and varied enough to keep the punters returning, even if a meal here does feel a little rushed and impersonal.
Manna, which specialises in smash burgers and Nashville hot chicken via Bake Street’s brilliant Feroz Gajia. It’s for the latter that we keep returning; the Nashville Hot Chicken Bun, complete with requisite cayenne-heavy dusting and truly standout pickles, is properly effing good. Oh and the Hot Jalapeno Popper Fried Chicken is fried to order to get it extra cripsy. It’s wickedly good.
Website: mannaburgers.co.uk
Location: Tottenham Court Road
Read: Where to eat near Tottenham Court Road
Chick ‘n’ Sours, Haggerston & Seven Dials
Ideal for whole fried chicken, brined in buttermilk and pimped up with chilli vinegar and gochujang mayo...
Though there’s a branch in Seven Dials if you’re seeking somewhere to eat near Covent Garden, it’s to Dalston we’re heading, to where it all began for these all-conquering purveyors of some of the best fried chicken in the capital.
KFC this ain’t. The batter is always crisp, the seasonings and sauces globe trotting and tastebud tingling, and the signature sour cocktails powerful yet poised.
A winning formula, we think. London does too; it’s a perennially popular place and hard to get a perch during peak times.
It’s the (pre-order only) Whole Fry that we’re particularly enamoured with here – that’s whole fried chicken, brined overnight in buttermilk and pimped up with chilli vinegar and gochujang mayo. Fantastic for sharing, sure, but also ideal for wolfing down all on your own, in the restaurant’s shadows, like a person possessed.
Yes, that was us you saw in the corner doing just that…
Website: chicknsours.co.uk
Locations: Haggerston & Seven Dials
BAO, Various Locations
Ideal for Taiwanese inspired fried chicken…
In BAO’s ever expanding stable of accessible, visually arresting Taiwanese street food restaurants you’ll find some of the best fried chicken in London.
There was once a fair bit of secrecy behind the Taiwanese inspired fried chicken at BAO and it was a closely guarded secret. That was until they released the recipe in their cookbook, which you can also find featured on Great British Chefs. More power to the people!
This famous dish sees chicken marinated in soy milk, with a healthy dose of that once secret blend of spice (including Sichuan pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and five-spice powder) added. It’s then double-fried to make it extra crunchy and dressed in an addictive hot sauce – available to buy at BAO’s online shop should you need a hot sauce fix at home.
Website: baolondon.com
Locations: Soho, Borough, Kings Cross, Shoreditch, Marylebone
Good Friend Chicken, Chinatown
Ideal for Taiwanese fried chicken that will make you do your happy dance…
Another entry from Taiwan (via London), where they certainly know how to fry a good chicken, Good Friend Chicken sits on the peripheries of Chinatown, where you certainly won’t struggle to find a good meal, but you will struggle to find better fried chicken within walking distance.
Here, there are three must-order options, all deserving of praise and affection. Firstly, there’s chicken breast sliced super thinly then bashed even thinner, before being turned through three distinct types of seasoned flour and fried until earth-and-ear shatteringly crisp.
Next up, there’s chicken popcorn served simply in a small paper bag, which is one of the best snacks you’ll find in all of London for under a fiver.
And finally, the headliner; another baggy of deep-fried chicken skin, which is, quite frankly, the best snack you’ll find in all of London for under a fiver.
All three of these deliciously crispy bags of joy can be further sexed up with Good Friends’ array of seasoning powders, which currently stretch into double digits on the counter. The roasted, smoked chilli powder and seaweed (and a little MSG) combo is, quite frankly, a delicious snack all on its own, with just a licked finger as a vehicle.
In fact, we’d go as far as to say this is the best powder you’ll get in all of London.
Okay we’re just being silly now…
Website: goodfrienduk.com
Sichuan Fry, Hackney
Ideal for a seriously delicious Sichuan sando that will get you in a feathered frenzy…
Take us to a Sichuan restaurant and we will invariably order a plate of La Zi Ji which sees crispy chicken in bed with tons of roasted chilli peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. The result is an aromatic, electrifyingly hot and numbing orgy of a dish that is absolutely addictive.
You’ll understand why, then, that Hackney’s Sichuan Fry is one of our favourite fried poultry purveyors in the whole of London. Here they serve gloriously crisp fried chicken combined with Sichuan flavours and that ‘mala’ sensation that gets us into a feathered frenzy.
The mastermind/magician behind the rasping heat of the fried chicken here is the Dumpling Shack Group’s R&D chef Haydon Wong, and boy does he know a thing or two about satisfying, craveable eats. Opt for the Sichuan Classic sandwich (which could also pass as a burger) and pick the level of Sichuan heat you’d like – ours is obviously the Super Sichuan scorcher.
Website: sichuanfry.com
Location: Hackney
Read: Where to eat the spiciest food in London
Kricket, Various Locations
Ideal for fried chicken that infused with sub-continental Indian flavours…
Repeat after us ‘Keralan Fried Chicken’. After biting into this bad boy, KFC no- and-forever more stands for Keralan Fried Chicken’.
Not only is the dish adorned with deep fried curry leaves, but the fried chicken itself comes with a curry leaf mayonnaise, really hammering home those sub-continental Indian flavours.
Though the Keralan Fried Chicken is a signature dish across Kricket’s restaurants in Soho, Brixton and White City, it actually came about by accident, all because of the difficulty involved in fitting a tandoori oven in the restaurant’s original pop-up, which was housed on a shipping container.
As founder Will Bowley explains in his cookbook, they “adapted a basic tandoori marinade, made use of our small gas fryer and Kricket’s very own fried chicken was born. It is likely to remain on the menu for some time to come!”
That’s finger-licking fine with us.
Website: kricket.co.uk
Locations: Soho, Brixton, White City
Butchies, Various Locations
Ideal for some mother clucking good buttermilk chicken…
Starting out on the streets of East London all the way back in 2013 and now a fully fledged mini chain with 6 venues across the city, Butchies’ fried chicken credentials speak for themself.
What’s the secret behind Butchies’ success? Well, delicious fried chicken of course begins with the bird, and at Butchies they only use higher welfare, halal certified, Red Tractor accredited birds which are sustainably sourced from a single farm in South Yorkshire.
Also, for many, many fried chicken aficionados, the only admissible brine for a bird to bathe in is made with buttermilk and that too is what you’ll find here at Butchies. Sounds good so far, my fellow chicken cluckers?
So is this the juiciest, crunchiest, most flavoursome fried buttermilk chicken you’ll ever try? Maybe. While we can’t vouch for that as we don’t know how many fried chicken joints you have eaten at in your life across the entire globe, we can say with some certainty that the crispy chicken at Butchies is cymbals-clashing good. It has a cartoonishly audible, pleasing crunch that we’re seriously considering making an asmr video about. Fancy a listen?
Website: butchies.co.uk
Locations: Shoreditch, Clapham, Ealing, Earls Court, Victoria
Popeyes, Westfield Stratford
Ideal for mass-produced fried chicken that is actually darn tasty…
Speaking of chains, and cartoons for that matter, Popeyes, the Louisiana-inspired fast-food chain famous across the world for its spicy fried chicken, recently made it’s way to London. With cayenne pepper and Cajun-inspired spices.
Yes, we know what you’re thinking – including popeyes on the menu is like including KFC, only it’s not. At KFC it’s a 50/50 chance whether your chicken is going to be crispy and delicious or soggy and miserable. That’s not the case at Popeyes; as Mashed writes; “Every single time, you will get chicken that is head-scratchingly delicious, perfectly cooked and covered in a mouth-watering batter”. And it’s true.
Website: popeyesuk.com
Locations: Westfield Stratford
Read: The best restaurants near Westfield, ABBA Voyage & The London Stadium
Morley’s, South London
Ideal for reliably delicious fried chicken, day in, day out…
We had to end here. A South-London institution, its enduring popularity proving classic chicken wings don’t have to be tampered with to produce results, Morley’s is cheap, cheerful and utterly delicious – especially after (or during) a night out.
Website: www.morleyschicken.com
Locations: Loads across South London
Next up, if you’re staying in tonight, why not have a crack at this recipe for easy Korean BBQ fried chicken? You won’t regret it!
