Whether you fancy it deep-fried, roasted with truffles or hot and spicy, a whole chicken is the perfect sharing dish when going out with friends. Here's our pick of the best that London restaurants have on the menu.
Chick n Sours
Haggerston and Seven Dials
If you fancy channelling the Blues Brothers then, like Elwood, you can order the whole fried chicken at Chick N Sours. The deep-fried bird feeds between two to three people and comes with two sides and a dressing of your choice. The only caveat - they need 48 hours' notice before you come in if you're going to order it.
Midland Grand Dining Room
King's Cross - St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Euston Rd, London NW1 2AR
Sunday roasts are so last season. At Patrick Powell's King's Cross restaurant, it's all about the Monday night supper. Roast chicken is served with pommes paillisson (straw potato cakes), salad, and a pot of pungent aioli. Sounds like a pitch-perfect start to any week.
More about Midland Grand Dining Room
Lima Cantina
Covent Garden - 14 Garrick St, London WC2E 9BJ
Having had a major makeover, this Covent Garden Peruvian restaurant has also got a new menu where pride of place is given to the Pollo a La Brasa. It's a whole rotisserie chicken, marinated for 24 hours before being cooked over charcoal. They serve it up with Andean potatoes, aji amarillo & huacatay cream. It's also available as a quarter or half chicken.
Hoppers
Soho, Marylebone and King's Cross
When Hoppers was just starting out the chefs went out and bought a rotisserie just so they could cook this Kalupol roast chicken dish. It’s on the feasting menus at all three of their restaurants or you can head to King’s Cross where it’s also on the a la carte (although not whole) and comes with beet mallung and rasa.
Rhythm Kitchen
Walthamstow and Stratford
If jerk chicken is what floats your boat, then the self-proclaimed Jerk Father Delroy Dixon reckons his two East London restaurants are the place to go. For the fully immersive experience, you need to order the Whole Chicken Feast Platter which comes with four sides like fried plantain and rice and peas.
Brunswick House
Vauxhall - 30 Wandsworth Rd, London SW8 2LG
As road-tested by us recently, this whole chicken dish is the perfect sharing main, particularly if you’re dining with anyone who’s both gluten and dairy-free. The chicken is cooked with Dorset clams in a moqueca broth and served up with jalapeno pistou on top. It's the perfect rejoinder to anyone who says that chicken is boring - they just haven't had it cooked right.
Story Cellar
Covent Garden - 17 Neal's Yard, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9DP
When chicken is the lynchpin of your restaurant you need to get it right. At his Covent Garden rotisserie spot chef Tom Sellers uses Baserri Aldabia chickens from France which are then brined for three hours before being poached in bacon stock and finished on the rotisserie. They come with very good fries and a simply dressed green salad and are available as a half chicken too.
Nomad London
Covent Garden - 28 Bow St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7AT
Roast chicken has been a signature dish at NoMad since they opened their first place in New York where we first tried chef Daniel Humm's foie and truffle stuffed bird. Here in London, the Creedy Carver chicken is stuffed with brioche along with the foie and truffle. There's even a chicken-themed beer pairing to go with it - a Fowl Play shwarzbier from 40ft.
Noble Rot
Soho - 2 Greek St, London W1D 4NB
When Noble Rot had Delia Smith in for a lunch interview with Angela Hartnett there was no question as to what they were going to serve her. Obviously, it had to be chef Alex Jackson's classic chicken dish. He serves it with morels and vin jaune and a dish of riz au pilaf to soak up all those lovely buttery juices.
The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester
Mayfair - 53 Park Ln, London W1K 1QA
Added to the menu at The Grill as part of the restaurant's recent rebranding, All The Chicken features a chicken crown with wings on the side, chicken and mushroom pies, chicken roasting juices and a creamy chicken sauce. For added theatricality, it’s all carved tableside.
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