In conjunction with Food Safety Week (18-24 May), the assiduous folk at The Food Standards Agency have released some juicy statistics about chicken. Yep. One of the nation’s favourite foods has come under scrutiny and guess what? We love it more than ever. Three quarters of us eat it every week, which equates to approximately 136 times a year. That’s 7 billion chicken meals. Blimey.
We’re particularly fond of the roast variety, with nearly a third of us choosing chicken as our favourite roast dinner. Indeed, we enjoy eating our feathery friends so much that 67% of us cite food as the most important thing about a Sunday roast, rather than spending time with family. Charming.
So, in celebration of our apparently insatiable appetite for roast chicken, we’ve compiled a list of the very best places to scoff it in the capital. Do a good deed and share it with your family and friends too, as you clearly won’t be sharing your chicken.
Chicken Shop, all branches
What: From the guys behind Soho House and much more than a chicken shop, this is so good there are three branches in London (Kentish Town, Tooting and Whitechapel). Go for a free-range chicken straight off the spit, with crinkly fries and coleslaw.
How much: Whole chicken £16
Clockjack Oven, Soho (below)
What: Offering free-range Breton roast chicken to Soho’s young, casual crowd, the birds are marinated in herb brine before pirouetting their way to perfection in the vertical clockjack ovens.
How much: Whole chicken £19.95
Clutch, Hoxton
What: Billed as ‘the home of guilt-free chicken’ with happy-go-lucky, free-range, rare-breed hens, Clutch is usually a triple-fried affair, but Sunday sees a rotisserie roast take centre stage with seasonable veg and sides such as Mother Hen stuffing.
How much: £16 each
The Crooked Well, Camberwell
What: A high-spec gastropub on one of Camberwell's finest Georgian streets, The Crooked Well is the perfect place to while away a Sunday with a group of mates. Book a table to avoid disappointment and order a roast between two, with sides including roast potatoes and Chantenay carrots.
How much: Whole chicken £31
Hix City, Moorgate (below)
What: Hix, Hixter and Tramshed are all famous for their whole roasted chickens, served upside down and with their feet majestically stuck in the air. This roast barn-reared Indian rock chicken is always a crowd pleaser and comes with stuffing and chips.
How much: Whole chicken £32.50
The Jugged Hare, Moorgate (see top)
What: A temple to hunter-gathering, Tom and Ed Martin’s (of the ETM group) pub and dining room is adorned with stuffed characters from the menu. Fortunately, the roast chicken also makes it onto your plate; share a whole Suffolk free-range with sage stuffing and bread sauce.
How much: Whole chicken £35
The Jolly Butchers, Stoke Newington
What: A proper east London boozer serving a proper English Sunday roast. Roast chicken comes with Yorkshire pud, broccoli, red cabbage, beans, carrots, roast potatoes and lashings of home-made gravy. Corrr.
How much: £9.95 each
Le Coq, Islington (above)
What: A simple neighbourhood restaurant offering a weekly changing menu of two or three courses built around a rotisserie Sutton Hoo chicken, with sides such as roasted radishes and canellini beans. And they have Prosecco on tap.
How much: 2 courses £17, 3 courses £22
Roast, Borough (below)
What: The clue’s in the name and this Borough Market gem from Cinnamon Club founder, Iqbal Wahhab, certainly does do an excellent roast. The spatchcocked Goosnargh baby chicken with preserved lemon and green sauce is a refined affair, reflected in the price.
How much: £22.75 each
Whyte & Brown, Soho
What: Self-described as ‘really lovely chicken’ – and we couldn’t agree more. Its darn loveliness probably has something to do with the fact that it’s roasted in beer and comes with herb butter and beer gravy. Yes please.
How much: Whole chicken £19.50
Step up to The 2015 Chicken Challenge here.
This article was published 19 May 2015.