Chick ‘n’ Sours opened in Dalston in 2015 and offers the very best that fried chicken can be, alongside a small but perfectly formed list of sour cocktails.

In 2015, fried chicken became the new cheeseburger. Last year it seemed like every other month a new chicken joint was popping up across London offering a crunchier, juicer, more hipster version than their PFC cousins on the high street.

But I’m not going to be one of these people who bemoan the gentrification of food stuffs: if you want to take a popular dish and make it even MORE delicious, then by all means be my guest! I mean, I’m not crazy…

And that is exactly what Chick ‘n’ Sours have done.

Opened in April 2015 by two guys who (fun fact) conceived the idea when they met at Latitude in 2010, Chick ‘n’ Sours offers the very best that fried chicken can be, alongside a small but perfectly formed list of sour cocktails from a Milk & Honey mixologist no less. The theory being that, according to owner Carl Clarke. sour cocktails are to chicken “like vinegar to chips.” Huh, I guess the name makes sense now!

The menu at Chick n Sours is pretty neat and compact: just three appetisers, four mains, a few side orders and five sour cocktails. (There’s also a choice of two beers and red or white wine.) They offer exactly what they promise, chicken and sours. And trust me, you don’t need anything else.

House Fry (£8)

The main event, as it were, is the House Fry and it’s a permanent fixture on the menu. It’s basically just one really big chicken thigh and one really big drumstick. That may still sound small but actually they are HUGE. They must be the biggest chickens on the planet (which reminds us of our favourite music video so far this year) and they are amazing!

The skin is soooo fucking crispy it would make the Colonel weep with shame. I literally have no idea how they do it but it’s sheer brilliance. Inside they are piping hot, soft and moist, and outside so crispy that the skin falls away in sheets, perfect for dunking in their superb dips and generally just crunching up in your gob. It’s phenomenal.

The chicken comes served with chunks of pickled watermelon sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds which is a nice refreshing palette cleanser and a good contrast to the chicken. You get a LOT of chicken here.

Guest Fry (£11)

The Guest Fry on the menu changes every month to mix things up a bit. Last week, it was another massive drumstick and thigh but served with a Kung Pao glaze, chilli, peanut, and spring onion. It’s really good! It has the same crispiness and juiciness factors of the House Fry but with a sweet, sticky, hot chilli Asian goo dumped on top. Just as delicious but with an added zing and crunch.

Bun (£11)

The Bun is Chick ‘n’ Sours’ take on a chicken burger, but obviously taken to the next level and given an Asian twist. Here you get another great, hulking lump of boneless thigh meat with a good dollop of weird mayo (that’s Gochujang mayo to be precise), chilli vinegar, some shredded iceberg lettuce and some crunchy slaw. It’s also available minus the bun if you are still carrying a little bit of holiday weight and are trying to be heathy.

This was just as crunchy, juicy and tasty as the plates above but I loved the little twang you get from the vinegar as it added a nice contrast to the creamy mayo and gave it more of a Korean vibe. It was also fairly hot with a neat kick of chilli heat. Very good but I think the simple beauty of the House Fry may have just pipped it for me.

Sides

As if we didn’t have enough chicken already we also ordered some Dripping Fries (£3.50) and House Pickles (£3). The fries were like your regular skinny fries but cooked with dripping so they had a meaty twang. Great! Apologies that I have not included a picture of them here but I had already eaten half of them before I remembered to take a photo.

The pickles consisted of your standard pickling veg, thinly sliced and served in an Asian-style dressing. Good and cripsy with enough vinegar to cut throught the fat of the chicken, and as the only vegetable dish that night, a welcome addition to my stomach.

 

 

 

 

Another fun accompaniment they offer at Chick ‘n’ Sours are house-made dips at only 50p-£1.50 each. We went for the Sriracha and sour cream (£1.50), the House made Kewpie mayo (£0.50) and the Bone marrow BBQ (£1.50). The Sriracha was quite hot and had a decent amount of chilli sauce, but it’s mellowed by the sour cream leaving you with a lovely creamy, chilli dip. The BBQ was one of the best BBQ sauces I have had, really delicious with a deep, meaty flavour. And the Kewpie mayo is just some delicious umami mayo. Well worth getting for dipping ya chicken in.

Sours

And now just a final word on the second part of the titular duo: the sour cocktails. Don’t be scared that these will be like sucking a lemon, they’re all delicious and each have some sweetness added along the way.

We opted for (from left to right) the Bitter Kentucky (£6): Bourban, Cynar, Passionfruit, lemon, sour. And the Chick’n’Club (£6): Gin, sugar, lemon, raspberry and chilli, vinegar, Vermouth, sour. Both were refreshing and just sour enough to keep you coming back for more, unlike some sweet cocktails where you can’t even drink an entire one without wanting to throw up. Very drinkable and very yummy. I restrained myself and only had two.

Verdict?

As well as the food and the cocktails being delicious, Chick ‘n’ Sours is also a very cool place. With wooden tables arranged into long communal benches, retro patterned wallpaper, quirky pictures hanging on the walls and mismatched old-fashioned plates, it’s a bit like sitting in your nan’s house, only listening to ska music and drinking very boozy cocktails at the same time.

The staff are super laid back and really lovely, and the atmosphere is generally very relaxed despite the fact that there is a constant queue of people out the door. It’s very Dalston. But very cool.

I will definitely be returning. Apparently London has more than 8,000 fried chicken shops. You might as well go to one of the best.

Still hungry? Find all the most delicious places to eat with our best London restaurants section, including this review of Yumi Izakaya, Soho.