Chicken Shop

Half a chicken, served stone cold with a beer and greasy fries. Cost £22. Cross the street and go to Banners or Monkeynuts instead.

I have been to the Kentish Town Chicken Shop on many occasions so I was super happy to find that one had opened up not far from me. This restaurant hasn’t been open long as I remember it being a KFC beforehand — a major improvement.
Walking in, you can immediately feel the difference between the two stores — this restaurant is much bigger than the Kentish Town Branch and much more open and welcoming. The restaurant is dimly lit making it feel cosy. In order to get to your table, you have to walk past the rotisserie chickens over the fire, just waiting to be devoured. I shall give you a universal Chicken Shop tip — Do not sit at the bar if you don’t want a chicken juice shower.
Our order was taken fairly quickly and the food arrived in good time too. The staff were attentive, which was nice.
We ordered: avocado leaf salad, a whole chicken, crinkle chips and corn on the cob. If you fancy, they also do a nice slaw and a few yummy desserts if you actually have room after dinner.
I really enjoyed my experience here, I personally felt that the food was a lot tastier than Kentish Town, perhaps as this restaurant is a lot quieter and the food gets a bit more love. The staff were lovely and the décor really set the «I’m gunna eat all the chicken in the world» vibe.
I definitely recommend… om…nom…nom!

Stupendously overrated.
This branch opened in Crouch End in December 2015, but is one of several. I haven’t been to any before, but somehow have picked up the idea that this is damn good chicken.
One of those places that literally only does one main course. You can get your chicken in different sizes (quarter, half, whole), but that’s it. No flavour options. No vegetarian choice. No wings. Boom, it’s a chicken or bust.
I’m not against that — fortunately I rather like chicken. But if you do only offer one thing, it had better be the best version of that thing it can be. And Chicken Shop’s chicken is certainly not.
I’ll say it. The chicken was dry. Eating the breast meat in particular was a chore. And while there are a couple of sauces you can slop onto the plate (the smoky one was pretty tasty), the lack of decent seasoning and flavour on the chicken itself means the dish is disappointingly bland.
The crinkle cut chips were crispy and delicious, thank goodness, but at £4.50 for one average-​sized serving, they’d bloody better be.
Food aside, I didn’t rate the service very highly. Although everyone was terribly nice, they were very over attentive. Yes, it’s annoying to have waiters disappear so you spend an hour trying to chase down the bill — but it’s also irritating when you’re trying to have a conversation but are interminably interrupted by three different staff members asking on a rotation basis how your meal is. (Similarly, at the start, I was waiting for my friend and started to get a bit frustrated with telling different waiters that no, I didn’t want to order, and feeling quite defensive even though the restaurant was empty and I’d only been there 5 minutes).
I doubt I’ll return. I’ve been to many better places doing similar things.