Good Friend Chicken | Little Newport St, WC2H

Those who know me, and in fact, those who barely do, will be aware of how much I enjoy my fried chicken. Actually, “enjoy” is too weak a word. Let's call it my fervent devotion at Fried Chicken’s gloriously greasy, battered altar - the silver thread running through my life if you may.

We all know that what makes great fried chicken is an incredibly punchy, crispy batter so when I read about a Taiwanese Chicken shop in China Town serving up steaming bags of crispy chicken skin for less than £5, I made it my mission to get there ASAP.  

The place is cosy and just a little walk from the main thoroughfare of China Town. Its brightly lit, clean and regularly found with a queue of 10 people in and around the vicinity, eagerly awaiting their orders. 

Once your order is served (in a greaseproof bag with two sticks to spear the chicken-y goodness with), you have the choice of 11 seasonings to make your chicken even more joyous. On the chicken skin, I chose ‘Curry’ seasoning that reminded me of the fruity umami-ness of Chicken Katsu Curry. The batter is perfectly crisp and holds together well so your shirt is safe from being rained on by greasy debris. The chicken skin itself is every bit as mouth-watering as roast chicken skin and wasn’t the fatty mess I expected it to be. They were extremely moorish though I feel like this is something you have to save for every once in a while, or it will severely impact your ability to walk up the stairs without huffing and puffing like you have a 20-a-day habit.

I topped my order off with a portion of Chicken Strips as I realised that as much as I may want to, one cannot live on chicken skin alone. The chicken strips were great as far as a chicken nugget goes. Instead of batter, the chicken is swathed in a delicate and crisp breadcrumb coating. And as everything is fried to order, this chicken breast is incredibly fresh – nothing dry and rubbery about this at all. These were tossed in ‘Cheese’ seasoning (think American Cheese sweetness, but in powder form), which was popular amongst the other patrons, especially the extremely loud students I was sitting next to as I waited for my food.

All around, a pretty successful, chicken-filled foray. It’s not fancy but after a couple of bites, you’ll forget all about how your sitting on one of three bar stools in a chicken shop the size of a disabled toilet and thank me. So will your bank balance. 

The damage: £8 (+ 50p for using my card, which pissed me off just a little bit)

Good Friend Chicken 

14 Little Newport St, 

London WC2H 7JJ