Marie Claire's Fashion Features & Entertainment assistant delves into fried chicken and mac & cheese...
The home of most things cool and edgy south of the river, Brixton is almost certainly a no-brainer for those looking for an injection of quick post-work meat and cocktails with friends. If it wasn’t entirely obvious by the name, Chicken Liquor serves up both in plentiful portions.
Capitalizing on the trend for unadulterated calorie consumption, Chicken Liquor (much like it’s sister sites, Meat Mission and Meat Liquor) offers a menu full of jam-packed burgers and carbicide sides and it is – to not mince my words - glorious. Unlike the fried chicken outlet you may frequent at 2am, it’s perfectly acceptable to rock up to CL without having drunk an unholy amount of alcoholic beverages that would be frowned upon by any medical professional.
Intent on filling ourselves up with enough food to last a week, myself and my two companions, Emily and Rachel ordered up a feast big enough to feed a wedding party.
Unafraid of heat, Emily and I went for the buffalo chicken burger which comes complete with hot sauce, red onions and blue cheese sauce which hit the meat, carbs and cheese marks with ease. While Rachel went for the Dirty Chicken burger which tested her intolerance for spice, so chili fearers beware. Portions are large and the chicken delightfully crispy on the outside while still maintaining a soft and juicy inside.
As the burgers come without sides we opted for the cheese fries and mac and cheese to share. For those looking to indulge, the mac and cheese order is a deep fried cube of the stuff with a splashing of marinara sauce, which while I wasn’t too fond over, the girls adored. The cheese fries turned out to be more my bag with a generous lashing of the stuff oozing into all corners of the dish while the fries themselves could have had a bit more crisp to them.
To all those interested, this may not be a place to take your straight laced parents, unless they’re quite happy to sit perched on a high stool getting their hands dirty, it’s definitely a spot for a long overdue catch up. While service may be a bit patchy, it’s almost part and parcel for Brixton Village and we weren’t there to be fawned over, happily chatting while simultaneously stuffing our faces with the food on offer.
Sadly, we neglected the liquor choosing to forgo a hangover in favour of a productive workday the next day, but I can guarantee we’ll be back to for a taster of their humorously named cocktails. Donkey Crunch, anyone?
With so many great independent restaurants and eateries around in the Village, Chicken Liquor – which was formerly the independent Wishbone - sits among a few of the soon-to-be-greats with itself running close to the mark.