work? The answer is: kind of.
Some of it is great. Like the smell: As you walk into the restaurant you get a big whiff of sweet and savoury aromas, which are instantly intoxicating. And the chicken is delicious. It’s perfectly fried, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The coating is dark, almost burnt brown in colour, peppered with the ChocoChicken seasoning, which is in no way too chocolaty or overpowering but leaves just a hint of dark chocolate, a little chilli kick, and a lingering sweet maple flavour. It’s crispy, spicy, warm and comforting, just like fried chicken should be.
The white chocolate mash doesn’t work. It’s heavy, stodgy, dense, overly buttery and way too sweet. But, as the chef informed when I admitted that I wasn’t a fan, it’s still very much a work in progress.
Other sides are better: biscuits are buttery and flaky, the salad, coleslaw and cup of raw crudité are fresh and crunchy and the duck fat fries are moreish. And the chocolate ketchup is great: umami-rich, it tastes a bit like HP sauce with a spoonful of cocoa powder mixed in.
But despite it all being good, there’s something missing.
The interior of the 120-seat restaurant is industrial: high ceilings, wood panelling and a pressed tin along the walls and the bar. It’s a bit soulless and lacking in atmosphere and service was overly attentive, almost intrusive.
Altogether ChocoChicken is original and the food is perfectly fine. But despite its image the whole place just lacks the je ne sais quoi, fun factor it promises and it isn’t nearly as innovative as the pre-opening hype suggested.
It may be chocolate infused but it’s still just fried chicken. The novelty wears off almost instantly and after dining here, my chef-friend and I were both left with a distinct sense of “so what?”
Is it better than your average fried chicken shop? Of course. But would I go back? Unless I have a crazy hangover that makes me crave fried chicken and chocolate, probably not.
Kerstin Kühn is a freelance food and travel writer, specialising in restaurant and chef stories. The former restaurant editor of
Caterer and Hotelkeeper, she relocated from London to Los Angeles last summer, where she lives with her husband and two cats. With a vast network of chefs from around the world, Kerstin has profiled the likes of Michel Roux, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, the Roca brothers and Massimo Bottura. She has been a contributor to publications including
FOUR Magazine, the
Evening Standard Food and Travel Magazine,
M&C Report,
Design Week,
Frame Magazine and
City and
Canary Wharf Magazines and also writes her own blog,
La Goulue. You can follow Kerstin on Twitter @LaGoulue
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