Slim Chickens opens in London

[craigjm]

The Arkansas chain opens its first London restaurant just off oxford street late last month

https://www.slimchickens.co.uk

Went in and tried the 7 tenders meal which comes with decent skin on fries, two sauces and Texas toast for £9.95 with a refillable drink.



Gets the thumbs up from me over KFC as there was a lot of meat on that meal and the fries were much better. Wonder what their expansion plans are

[Anglade]

Looks like a poor imitation of Raising Cane's.

[anonymous-user]

Boparan own Bernard Matthews and Northern foods and are big in food production/processing. Mishmash of sub-brands on the restaurant front though - Harry Ramsden’s, Giraffe (ex Tesco) and Ed’s Diner.

Could be a bit of struggle in the current climate - but I suppose the chicken market isn’t as saturated as the burger market.

[craigjm]

Anglade said:

Looks like a poor imitation of Raising Cane's.

It’s much better than Cains, especially the fries, and there is a wider menu too. Moot point though as Raising Canes isn’t in the U.K.

[craigjm]

Roman Rhodes said:

Boparan own Bernard Matthews and Northern foods and are big in food production/processing. Mishmash of sub-brands on the restaurant front though - Harry Ramsden’s, Giraffe (ex Tesco) and Ed’s Diner.

Could be a bit of struggle in the current climate - but I suppose the chicken market isn’t as saturated as the burger market.

Definitely less saturated than the burger market. There hasn’t really been a decent competitor to KFC in the U.K. this isn’t really trying to directly compete with them but for me
It’s a welcome addition.

[dazco]

I read the other day that the fried chicken market is the fastest growing takeaway market

[craigjm]

dazco said:

I read the other day that the fried chicken market is the fastest growing takeaway market

Mainly filled by cheap crappy places like Morley’s and Favourite though unlike the burger market that has many well know good quality places just in London

[hungry_hog]

craigjm said:

Mainly filled by cheap crappy places like Morley’s and Favourite though unlike the burger market that has many well know good quality places just in London

Quite a few in the smoke these days (takeout and eat in)

Good:
Chicken liquor (sister of Meat Liquor/Mission)
Ma Plucker (Soho)
Bird (various branches)

Average:
Mother clucker (various branches - the one in Southwark has a huge queue but I found it overpriced)

Not tried these:
Chick n sours (Covent Garden)
Chicken Shop (various branches)

[craigjm]

hungry_hog said:

craigjm said:

Mainly filled by cheap crappy places like Morley’s and Favourite though unlike the burger market that has many well know good quality places just in London

Quite a few in the smoke these days (takeout and eat in)

Good:
Chicken liquor (sister of Meat Liquor/Mission)
Ma Plucker (Soho)
Bird (various branches)

Average:
Mother clucker (various branches - the one in Southwark has a huge queue but I found it overpriced)

Not tried these:
Chick n sours (Covent Garden)
Chicken Shop (various branches)

That’s true but quite a few have gone down the waffles or Korean route. Yet to try chicken liquor, birds ok, not a fan of mother clucker and chick n sours is typical shore ditch crap moved into central where their booking and seating policy is more about making them look trendy than good business sense. Billy and the chicks is awful too

[HRL]

I was working almost next door on opening day and got the same meal as the OP.

Didn’t quite get the toast but the buffalo sauce was nice. Would I eat from there again? Probably.

They also have the option of grilled instead of fried chicken, not that I saw anyway opt for grilled...

[craigjm]

HRL said:

Didn’t quite get the toast

Wasn’t the best Texas toast. Wrong bread for a start

[devnull]

Isn't Texas Toast cheap ass white bread anyway?

[craigjm]

devnull said:

Isn't Texas Toast cheap ass white bread anyway?

Not necessarily it’s supposed to be white bread cut in a doorstep depth and then buttered and (sometimes) garlic and cheese added and then it’s grilled on a hot plate. The idea is that it’s too thick to go into a toaster. This was more like garlic toast