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It’s 8.30pm on a cold Tuesday evening, and there’s a queue of customers waiting to be seated at Chicken Shop. The beau monde of Tooting are out in force, perching on bar stools, cradling glasses of wine and texting friends excitedly. Tooting’s not seen the like before.
The dining area’s in two parts: the rotisserie grill at the front, and a hidden room through the back. It’s all very beautifully styled, like a Cath Kidston garden shed. The lighting is low and flattering.
At this smaller branch of the Soho House restaurant in Kentish Town, the menu is as prosaic as the original’s: grilled free-range chicken, with chips and side salads, plus a few desserts. Half a chicken feeds two, and still leaves plenty for a doggy bag. The chicken is succulent, the fries crisp, the creamy coleslaw well worth the £4 charged. Pale corn-on-the-cob and even the green salad all exceed expectations.
To drink there’s Italian lager, bottles of Camden Pale Ale, wines. If you’ve any room left, calorific desserts (brownie, lemon cheesecake, apple pie) will plug the gap. On our visit the service was unfailingly smiling and enthusiastic, and we left very satisfied.