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There’s no shortage of chicken shops in London, but they are not all equal. Sometimes you’ll end up with a soggy burger bun, sometimes the batter will be just okay. But if you’re in the business for some seriously delicious fried poultry, a London chicken shop was just crowned the greatest in Britain.
The chicken connoisseurs in question are at 20ft Fried Chicken, which has outposts at Market Halls on Oxford Street and at Paddington. The team earned the prestigious title yesterday (January 20) at the inaugural Fried Chicken Championships. A cook-off saw 14 finalists from across the country take to the grills at Big Penny Social in Walthamstow to show off their skills, giving a panel of expert judges a taste of their very crispiest burgers, wings, and nuggets.
The Hot Chicken Burger from 20ft particularly ‘wowed’ the panel. As well as tender double-fried chicken thighs, the burger contains habanero hot honey mayo, pickles, vinegar slaw, and the restaurant’s signature spice blend and hot sauce. All of this comes in between two soft sesame buns. Getting hungry yet?
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Although this was the first year for the Fried Chicken contents, 20ft’s owners are no strangers to awards. Founder Stewart Down is also behind Black Bear Burger, whose Miso Bacon Burger was named the best in Britain last year. Time Out’s own food and drinks editor Leonie Cooper was a judge for that competition, and you can read more about it here.
Down said that he was ‘over the moon’ and ‘super stoked’ to see 20ft recognised, adding: ‘The quality of the chicken coming from the other finalists was first-class’.
He also noted that, victory aside, he was glad to see the introduction of the Fried Chicken Championships because ‘there is a real sense of camaraderie with all of the different restaurants and traders’.
Chick’N’Sours – which had a busy 2025, first closing down all its locations before opening up a brand new one in King’s Cross – came joint second with another London native, Butchies. Fortune Fried Chicken in Spitalfields Market came third.
On top of the overall winners, there were three subcategories: best loaded fries, which went to Killa Waffles in St Albans; Bloggers’ Choice as decided by influencer Kate Ovens, who picked Butchies; and the ‘Perfect Platter’ award, which involved ‘filling a tray of classic fried chicken items and sides featuring products from the event sponsors’. This went to Sides, the brand owned by YouTubers the Sidemen.
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