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Unlike Coqfighter’s takeaway unit at Boxpark Croydon and its in-and-out joint at Boxpark Shoreditch, this Soho site is a proper sit-down job, with friendly table service, mood lighting and cocktails worth settling in for.
As always, the burly vodka-and-sesame-battered chicken wings are served DIY-style. Well, GIY-style: you glaze them yourself, with as much sticky soy-and-garlic dressing or punchy Korean hot sauce as you can handle. But the best thing on the menu is still the burgers. Take the Original stack: succulent, deep-fried thigh comes laden with crisp iceberg, pickled red onion and a sweet and peppery sambal mayo, all the while oozing more of that lovely hot sauce. Then there’s the towering Green Chilli Cheese, topped with fiery pickled green chillies, glossy sheets of American-style cheese and smoky chipotle mayo. Extra napkins are necessary with both, FYI.
The pocket-sized bao here aren’t bad – the soft buns a good contrast to the crunchy chook and daikon filling – though there are better in the area. And the boneless tenders were a bit meagre and had spent too long in the fryer.
Still, for a satisfying and affordable chook feast in central London, Coqfighter is a winner. Plus, you get to tell your pals you’re going for chicken on (wait for it)...Beak Street.