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Please note, Thunderbird Fried Chicken's Brixton branch has now closed. Its other joints in Charing Cross, Canary Wharf and The O2 are still open. Time Out Food editors, FEBRUARY 2020.
A clattery, two-floor spot in Brixton Market, Thunderbird may look like your garden-variety chicken joint, but its owners have a more polished backstory than you might think. The mothercluckers behind this smashing spot (a permanent version of the Thunderbird stalls at street-food establishments Dinerama and Giant Robot) won the ‘Best Buffalo Wings’ prize at Wingfest in 2015 and as such, they have a stellar reputation for serving some of the best bird in town.
Expectations were high, but Thunderbird delivered. A tray of wings with crisp, papery skin came with a sticky barbecue sauce that beautifully melded sweet, sour and smoke. Then a basic Thunderbun chicken burger saw more of that finely seasoned, crisply coated bird as well as iceberg, pickles and a delicious mayo-style sauce. Better still? The Meltdown burger. Its light scattering of jalapeños and charred pepper aioli were good, but the inclusion of melty, miso-infused synthetic cheese was genius: a stupidly delicious umami blanket that’s a prime example of Thunderbird’s ability to put subtle, inventive twists on relatively simple dude-food staples.The only misstep to note was the wings slathered in salted caramel sauce: undersalted, truly cloying and orange-laced (why?!).
Service was perfectly affable (though this is an order-at-the-counter place, so the exchanges were mainly functional) and the drinks list is sparse; just soft drinks and a few Brixton and Brooklyn craft beers. But this minimalist approach felt well curated rather than lazy. Overall, Thunderbird is a super spot. Make the trip to Brixton for that miso cheese alone.