199 Baker St, Marylebone, London NW1 www.chickensandfoxes.com
Have you heard the word, it’s all about the bird, the bird is the word.
Every chef knows it’s all about the best ingredients and these birds have got pedigree, straight from the south of France and known as’poulet rouge’.
These French free range naked-neck chickens and their thin skin are renowned for their flavour, they’re a slow growing variety compared to the bog standard variety, and the result is as you would expect, a tastier bird.
At Chicken and Foxes these beauties are lined up on the rotisseries in full view of diners to get the juices flowing.
Hani Nakkach (restaurateur and founder of Aubaine restaurant group) is the brains behind what could well be (in this packed together market) a great formula for using these birds.
Inside it’s a sort of funky chicken shack complete with chicken wire on the ceiling and hanging rope lighting – chicken coop chic, if you will.
We begin with chicken quarters in the signature spicy and lemon and herb. The chicken is moist the skin is crisp and delicious. It might have been lovingly slow-cooked but we raced through it.
Served on large enamel trays ideal for getting up close and messy ,it was accompanied with a perfectly quaffable Italian house wine. The autumn crisp salad was nicely dressed and sprinkled with seeds perfect for eat clean and eat green foodies. The guacamole and chicken jus sauces were a good idea to dip your chips in.
Then I spotted the chicken and barley soup, being a soup lover, it totally hits the spot when the temperature drops, this was traditional and hearty for just a fiver.
There’s only one dessert on the menu a raspberry and chocolate pot that’s surprisingly good and all this for under £50 for 2 with wine.
The only thing we didn’t try was the Sunday Roast (well it was Wednesday) with all the trimmings including Yorkshire puds it sounds a bargain at £25 for four people.
Living the Marylebone life, we’ve seen quite a few restaurants come and go around the area but overall I like the confidence of Chicken and Foxes and the simplicity of its motto,’happy birds taste better’.
PS. If you are a lazy local on a cold winter evening – chicken and foxes is on Deliveroo, and that’s the only way’Houdini’ our chicken-loving mini schnauzer is going to get a sniff in.