Chooks

I love Chooks! The food has always been fantastic whenever I have been. The portions are big (I haven’t been able to finish the whole meal on occasion), and always delicious. For a place revolving primarily around chicken, the menu is surprisingly varied. The atmosphere is very relaxed so the staff are friendly and familiar, very casual but also attentive. The prices aren’t cheap, but they’re not extortionate either — well worth the food you’re getting. Also, they have cherry cola on the menu which for me personally is a huge bonus, it’s one of my favourite drinks but not many places serve it.

I absolutely love Chooks!
I have been to Chooks a number of times — for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The service is always brilliant, the staff friendly and the price pretty reasonable for such excellent food.
The breakfast probably isn’t the best thing ever — it’s a little greasy, even for a fry up, and the pancakes are as unhealthy as it gets, coming piled in butter and with maple syrup, but they’re bloody lovely! The best bit is that the coffee is bottomless — the staff don’t always remember to come by and refill your mug, but for the most part, it’s a really nice touch.
The salads are great if you’re after something healthier, and honestly everything else I’ve had has been just as good. My favourite side is the deep fried gherkins, which are amazing, and they’ll bring them out with a dip if you ask for one.
I went there for my birthday party last night and they managed to serve 17 people all at once and the food was incredible. I was so impressed that the service stays as good as that, even when there’s a lot of you.
I love it!

Since this review I have revisited Chooks and it has grown on me. Today I tried the chicken wings with blue cheese and they were fantastic! My girlfriend had mac and cheese pops which were also very good. It is definitely worth a visit if you are in Muswell hill.
I finally paid a visit to Muswell Hill’s Chooks. I had been tempted a few times before but the pricing put me off, this time someone else was paying so I thought why not. The décor tries too hard to be a trendy shoreditch hangout, but it really isn’t. I ordered the fried buttermilk chicken and a beer. They bring you out a nice chilled glass with your beer, but it is still too pricey. To my surprise you actually get a really good portion size of chicken. The mash that comes with it is really good and make sure you take advantage of the BBQ Sauce on your table. Overall I am not rushing to go back but I did like the chicken and it is worth a visit if you are in Muswell hill

My son’s favourite place because he can play baby foot while we wait for the food. Family friendly. A great addition to the neighbourhood. The lunch deal is very good value. Grilled Chicken, a salad or a chicken burger for £5.95.

I’ve now been twice to Chooks, and I must say, I don’t entirely get it. IT tries to pitch itself as a ramshackle American diner, with bare brick walls, clapboard seating and ‘artful’ neon and graffiti on the walls, but then, of course, pitches itself at Muswell Hill prices, with a decent meal and a few glasses of wine each meaning you’ll be spending more than thirty pounds each a meal. The food itself isn’t bad, with the portions being quite generous, but your food, in keeping with the theme, is served on trays with greaseproof paper and enamel plates, whilst the ‘good’ wine, being north of six pounds a glass is served in those little Duralex beakers, which seems vaguely insulting for the price.
What does make up for the ‘experience’ of Chooks is their frozen margaritas and deep friend mars bars, both of which are delicious and a decent price. So much so, in fact that my girlfriend and I have vowed that next time we visit, we’re going to skip the mains and just go for the alcohol and the dessert.
If you’re going, I recommend you try and ask to sit near the front. Both times, I’ve been placed near the back, and my meal has been disturbed by the shrieks of fellow diners’ children as they commandeer the table football at situated at the back of the restaurant, near the toilets, and have had to politely request to be relocated, as then you can sit in peace, and get a decent view of the street.
All in all, I’d say I appreciate Chooks for making an effort to do something different in amongst the little trattorias, cafes and pubs that Muswell Hill is known for, but please, drop the kitsch. Give it a go once, but I’ll leave it to you to make your own decision as to whether you want to go back again.

I am an American living in London. My one complaint is, it is hard to eat unhealthy in my neighborhood! There are little to no fast food places. I am OK with eating in 5 days a week and coking nutritious meals, but every once in a while I need a crispy, fried, tasty guilty break from the steamed spinach and smoked salmon home made weeknight meals. That’s when I turn to Chooks!
I have no idea why their buttermilk fried chicken is so tasty, but it just is. It is perfectly seasoned, with just the right amount of crispy outside, combined with a moist interior. Also, their BBQ sauce is fantastic, and be sure to ask for a side of their homemade buffalo sauce for your dipping pleasure. Pair the amazing chicken with light and fluffy mashed potatoes with a beautiful gravy and you my friends have yourself one fantastic meal.

I attended a Chooks UYE,
With a few from the crew of the Unilocal Family.
I’ve been craving chicken for a while.
So what a perfect opportunity to indulge in fried meat, American-​style.
Located in the tony Muswell Hill.
The location was minimalist, cool, laid back and very chill.
Yee, Jules, Hannah, Samir, myself and a friend.
On Sunday afternoon, at this location a few hours we did spend.
Now let me get right down to the buttermilk fried chicken.
One guest did suggest it was not finger-​lickin’.
And offered more seasoning would be good.
Which was the general consensus, and well understood.
In my humble opinion, it was the best part of the meal.
A few sides from others I did steal.
Chips/​Fries were ‘meh,’ O-​rings just okay – nothing near Byron quality.
And the mac lacked the obligatory nom nom and mmm cheesy.
‘Slaw looked good, as did mashed potatoes but I was full by then.
But alas, I’m straying, let me get back to the chicken.
I thought it was crispy, thoroughly coated and moist.
But rather salty in places, (which actually makes me rejoice).
I like salt, but concur more seasoning would have been nice.
But I would try again, Thursday night it’s 25percent off take away price.
And in case you’re not feeling fried chicken, I will
Mention that they also offer it grilled.
Veggie options they do have.
In the event you could never eat lambs, ponies, anything that goes moo, or calves.
And to top off the meal, what better thing to do.
Than indulge in a fried (fried!) Mars bar, (ok, my diet is now screwed).
Heart dessert, but was not to my taste, and I didn’t like it.
Prefer Snickers, but that’s just me being a nit pick.
And as for the service?
As opposed to a hit, I’d give it a near miss.
The staff were nice, just a bit aloof.
Courteous, but no warmth or extra extra to draw me to it.
Disappeared for varying periods of time,
Though in the scheme of things, that is no crime.
Oh, and the women’s bathrooms were cold, but they were clean!
A bit small… nice mirrors, but not much else to be seen.
At the end of the meal, a unique touch.
The cheque and a mug full of gummy eggs, sunny side up.
Though, as a health foodie I must say.
When permitted to sub salad for mashed, it made my day.
Closest underground Highgate.
Might like rabbit food, but fried chicken yo, I can appreciate.
Fair Unilocaler, I would return to Chooks on a day off.
Located on Muswell Hill Road, right ‘cross the street from Toff’s.

Damn it, I knew I should have posted my review before Alex L! How to follow that?! But I made it into one of her rhymes, so that’s pretty cool :)
So seeing as how the deep fried chicken looked like an overwhelmingly large mountain of food I opted for the Farmer John burger instead. It was pretty good although the chicken did get a little bit lost underneath all the other stuff! The crispy onion ring topping was amazing though.
The deep fried Mars bar is apparently bordering on mandatory for dessert, and they certainly need to big it up because it has to be one of the least appetising looking dishes you’re ever likely to encounter. One mouthful was enough for me — I definitely prefer my Mars bars without the batter!

I have to admit that I’m a picky meat eater and because of that I have a tendency to go with the veggie or meat options, which have been tested many times. I made an exception this time and ordered the buttermilk fried chicken, as advised by someone who knows about meat. So … drum-​roll … my first buttermilk fried chicken was … OK. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t think it will be something I eat on a regular basis. There was a lot of chicken. The batter was nice, but seemed to change between being just crispy in one spot and having some really nice flavours in another. Three stars as the whole meal had a feeling of fast food, but not the price.
But the sides were amazing. Even after having stuffed my face with mac’n’cheese, onion rings and mashed potatoes I could easily eat a whole pot of the delicious coleslaw. Not sure we should have gone for the deep fried mars bar, but its another «Done!» on my food tick list.
The place in itself was nice enough and the staff were not pushing us out of the door after we finished, which is always nice, as it give time to reflect on the meal and nibble a bit more coleslaw.

I love chicken. I’ve driven specially to Thomas Keller’s restaurant Ad Hoc in Napa Valley specially for their Monday chicken night. So far, that’s the best fried chicken that I’ve eaten though I have a soft spot for KFC!
Perhaps it’s a sign of the recession but London has experienced a rush of chicken shops opening recently. We had Unilocal Chicken UYE 1.0 at The Chicken Shop a few months ago and yesterday, Chicken 2.0 took place at Chooks in Muswell Hill, which has garnered some good reviews from professional critics
I was especially interested in their buttermilk fried chicken, which is how Ad Hoc do their chicken — it’s an American ingredient and style of cooking, which should result in a crispy coating. They also offer grilled chicken in a range of different sauces
The shop is decked out in chicken theming everywhere, down to their bespoke mugs. The menu is built around chicken — grilled or buttermilk fried as above or in burgers. Disappointingly, they didn’t have any sharing platters — as a group, we would have liked to have a large plate of different things to share. In the end, we got our own dishes with sides to share
The buttermilk fried chicken was expensive at £10.25 though it came with mashed potato. You got 3 pieces but they don’t serve my favourite piece — the thigh. Boo! Sadly, the coating didn’t really do it for me. I think Jules H summed it up perfectly by saying you got lumps of seasoning. Overall, it was just unexciting and the breast was dry
Those who got the grilled chicken and burger were happier with their choices. The sides were better, especially lovely light crunchy onion rings. Fries were crispy and moreish and the coleslaw wasn’t over-​burdened with mayo. Once again, their interpretation of an American classic in mac n cheese let them down with the cheese content being far too low
One thing we coudn’t complain about was that the portion sizes were generous. We were all pretty stuffed from the chicken but felt able to find room to share a deep fried Mars bar between us. It was actually lighter than we imagined and yummy. It would have gone perfectly with some ice cream
A shout out for having A&W root beer. There was a nice joke with the mini fried egg sweets which arrived in the mug containing our bill
Purely in the interest of Unilocal research, I did have 2 KFC chicken wings on the way home for comparison and yup, as I thought, Colonel Sanders does have something special in his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, which was sadly missing from my chicken at Chooks
Top class company for a fun event but only 3 stars for the food

Oh god, the chicken is SO good, both the grilled and the buttermilk. The onion rings are crispy amazingness! The beans are flavouful deliciousness. I even love the coleslaw. The décor is fun. I haven’t given 5 stars only because I wish I wish I wish the chicken could be free range. As a rule, I don’t eat chicken unless it’s free range (I asked Chooks, theirs isn’t) Chooks tell me their chickens are happy barn chickens… my desire for the chicken overpowered my morals and I was seduced twice. I’m still longing for more! Next time, I may try and resist the chicken, try something else with their amazing side dishes. Maybe head down to Brixton for chicken, I hear a free range fried chicken place lives there!

Excellent food, nice ambience and by far the best service in the neighbourhood.
In fact, to go with their mouth-​watering American menu, they have American service. It’s that good.
They’ve ironed out a few kinks in the couple weeks they’ve been opened which is why I (fairly so) waited to post a review until after my third visit.
Yes, I went back three times, it’s very good food, although I may be slightly biased as a North American who pines for this kind of stuff.
Make sure you get a side of the buffalo sauce with your chicken and do try a jam jar margarita (or three).
So far I’ve had pretty much everything on the menu. The menu itself is a-​la-​carte except for the buttermilk chicken (f#cking gigantic) and the sharing tray.
Constructive criticism:
It would be nice f they had some sort of combo options.
Plates are awkward to eat off as they are super light and slight all over the place, but my NASA engineer wife semi-​solved this with a wet paper towel.
£1 for a measly side of sauce is offensive.
Wings on menu are confusing, but this is an inconsistent UK thing where they say you get four but mean eight etc (Bodean’s does the same). But wing aficionados count each individually. They are easier to eat if the kitchen separates the wing and drum anyway.