Eating London: fried chicken and cookies

Sablé's warm gooey cookies and El Pollote's fried chicken

I’ve been lucky enough to live in London for almost three years now, and in that time I have tried to eat at as many places as I can. I have a huge restaurants list, I have a custom-made Google map, and I have a Substack where I can talk about it all.

So I’ll be popping on here every now and then to give a round-up of the places I have been trying, and if they are worth your time and money.

First up, cookies from Sablé in Fulham. And I’m going to cut to the chase, it’s a yes. They are big, fat, warm, gooey wonders. They’re New York-style cookies, £4 a piece, and they have six signature flavours with a few specials thrown in: chocolate chip, chocolate walnut, coconut caramel, matcha white chocolate, triple chocolate and birthday cake. I tried matcha and choc chip and matcha was the clear winner for me, a strong enough matcha flavour without that bitterness it can sometimes get, not overly sweet but really nicely bolstered by big generous white choc chips.

The chocolate chip seems like a proper classic to me, so gooey inside, veeeeery sweet (slightly too much for me) but going everything you want from a cookie. They’re pretty thick, deep guys so don’t go in expecting a crisp biscuit. 100% recommend and worth trying if you want a sweet treat in the area.

Next up, I popped along to El Pollote just off Carnaby Street in Soho. They mainly do fried chicken and are mostly gluten-free which is a nice rarity. We actually went here just before Christmas and my companion got the Christmas special, which was a turkey burger with a pink doughnut bun. I’m not going to mention that one too much as it’s off the menu now but, rest assured, doughnut buns are too much, they’re not worth it. Instead, I tried the boneless thigh meal which is served with corn tortillas and salad. It was… nice enough. It’s not fried chicken to change your life, the meal I had isn’t a huge portion so you won’t feel stuffed after it, but it’s fine. I wouldn’t rush back.

If you have recommendations, I am all ears. Where’s your best fried chicken in London? Currently, I am (slightly shamefully) loving Popeyes.