Joe's Southern Kitchen and Bar, London

I really like fried chicken; almost as much as I like burgers. Joe's Southern Kitchen and Bar was on my radar this time last year, but we ended up going somewhere else. Bozos. We were back in London for a few days this week, and decided on the last minute to give Joe's a try. We went to the original one in Covent Garden, but there's also a new branch opening in Kentish Town.  

The bar area displays an impressive amount of spirit bottles (with lots of tequila might I add...) and the dining room is comfortable yet sleek; the kind of place that wouldn't look out of place in New York. 

On arrival, we were given a choice of where to sit; either in the sunshine at the front, or in the shadows at the back. We opted for the back due to a number of rather excitable children in the former. One barometer for greatness (for us anyway) is the selection of beers available. Whilst the choice was not huge, they did have a select number of little belters, including Anchor Steam. I was spitting feathers after a dash on the tube and minor battle with a ticket machine, so opted for the homemade lemongrass lemonade. We were revived and refreshed pronto. 

We were booked into St John for dinner later that day, so we sensibly opted to keep it light. Fail. If you read my blog regularly, you'll realise we made the same mistake with Mishkin's less than two weeks ago. Some folk never learn.

Coq’n’balls - fried chicken and monterey jack cheese balls with hot sauce: Paddy took great pleasure in ordering these... Fried chicken, mixed with cheese, covered in breadcrumbs and fried. They must have been so smug when they popped these on the menu.

Crispy Southern Fried Half Bird - sweet tea brined bird with lemon dust and tabasco honey: It's like a KFC bucket, only if they used proper chicken, and it was actually good. This has set the bar for any future fried chicken I may sample. It featured this afternoon in my mental 'what could you just eat?' thing. It made me angry. This is a good thing. It was a wonderful balance of moist chicken and ultra crispy, seasoned skin.

 Southern fried potatoes: Like roasties, only spicy, and therefore better.

Blue Plate Special - Joe's Southern Fried chicken meal with fries, chicken salt and BBQ pulled pork beans, served with Joe’s homemade lemongrass lemonade: This was a tenner. Yes, that's right, ten English pounds. Although I chose lemonade, you can also pick from beer or wine. Utterly bargainous. I ate about half owing to the fact I was being a total lightweight. Those beans were delirious. Spicy, with bits of pulled pork. Heaven. Ten quid...

I'm hoping that Joe's will jump on the bandwagon and set up shop in Manchester like every other London based bugger, otherwise I may have to go every time I visit London. What made this experience even better was the wonderful service we received too. Every member of staff we came in contact with seemed to be genuinely happy, and wanted us to have a good time. Fake or not - they're nailing it. One word of advice - go.