Latest news with #ChickenCottage
Spectator
5 days ago
- General
- Spectator
The scourge of London's chicken shops
It was recently announced that the sign from the original Morley's chicken shop is to go on display in the new London Museum in honour of the chain's 40th anniversary. Morley's, which has more than 100 branches, almost all in south London, has become something of an institution. Even Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared himself a Morley's man. The idea that Morley's is museum-worthy London heritage seems a stretch, though. Fried chicken is meant to be the prized food of Kentucky or Korea, not Kennington or Kingsbury. But I paid a visit to my nearest Morley's to see what the fuss was about. I opted for the famed spicy wings and referred – as is obligatory – to the server as 'Bossman'. Past the counter I could see men at the fryers, their faces shining and not with happiness. There was a vague smell of BO – though unclear whether emanating from one of the chefs (is that the right word?) or my lunch. But, in truth, Morley's isn't the worst of these places. 'Mmm… It Tastes Better' reads their tagline. And if they mean better than Chicken Cottage, they may have a point. The ketchup even comes in proper round little tubs and not those fiddly sachets providing sauce enough for precisely three fries. (The sharp-edged rectangular plastic tubs are all but banished from the modern-day chicken shop, presumably in case they could be used as a murder weapon.) When hungry or hungover, if you can look past the unidentifiable black stringy bits, Morley's serves a purpose. But there's no getting around the fact that what these chicken shops serve up is lowest common denominator food. If the Big Mac is the American century in edible form, the chicken wing somehow represents globalisation's greasy underbelly. There is still something a tiny bit optimistic about McDonald's – the Happy Meal, the clown smile, the golden arches promising a bite of the capitalist dream. There is nothing redeeming about the chicken slop. Ronald wouldn't be so much as turning in his grave as bent over his tombstone in his happy yellow jumpsuit, retching. And leaving taste aside, the bigger problem is the blight on the high street. Chicken shops are everywhere – there are, extraordinarily, 8,000 in London alone (including 29 on a single stretch of road in Streatham). That compares with 10,500 fish and chip shops across the entire UK, down from a peak of more than 35,000 in the 1930s. The problem with chicken shops is the garish signage, the smell of oil last changed at some point in the 2010s. There's the crime (in 2019, the Youth Select Committee heard evidence that 'chicken shop gangs' were recruiting children to their drug operations with the offer of free chicken), the crowds, the loafing, loutishness and litter. Above all, the litter. More than any of the big-name fast-food chains, chicken shops seem to disgorge boxes, buckets and bones on every street that they plague. Keep Britain Tidy does good stuff ('Don't be a tosser' was a favourite). But the charity's campaign to combat the blight of cigarette butts feels stuck in the wrong decade. We need rather a national effort against chicken skeletons. I once followed bones all the way down Blackstock Road from chicken shop to Tube station, like Hansel and Gretel. The trail ended, fittingly, with three undevoured wings strewn across the floor. After all, it's hard to keep it all in the bucket when jumping the ticket barriers. Fried chicken has become recently rather chic. Gen Z tune into Chicken Shop Date on YouTube and London has gentrified with upmarket joints – Popeyes, Butchies, Lucky's. At another, Thunderbird Fried Chicken, at Embankment, I paid £17.74 for eight wings with fries and a milkshake. Not that those prices make it free-range, mind – though at least it's halal so you know the battery bird has suffered. Writing in the Times, Charlotte Ivers recently hailed the chicken wing as a 'quintessentially British success story' and 'one of the victors of multiculturalism', as she salivated over the offering at Wingmans on Kilburn High Road. 'What a blessing,' she sighed. I'm sorry but this is tosh. This is not some sort of authentic ethnic dish like Caribbean jerk chicken (and very nice that is too). No culture would be proud of the junk that comes out of these shops or want its cuisine to be judged on this basis. This is Theresa May's 'citizen of nowhere' encased in batter. But we have allowed ourselves to be browbeaten into accepting the fiction that these places are serving up some sort of ethnic delicacy, a nostalgic right for diaspora groups. A quote from Vice magazine is emblazoned across the wall at Morley's: 'Seeing a Morley's lets me know that I'm home.' How have we let it happen that fried chicken, something with no connection to the UK, or for that matter with the ancestral homes of our diaspora groups, is now synonymous with London? This is a difficult area. I have no desire to control what people eat though force of law. But it is no surprise that with some 40 chicken shops for every secondary school in Tower Hamlets, the borough has the sixth-highest rate of child obesity in the UK. Won't someone think of the children. Of course these places will continue to exist. But the chicken shops' merciless spread like some sort of cooking oil slick is something we should resist. Fewer of them would be a public good. Please, Bossman.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Decision made on plans to convert baby clothing shop after smell complaints
A bid to convert a baby clothing shop in Partick into a Chicken Cottage – which sparked complaints over the potential smell – has been rejected. Glasgow City Council planners have thrown out an application to change the use of the old Babitique store on Dumbarton Road. Three neighbours objected to Akhtar Ali's proposal, raising concerns over smells, increased noise and the possibility of the venue attracting drunk people late at night. Planners decided the project would result in 'increased noise, activity and cooking fumes to the detriment' of residents in the tenement above. They also ruled it would 'erode the retail character' of the area. The applicant wanted to convert the unit into a new branch of the Chicken Cottage franchise, which would have opened from 11.30am to 10pm from Monday to Saturday. The plan was to close at 9pm on Sundays. But one neighbour said: 'There is already a fast food takeaway place two doors down with an extractor fan in the same back court, which generates a lot of noise and smell from the food they are producing. 'To add another takeaway and flue to the same back court would add more noise disruption and smell.' READ MORE: New pictures show how George Square's £20m makeover will change City Chambers Another resident added an extraction flue would be 'directly below the windows at the back of my flat' and they were 'very concerned' about the smell as well as 'potential obstruction' of their windows. They also said there was a risk the takeaway would attract vermin and added: 'I am very opposed to a restaurant/takeaway being opened directly below my residence due to the fact that there… a high potential that it will attract drunk people in the night. 'My bedroom is at the front of the building and as such, this would be an extreme disturbance for me.' A council official said the proposal would result in the 'loss of a retail unit to the detriment of the vitality and viability of the town centre'. The shop is 'not listed as a long-term vacant unit and no marketing information has been provided to demonstrate a long-term lack of retail interest in the unit', they added. Their report also said a 'hot food takeaway could result in disruption to nearby residential amenity by the nature of the increased opening hours and the increased noise and activity'. The council's decision also said no information on the proposed maintenance scheduled for the ventilation system had been provided, and the plan did not include the required bike parking for staff.
Daily Mirror
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'I tried KFC for the first time and was left completely traumatised'
KFC is a high street favourite for thousands of hungry Brits every single day but one YouTuber who had never actually been to one decided to give it a try – before having instant regrets A content creator had her first ever KFC and promised to never return after her meal was not so 'finger lickin' good' after all. Hannah Ricketts, a YouTuber who specialises in lifestyle and travel themes, said the Kentucky fried chicken will "haunt" her for a long time. In a recently uploaded video titled 'I Tried KFC For The First Time...I AM TRAUMATISED', she explained what exactly went wrong. She started her vlog by acknowledging her life-long absence from KFC. Hannah described herself as a McDonald's girl at heart and during her university days she stuck to Chicken Cottage. However, she was excited by her first KFC outing, and had a gut feeling that it was going to be 'yummy' fast food treat. In total, she spent £15.25 inside the branch in Edgeware Road, London, and got a small popcorn chicken, a Zinger burger, gravy and two pieces of original recipe chicken. Tucking into the popcorn chicken in a park nearby, she said: 'It is so dry. They are a bit pale, a little bit pasty. I feel they could have been cooked for a little longer.' However, she said the flavour, described as peppery, was nice, but that the £2 was steep for what she got. She added that it was 'not a great start' before things went from bad to worse. Testing the gravy, she said it looked "absolutely rancid' and questioned why it looked 'funky' and whether white bits were supposedly floating inside. Trying her Zinger burger, she said it had a nice heat but the piece of chicken was very thin, especially given it was £6. And ripping into the meal, she said: 'There is like a hard lump there and I don't really want to eat that. There is such inconsistency in the fry, there is loads of crispy bits down here and it is a little bit soggy on the other side. 'I think it is just not cooked very well or the chicken is just really bad quality. I'm not sure.' She said the mayo was 'ok' but that the burger looked like it had been sat for a long time, before refusing to eat any more. But the final straw for Hannah were the chicken pieces, and after taking a bite, she said: 'Oh my God, what is that? It is mushy.' After spitting it out, she continued: 'Ok, you are going to comment saying 'look at you with your designer sunglasses on and you go to these hotels and fancy places'. Your girl grew up on Chicken Cottage, that is absolutely disgusting. Oh my God, I don't think I've ever had such a disgusting chicken.' Hannah then questioned who was going to KFC for their lunch and said the quality of the chicken was 'unacceptable' and 'absolutely foul'. She then said she was 'feeling funny' because of the texture of the chicken and asked her 370,000 subscribers: 'Is this a joke?' The YouTuber said she would never return to a KFC and said the 'greasy' snacks put her in a bad mood, despite acknowledging that she forgot to order chips, and said they looked appealing. Trying to offer balance, she said the flavour and seasoning of the chicken had potential, but that the quality was 'foul'. Concluding her experience, she said: 'It is disgusting. I don't know if because it is such a big franchise there is a lack of consistency – I think that's probably what it is. 'I don't expect it to be a Michelin star. I don't expect it to be particularly great. But it just has to be good, honest, flavourable food that is maybe a little bit fresh. 'I don't mind if it is a little bit dry here and there, it is fast food at the end of the day. We all have hit and miss McDonald's and Burger King or Dominoes or whatever. 'But for that price, the quality of the chicken, that chicken leg, that is going to haunt me for a while.'
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
New Luton chicken shop trained to spot child exploitation
Staff at a new chicken shop have been briefed on ways they can help prevent child Children's Society worked with employees at Chicken Cottage in Chapel Street, Luton, so they can spot the signs of grooming and take to the charity, predators can use the offer of food to gain a child's trust, so training hospitality businesses was "crucial in stamping out exploitation and supporting victims and survivors of this abuse".Jeyakumar Veeramalai, Luton Chicken Cottage franchisee, said: "Our community matters deeply to us and I'm proud to be able to lead the way in demonstrating what local businesses can do to keep our children and young people safe." The fast food chain was founded in London in 1994 and the new national partnership with The Children's Society will extend to stores across the country. Damaging issue Shops will display information to signpost customers to resources from The Children's Glover-James, the head of corporate engagement for the charity, said: "It's terrific to be a part of the opening of the first chicken shop in Luton with staff fully briefed about child exploitation from day one." According to the crime and justice specialist Crest Advisory, hundreds of thousands of children aged 11-17 in England are at risk of exploitation and serious continued: "There is no silver bullet to stop this incredibly sad and damaging issue, but reaching children and young people where they are, such as in chicken shops, is one effective approach."We hope that this partnership can prevent many more instances of child exploitation across Luton as well as raising awareness and understanding of this horrific crime among locals." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
