Chick and Beers Korean Fried Chicken, New Malden: £21.50 Box

Chick and Beers is a family-run Korean fried chicken kitchen at 282 Burlington Road, New Malden KT3 4NL, on the stretch of Burlington Road between Motspur Park and Raynes Park that Time Out files under Raynes Park. Time Out called it "the local stuff of legends" in its February 2024 write-up, and the reason is simple: the chicken is fried twice, so the skin shatters, and the birds it uses are halal. Most people come here for one thing, a cardboard box of fourteen or fifteen pieces carried home hot.

There is no celebrity chef or group behind this place. It is a neighbourhood operation run by a family, and its whole business is built around boxes of bone-in chicken, a short list of Korean street dishes, and cold bottles of Cass and soju. The shop has its own ordering site and Android app, and the kitchen takes orders for collection and for delivery to the surrounding streets.

New Malden is home to one of the largest Korean communities in Europe, so the competition for fried chicken loyalty is fierce. Chick and Beers holds its own by keeping things narrow. Instead of thirty sauces, there are three glazes. Instead of a sprawling menu, there is a whole bird, a half box, wings and a handful of boneless options. That focus shows up in the batter, which Time Out described as sitting between rugged and glossy.

Start with the Fried Chicken, the signature whole bird of fourteen to fifteen pieces, at £21.50. It arrives plain, which is the best way to judge the double fry: the crust is thick, craggy and loud, while the meat underneath stays juicy. If you want sauce, the Glazed Chicken is £25.00 and comes coated in your choice of Sweet Chilli, Spicy Sweet Chilli or Garlic Soy, tossed after frying so the glaze clings without drowning the crunch.

Groups who cannot agree should order the Half Half Fried/Glazed Chicken at £24.50, which puts half a box of plain fried pieces next to half a box of glazed ones. The Half Half Glazed/Glazed Chicken, also £25.00, lets you pick two of the three glazes. Solo diners can take the Half Box from £12.00, fried or glazed. A six-piece portion of the shop's heart-shaped double wings is £12.00, or £13.00 glazed.

For anyone who prefers to skip bones, the Sticky Nuggets are a 400 g tray of breast nuggets pan-tossed in glaze for £15.00. The Glazed Spring Onion Chicken, at £14.00, is a 650 g pile of boneless breast strips topped with fresh spring onion and a squeeze of lemon, a lighter take on the pa-dak style found across Seoul chicken bars. The plain fried version is £13.50.

The Korean street food section rounds out a meal. Tteokbokki, chewy rice cakes in red sauce, is £14.00. Corn Cheese, the bubbling mix of sweetcorn and melted cheese that Korean pubs serve with beer, is £10.00. Kimchi Fried Rice is £12.00, as are the shrimp or chicken fried rice with fried kimchi and two teriyaki udon dishes. A large tonkatsu with salad and rice is £18.00 for anyone who wants a pork cutlet instead.

The name is a promise, and the drinks list keeps it. Cass, the Korean lager most people associate with chimaek, is £6.00 for a 300 ml bottle, and Asahi is £5.50. Soju comes in original, plum, peach, grape and strawberry, each £13.50. The most fun order is the Somac Tower at £30.00, which bundles three Terra lagers with one soju for mixing somaek, the beer-and-soju combination that Koreans pair with fried chicken.

Non-drinkers are well covered with Korean cans you rarely see in British chicken shops: Milkis, the fizzy milk soda, at £3.90, and Bongbong grape juice with real grape pieces at £4.60. Sides are classic: Cajun fries at £4.20, sweet potato fries at £5.90, and a tub of pickled radish for £2.00, the cold, sharp cubes that cut through all that fried batter.

The online ordering window runs Tuesday to Friday from 4:30pm to 8:45pm, Saturday from 1:15pm to 3:45pm and again from 4:30pm to 8:45pm, and Sunday from 4:30pm to 8:45pm. Monday is closed. Outside those slots, the ordering site still lets you place a preorder for collection, which is the easiest way to skip the Friday evening queue of delivery riders and neighbours waiting at the counter.

Because every box is fried to order, the first half hour after 4:30pm is the calm moment, and Saturday's lunchtime slot is useful if you want chicken before an evening out. New customers ordering through the shop's own site can use the voucher NEW20 for 20 percent off, which makes ordering direct cheaper than going through a delivery app. The minimum spend for collection is £1.00, and payment online is by card.

The nearest station is Motspur Park, roughly a seven-minute walk south, with South Western Railway trains to London Waterloo. Raynes Park and New Malden stations are each about a fifteen to twenty minute walk, so the shop works as a stop on the way home from central London. Placing the order before your train pulls in cuts the wait at the counter.

Before or after collecting, wander up to New Malden High Street, the centre of the area's Korean community. Its Korean grocers stock gochujang, frozen dumplings and the same Milkis cans you can get with your chicken, and several bakeries sell Korean-style cream buns. On a dry evening, the Beverley Brook path to the east of Raynes Park makes a quiet green loop before you head back with your box.

Address: 282 Burlington Road, New Malden KT3 4NL. Online ordering and collection run Tuesday to Friday 4:30pm to 8:45pm, Saturday 1:15pm to 3:45pm and 4:30pm to 8:45pm, Sunday 4:30pm to 8:45pm, with Monday closed. The whole fried chicken is £21.50, glazed is £25.00, and half boxes start at £12.00. The chicken is halal. Prices here are from the menu on the shop's own ordering site, chickandbeers.uk, which is also where you order to use the NEW20 first-order voucher.