Korean Fried Chicken at Tongdak in New Malden's Koreatown

Tongdak is a small Korean fried chicken shop at 95A Kingston Rd, New Malden KT3 3PA, on the main road that runs from New Malden station toward Kingston. It opens from 12 to 10pm every day, keeps only a handful of tables, and does most of its trade as a takeaway for the Korean families and students who make this corner of south-west London the closest thing the city has to a Koreatown. If you want fried chicken the way it is eaten in Seoul, with a beer and a box on the table, this is the shop locals send you to.

Tongdak's own story is short and specific. It says the shop started as a passion for the perfect crunch, and its homepage lists three promises in plain language: chicken fried in clean, fresh oil every time, batter mixed by hand every day, and every piece prepared with the care you would give your own family. That focus shows in the room. There is no theme, no neon slogan wall and no karaoke, just a counter, a fryer and a menu board that is mostly chicken.

The brand has since opened a second branch in Wimbledon, but New Malden remains the original and the one with the stronger local following. Restaurant guide The Infatuation reviewed it as a place that raises the bar for deep-fried poultry, singling out the plain fried original made to order with a mix of drums, flats and wings.

The menu offers every bird bone-in or boneless, whole or half. Seasoned whole chickens such as yangnyeom, garlic soya and honey butter cost £27.90, or £16.90 for a half. Yangnyeom is the classic red sauce, sweet and garlicky with a slow chilli finish. Garlic soya is darker and stickier, and honey butter is the crowd-pleaser for anyone who does not like heat.

The smartest order for two people is a half-and-half whole chicken. Fried original plus one flavour costs £28.90, or £30.90 if you want two sauced flavours. Ordering the plain original as one half is the best way to judge the frying itself, because the crust has nowhere to hide. The batter is thin and craggy, and the meat stays wet under it.

Skip the urge to order one whole bird per person. A whole Tongdak chicken is a lot of food for one, and a half plus a side is the right size for most appetites. Skip delivery too if you live within a short drive. The shop calls its phone line the best price direct, and the delivery apps cannot match a box that has travelled five minutes instead of forty.

The key rule is printed in bold on the website: pickup only for call-in orders. Collect on time, because Korean fried chicken loses its crackle fast once it sits steaming in a closed box. Friday and Saturday evenings are the busiest, when tables fill with groups sharing whole birds over beer, so call before you leave home rather than when you are standing at the counter.

Eating in is possible but limited, as the room has only a few tables. Treat it like a neighbourhood joint: order at the counter, share boxes, and give up your table quickly when the door gets busy. Choose boneless if you plan to eat in a park or on a train, and bone-in if you are sitting down and want the juiciest pieces.

New Malden has one of the largest Korean communities in Europe, and the best way to see it is on foot. Walk from Tongdak toward the station and on to the High Street, where Korean supermarkets, bakeries, karaoke rooms and barbecue restaurants sit between ordinary British shops. Pick up a bag of Korean snacks or a tub of kimchi for the trip home, since the grocers here carry far more than central London supermarkets do.

If you want a longer outing, take the train a short way south-west to Kingston upon Thames, where the riverside path along the Thames runs past Kingston Bridge and the old market place. A chicken box from New Malden eaten on a bench by the water is a cheap and very satisfying evening. Back in New Malden itself, the side streets off the High Street hide small Korean cafés selling bingsu shaved ice and walnut cakes, a good sweet finish after a salty, garlicky meal.

Address: Tongdak, 95A Kingston Rd, New Malden KT3 3PA. Nearest station: New Malden, with South Western Railway trains from London Waterloo in under half an hour. Hours: Monday to Sunday 12 to 10pm. Format: mainly takeaway with a few tables, bone-in or boneless on every chicken.

Budget: a half yangnyeom at £16.90 plus pickles and chips comes to about £24 and feeds two light eaters. A half-and-half whole bird at £28.90 with rice and mandu is the right order for three or four people. For more Korean food around New Malden, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP which barbecue or chicken shop near the station still has tables tonight.