Humble Chicken () – London, England

With Humble Chicken, Angelo Sato is going three for three. The first iteration of Humble Chicken opened in 2021, and – inspired by Tokyo's izakayas – offered a yakitori menu (hence the name). Not two years later, Humble Chicken 2.0 was born. Gone was the yakitori focus, and in its stead came a Japanese-meets-European tasting menu. The first Michelin star came in 2024, and the second followed earlier this year. Humble it may be, but this is not to be taken to indicate a lack of ambition; upon receiving the second star, Sato made it clear that he was not stopping at two. So it is that, from April until the end of June, Humble Chicken closed down for refurbishment, the results of which are Humble Chicken 3.0.

The ambition of Sato with Humble Chicken is no mystery when you consider how his CV resembles a roll-call of some of the best restaurants around. Commis chef stints at Tokyo's three-star RyuGin and two-star Narisawa, before heading to London at seventeen to work under Clare Smyth at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay for a year. Then onto working with Adam Byatt at Trinity as a sous chef, before hopping across the pond to work at Eleven Madison Park as a sous. Sato's last restaurant job before working on his own concepts was at the two-star Restaurant Story.

And now, through four years and two previous iterations, Humble Chicken 3.0. Down from 20 seats to 13, the Soho-based restaurant consists of an L-shaped wooden counter that hugs the open kitchen where a half-dozen chefs (including Sato, who spent most of his time at the grill the night that I dined) deliver 13 courses over the space of around 2 hours. This is just the third week since reopening, but already the team is showing that they are calm and efficient.

The meal kicked off with a light broth of macerated tomatoes (nice enough, fresh and clean, but won't last long in the memory), before moving on to one of the dishes that Humble Chicken has become famous for: Wild mussel from Cornwall, with finely sliced avocado. Taken in one of something between a bite and a sip, it's deliciously buttery, with a velvety mouthfeel and a slight chew at the end via the mussel. Then another highlight in the hand-dived Orkney scallop, the only nigiri (with a very lightly vinegared shari) to appear on the menu. A langoustine atop prawn toast followed (rich and warming, while again providing a contrast of textures), which preceded the first of the two knockout dishes of the evening.

The foie gras, consisting of melon, pigeon liver parfait, puffed rice, and frozen shavings of foie gras, was exceptional. Salty, sweet and umami, while by turns soft and crunchy, the balance of this dish was probably the best achieved all night. It doesn't look much on the plate – especially when the foie gras shavings effectively blanket the other ingredients – but the flavours are all there.

The Porthilly (Cornwall) oyster that followed – where the oysters had been baked in the shell before being deposited in a ceramic oyster shell – was pleasant, though the chicken fat could have been a touch stronger, as the sauce was somewhat weak in itself. Similarly, while the cod – the miso coating had caremelized over the grill to produce a mouth-wateringly smoky scent – was a very effective centerpiece for the chawanmushi, the broth itself was rather disappointing; again, a more liberal use of seasoning would have been welcome.

After the chawanmushi came the dashi, where the fish (sea bream this time, again cooked robata) was perfection, the skin ever-so crispy, the flesh tender. The bread course followed, and proved to be the second knockout dish of the night. Historically, I've not been a fan of bread courses, as they often feel like a bit of a throwaway, something that must be endured rather than a course that has been fully conceptualized in its own right. The bread course at Humble Chicken is the best bread course I've had, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's going to be very hard to top it. Suitably called 'Picnic', the course takes inspiration from chef Sato's visits to his grandparents in Bremen, Germany. A shokupan (Japanese milk bread) is complemented by a butter that incorporates pigeon liver parfait (our old friend, and arguably the star of the meal), as well as dill pickles, a pig head terrine, and an apple mustard. Tearable into four pieces, there are (quick maths) 15 combinations of toppings for your tetralogy of open-faced sandwiches, so time to be judicial. This is difficult when everything is excellent and goes so well together.

Though this wonderfully vibrant course was a tough act to follow, the corn dish was a worthy successor. Chutoro and otoro cut from a Spanish bluefin that had been aged for two weeks comprised the tuna tartare, while corn and custard was complemented by N25 oscietra caviar. Slightly sweet, smooth and buttery, the exceptional ingredients might have done the heavy-lifting, but they were employed effectively in a well-balanced dish.

The final savoury dish of the evening focused on pigeon; pigeon leg, a menchi katsu of ground pigeon, a broth of pigeon heart and gizzards, and the centrepiece: pigeon breast cooked over the grill, the skin made to turn a deep brown, while the flesh was still a vibrant pink. The breast was succulent, with the crispy skin really helping to bring out the flavour, while the broth with gizzards and heart was hearty (obviously) and flavoursome. On the other hand, I found the menchi katsu and the leg to be there just for completeness; neither really added to the course.

The meal was rounded out with two desserts, the first a deconstructed strawberry cheesecake that had a sublime strawberry sorbet, and the second a custard pudding made from oolong and caramelized brown sugar. This second dessert was really quite lovely; a slightly bitter take on a crème caramel, where the smooth texture would give way to the crumble of the sugar every now and again, this dessert was a very pleasing end to the meal.

I found that the menu at Humble Chicken had a couple of clear standouts, with the majority being good dishes with a high degree of balance, and then a few dishes that feel anticlimactic and could do with a bit of a rework to bring them up to the level of everything else. In addition to the food, I noticed that chopsticks are set at the beginning of the meal. Not one dish calls for chopsticks (most require a spoon, or are to be eaten using fingers), so I don't really know why they're here. This is also the case for the knife that comes with the pigeon. The pigeon breast has already been cut by the time it is placed in front of you, so no further cutting is required.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Humble Chicken, and agree that it deserves two stars. I don't think it's close to three yet, but for context I think the majority of London 3 stars shouldn't have 3 anyway, so this isn't exactly a harsh criticism of Humble Chicken. Rather, I like what Humble Chicken are doing (most dishes are well conceptualized and – what's more – fun), and will eagerly follow the restaurant to see how the menu and the space develops.

Courses:
1. Isle of Wight Tomato
2. Wild Mussel
3. Hand Dived Scallop
4. 'Old Town 97'
5. Foie Gras
6. Porthilly Oyster
7. Chawanmushi (pictured first)
8. Dashi
9. Picnic
10. Corn
11. Humble Pigeon
12. Everything Strawberry
13. Purin