Tongdak New Malden

It’s not that it’s hard to find some fried chicken in this city. Anyone that’s been here for longer than 30 seconds has seen a Chicken Cottage or two already. It’s that it’s hard to find fried chicken as excellently crunchy and deliciously seasoned as the fried chicken at Tongdak. This Korean spot in New Malden is raising the bar for deep-fried poultry.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

The menu has seven different chicken seasonings, from honey butter and garlic soya to yangnyeom and white spices. But the star of the show here is the fried original. Made to order, you’ll get a mix of drums, flats, and wings, hand-battered and fried to golden, crispy perfection, which is well worth the 20-30 minute wait (on a quiet day) for them to be freshly prepared. While the crunch quality is high across the board, some of the seasonings can be a little hit or miss. Take the garlic soya, which falls a little short on the garlic front, or the honey butter, which is so sweet we thought dessert came early. With that being said, if you come here and order correctly (see the rundown below), you’ll leave having had some of the best fried chicken around. 

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

It’s also one of the rare spots that maintains the same quality whether you’re dining in or getting it delivered. But if you don’t live within their delivery zone, the chicken’s crunchy exterior with delicious juicy meat inside and no grease in sight means that although there may only be a handful of tables and it feels more like a takeaway spot, don’t let that stop you from making a trip here. 

Food Rundown

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Fried Original

This Korean fried chicken has a PHD from Oxford specialising in crunch. Salty, crispy, moist on the inside, this is some of the best fried chicken you can get in London. You can opt for boneless, but we’d recommend getting a mix of the drums and wings for a better breading to chicken ratio.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Yangnyeom

This chicken somehow maintains the same crispy coating, while being covered in Tongdak’s Korean spicy sauce. P.S. Ask for more spice if you like it hot.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Dak Gangjeon (Boneless)

If you’re looking for a sweeter seasoning, go for this. Crispier and sweeter than the yangnyeom, while maintaining the savoury base flavour of the original. This is a nice balance.