The Humble Chicken you visit today is not the same restaurant it was born as. Chef/owner Angelo Sato opened the original in London’s busy, bustling Soho in 2021 at the tender age of 27 and described it as a yakitori bar – a fun, informal place to dine on Japanese-inspired food.
In early 2023, however, Humble Chicken went through puberty, emerging as a tasting-menu-only fine dining restaurant. The efforts were duly rewarded: in 2024, it was granted it first Michelin star and now comfortably gets recommended as one of the best Japanese restaurants in London.
But, good Japanese food (even the fancy stuff) isn’t too hard to come by in the British capital, if you know where to look. What really sets Humble Chicken apart, though, is its refusal to take itself too seriously, despite its posh new identity.
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Yes, there is a seriousness in the kitchen, and chefs dutifully repeat Sato’s barked orders back at him, but the sense that everyone is having a lot of fun permeates.
The playlist dutifully goes from ABBA to Drake to George Michael to Jay-Z to Madonna without a slither of self-consciousness. Chopsticks find their home between courses on miniature ceramic cockerels. The team seems genuinely open to a little chit-chat as they go about their work. An evening spent on one of Humble Chicken’s high-top stools is a joy.
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Must order:
You don’t get a choice; it’s tasting menu only (but the HFC is a real winner).
What to drink:
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Go with the mixed sake and wine matched pairing, and a martini to finish off.
Best seat in the house:
All seats are created equal here.
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Chef
Angelo Sato’s career is one with some weight. He was born and raised in Japan and began his culinary career early. What started in a fish market quickly transitioned to Michelin-starred outfits, with stints at RyuGin in Tokyo and New York’s Eleven Madison Park, as well as London’s Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Restaurant Story and Trinity.
His first head chef role came at Restaurant Story, under Tom Sellars, but a few years in, ambitions to go it alone took over. Launching your first solo restaurant at 27 is no mean feat, but Sato persevered; Humble Chicken’s popularity (and that recent Michelin star, obviously) pays testament.
Menu
Humble Chicken bills itself as an izakaya – an informal Japanese bar/restaurant serving up small plates and drinks – but things are a touch more formal than that. In its current iteration, the restaurant offers one choice: a blind 16-course tasting menu at £185 (approx. $240).
Sixteen courses sounds overwhelming, but Sato is smart – some courses are a mere mouthful, others more substantial.
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Paying homage to Sato’s upbringing – his mother is German but he was raised in Japan – the mega menu is a lovely mix of weird and wonderful. The simply named Foie Gras course, for example, is more like a meaty ice cream sundae than anything else: frozen foie gras is shaved over a wedge of Italian persimmon and dotted with sweet Italian brittle.
HFC (Humble Fried Chicken, obviously), on the other hand, takes classic Japanese street food karaage chicken, and poshes it up with a healthy dollop of caviar. Then there’s the This Little Piggy – pork trotter and and oozing quail egg sandwiched into an almost-too-cute-to-eat pig-shaped bao bun.
The bread course stands out as one of the best in London, too. As is now commonplace, Humble Chicken’s milk bread is served partway through the meal (saving you from getting too full too early on), and it comes with a fantastical array of dips, condiments and sides: a slab of cultured butter layered with silky chicken liver parfait; roasted apple mustard; and pickled cucumbers.
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As always, we recommend going for the drinks pairing – there’s a full sake option (for which you get to choose your own ceramic cup), a mixed wine and sake list, or a non-alcoholic version. Restaurant and beverage manager Aiden Monk gracefully whizzes through every drink with a level of enthusiasm that you can’t help but absorb. His pairings journey from the heartlands of sake-making in Japan and over to some lesser-known European vineyards.
Interiors
If you went to the old Barrafina restaurant that once sat at 54 Frith Street, you’ll recognize the flecked marble countertop that Humble Chicken still has in place. Barrafina has made a name for itself on the back of this high-top dining set-up, so it makes perfect sense that the Humble team decided to keep them in place.
Leather countertop seats are arranged around the busy open kitchen – its cozy and intimate: you’ll become pals with your neighboring diners as quickly as you do the chefs at work in front of you.
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Humble Chicken, 54 Frith Street, London, W1D 4SJ, humblechickenuk.com
