The very best fried chicken in Manchester

A fast food spot about as slick and contemporary as they come, Bird of Prey is in Circle Square, a city centre location where ultra cool food concepts often overlap with studenty appetites. Why do they stand out though? Their poultry is marinated in a secret blend of spices and seasoning for a minimum of 10 hours. This allows plenty of time for flavours to be absorbed ahead of the frying process. Then you just pick your poison; wings, strips or burgers. Of the latter, there’s a huge range, including one laden with buffalo sauce and blue cheese, and the obligatory bacon, BBQ sauce and gravy variety. They haven’t reinvented the wheel, they’ve just made it very, very good.

The Korean corndog spot on Piccadilly Gardens isn’t just about the corndogs (though hey, you could go for a corndog chaser, go nuts). They also do some cracking fried chicken in various guises – sticky dakgangjeong in a sauce laced with gochujang , honey garlic and sweet and spicy. Go for wings or chunks of tender thigh encased in crispy-chewy batter.

While they’re arguably better known for their beef smash patty burgers, the Burgerism guys know a thing or two about chicken burgers too. Their distinctive FreeBird is as uncomplicated as they come: shiny plump brioche bun, a few crunchy strands of slaw, an orange puddle of burger sauce and the all-important buttermilk fried chicken breast. Theirs is dark golden brown in colour and as textured as a lump of space rock. No gimmicky toppings here, but if you really want to, you can add a slice of American cheese. And you should.

Cardinal Rule is a true labour of love. Founded by Virginia-via-Texas-imports Gab and Dustin, they care as much about their fried chicken as they do the thing they serve them on. Arriving in Manchester after falling in love with the beer scene, they were shocked to find that the ‘biscuit’, something both had grown up with, was both unknown and unavailable in the UK. What followed was an intensive process of trial and error to recreate the stodgy, crispy, flaky carb which is a staple in most southern US states. It’s the perfect vehicle by which to enjoy with their chicken which is brined overnight in buttermilk and fried until perfectly golden and textured. We’d follow them wherever they go, but you can currently find them in Northern Monk Refectory.

​​Korean Fried Chicken is massive nowadays, and rightly so. Crispier and spicier than the typical US-style that we’ve become accustomed to scoffing over the last few decades, Korean FC is usually fried twice, creating a crunchier exterior. Chimaek (which is a portmanteau of the Korean words for chicken and beer) offer up some absolutely brilliant KFC from their restaurant just off Oxford Road. Order wings, thighs, fillets or a sharing combo via one of their self-service screens, choose your sauces and sides and enjoy with a bottle (or tower) of cold Korean beer. Perfection, some might say.

There’s a queue outside Moss Side’s Chicken Run at almost any time you could visit. Many are there for Caribbean classics like jerk chicken, curry goat and saltfish and ackee, but if you’re serious about fried chicken you’ll skip straight to the chicken split, a sub-sized festival, which is slightly sweet Jamaican dumpling, stuffed with shredded fried chicken and dollops of salad cream. Basically, the best chicken mayo sarnie you’ve had in your entire life. And they cost less than a fiver. Basically, queue now, thank us later.

Hidden away down a backstreet just off one of the city centre’s busiest thoroughfares – ignore the old fish & chips sign next to the bright blue paintwork of the unmarked exterior – the queues here have nothing to do with England’s original fast food. Instead, this is arguably the best spot in town for huge sub sandwiches, made fresh to order, overflowing with tantalising combinations of ingredients that put a certain US franchise giant to shame. Not least their hot honey fried chicken, which is spoken about in reverent tones among the chicken enthusiast community. With a wait time of 30 minutes per sandwich (book a slot online), it’s an exercise in delayed gratification. 

A whole day-to-night fried chicken operation, Kong’s occupies an enviable spot alongside some of Oldham’s Street’s favourite pubs and bars. Head there pre-, post- or mid-party for fried chicken french toast, for breakfast, for wings topped with buffalo sauce and blue cheese, or Kong’s signature chicken sandwich with sriracha slaw, lettuce and a particularly irresistible shard of chicken skin crackling. Like a beacon of crispy, savoury sanity among the madness.

With a spot in Mackie Mayor, and a much-missed residency at Altrincham Market, Mumma’s occupies the upper echelons of the fried chicken pantheon. It’s important to state up front that this is not a budget option. But for your hard-earned cash, what you’ll get is a picture-perfect version of a chicken burger. The platonic ideal, if you will: a vast hunk of crispy chicken and the perfect red, yellow, green of sauce, cheese and leaves. Whether it’s their classic, Korean BBQ variation or a seasonal special, if you imagined fried chicken perfection, it’d be something like Mumma’s.

While we’re all about supporting the independents, we can’t pretend that sometimes big chains don’t nail it too. Louisiana-style fried chicken shop Popeyes is one such example. They do it proper; brined overnight, then tossed about in secret recipe seasoned flour for the trademark ‘shatter crunch’. Head to Piccadilly Gardens (or the drive thru on Bury New Road) for crispy fried chicken burgers, wings and tenders, as well as some of those cajun-style sides. We won’t judge for a moment.

Instantly recognisable by the huge neon bee proudly dominating the window, Salt & Pepper brings an elevated approach to Chinese takeaway food to the town it clearly loves so much. Many dishes are directly descended from those that the two owners, Cash and Chloe, grew up serving to customers in establishments run by their parents. The common denominator on the menu is salt and pepper seasoning, that intoxicatingly savoury-yet-tangy stuff you find on your Chinese-style chips. And while fried chicken isn’t typically found in your local takeaway, given the Salt & Pepper treatment, it feels like it always should have been. 

Fried chicken purists Yard & Coop are well-known for their exceptionally crispy buttermilk burgers and nuggets, and the seemingly endless combinations of sauce, garnishes and sides they can come with. Their secret? Their chicken goes from farm to fork in 48 hours. It’s then coated in buttermilk, tossed in the secret recipe crumb and pressure fried, to hold in the moisture, whilst keeping a crispy crumb coating. A lesser-known fact is that Yard & Coop is that they only use halal chicken, which is another reason to visit their Edge Street spot to enjoy your fill of indulgent junk food. They’ve even swapped the obligatory pulled pork for pulled chicken.

Inside the Society food hall opposite the Bridgewater Hall, Yoki Social Table serve their fried chicken in neat little portions, the antithesis of many of the gargantuan burgers on this list. Choose yours doused in honey butter and garlic, soy garlic sauce or simply sweet and spicy style. Add sticky rice or chips, and immediately go in for more when you’re finished.

While there’s a lot of fried chicken purism in this list – often less is more with these things – that doesn’t mean you’ll find us standing in the way of innovation. Zaxxfried are the innovators in question. Their Wilbraham Road spot is an entirely charcoal grey box featuring a negligible amount of information about who they are or what they do. If you get past this initial hurdle you’ll find a menu featuring chicken burgers featuring non-standard toppings like black BBQ dressing or honey butter. Their sweet pomegranate burger is topped with slaw, a pomegranate sauce and seeds, and their fried wings come with a choice of sauces which range from the classic to the curious. So very, very good.