Humble Chicken is a 18-seat tasting counter with a changing menu from Angelo Sato and John Paul.  Chef Angelo Sato is inspired by his Japanese and European roots.  He moved to London at 17 and 10 years later in 2021 he opened a Yakitori bar.  It was so popular that in 2023 he elevated the concept to a tasting menu only and named it the Humble Chicken.  Well paired is Aidan Monk, Restaurant and Beverage Manager, who runs the counter operations and selects the pairings.  While young Chef Sato is personable, Monk made the evening a special event.  Seatings are staggered at 6, 7:30 and 8:45 and the timing didn’t lag to make everyone finish together.  Instead people were coming and going at the L-shaped granite counter while music pulsed in the background and soft globe lights illuminated the food nicely.  The front of the place is all windows to the street which I’m sure attracts some visitors.  The menu was on the counter but you do receive a clean copy with a tea bag at the end of the meal.  This place had good food, some great, and shows much potential in the composition so I’d recommend you try it.  Relax on the comfy seats and you’ll have a wonderful evening.  They have one Michelin star.

Set-Up

 

Food

The tasting started with a series of snacks.  First was a mussel with citrus kosho ponzu and avocado.  It was one-bite and very tasty.

Persimmon and hazelnut were dusted with frozen foie gras.  The roasted hazelnuts added crunch to the rich foie gras and sweet fruit.  This was yummy.

Beef tartare was accented with spicy miso and fried bone marrow.  The bone marrow was somehow coated and deep fried and added nice richness to the tartare.  This was good but the first 2 were better.

 

Chicken Nanban was made with the chicken oyster, deep fried after being soaked in buttermilk overnight.  Caviar was on the top of a bit of tartar sauce.  The chicken stayed moist and juicy with a good crust but the tartar sauce dominated a bit for me.

 

This Little Piggy was a cute little bun with a pig face.  Frankie swooned.  Inside of the bao bun was a pork patty that was glazed with sauce and seasoned with mustard and topped with crisp vegetables.  An egg yolk was the final in ingredient, so be careful how you bite.  It was as good as it was cute.

 

Mum’s Favorite was a pasta dish containing Fontina cheese, chestnut and potato.  It was named to honor Chef’s mother who wanted to see more dishes resembling what he was raised eating.  A chestnut and cheese purée surrounded an amazing light pasta that contained creamy goodness.  It was very good and light, which was surprising for a pasta dish.

 

Shokupan was Japanese bread presented with a spread of butter, Australian Winter Truffle, chicken liver parfait and parsley.  To re-set your palate after there was a pickled celeriac.  The milkbread was made in-house from a 7-day culture.  It was lovely and light and the spread was delightful.  The pickled vegetable was crisp and sharp.

 

Sashimi was 5 selections from the ocean.  At the top of the plate was hamachi, line-caught from Spain in a gazpacho sauce.  Proceeding clockwise was Sea Trout from Scotland with a citrus ponzu.  Next was Wild Sea Bass (Falmouth)  from Cornwall with smokey scallion sesame sauce.  Tuna toro from Japan was with soy sauce and wasabi.  Lastly was a mackerel roll that was salt-cured and served with toasted nori, ginger and tomato ponzu jelly.  All were fresh, nicely seasoned and lovely.

 

Ginger Dashi surrounded Wild Black Seabream, seaweed and Shiitake.  The fish had been line-caught with the skin side cooked on the grill.  The fish was cooked perfectly and I loved the ginger broth.

 

Sukiyaki contained short rib, Cévennes onion and was topped with a crispy egg.   The short rib had been slow-cooked for 48 hours and finished on charcoal.  The poached egg was coated and deep fried and topped with a pickled red onion.  The beef was amazing and the dish had a lot of good flavors.  The egg broke open and the yolk added richness to the broth.  It was a good rendition of this peasant dish.

 

Ocha was tea service with a cup of tea from Sofu Sencha, a Japanese green tea, from Shizuoka.  It was very mild.

 

The first dessert was “cheesecake” and finished at your place. Frozen Clementine oranges were grated to cover the dish.  Inside was a cheesecake like creaminess and frozen Clemenines.  It was very good and different.

 

A Japanese custard called Purin finished the meal.  It was a lot like what we call flan or baked custard.  This one had a lovely caramel on the bottom and was smooth, light and airy.  A fantastic finish.