hen

Been to hen a couple of times now. It has a lovely chilled out café vibe. No need to book which is great on a Saturday evening during a sunny bank holiday weekend when you decide to eat out at the last minute…
On both occasions I had ¼ fried chicken, the batter is tasty and full of flavour, not too greasy. My most recent trip, boyfriend and I shared some wings on the side too, which were nice but not as nice as the fried chicken imo. In terms of sides, I’ve tried their regular fries, sweet potato fries, salad and halloumi all of which were lovely, thought the halloumi was a touch salty the second time.
Staff are very friendly which is always a plus too.
I’ve taken a star off as I feel their drinks menu is quite limited, but also, and probably more importantly, their sauces. The sauces are nice enough but don’t believe their ratings for spiciness. They make them in house and when (on both occasions) I mentioned how wildly off their ratings are they blame it on the fact that you can’t predict the spiciness of a chilli and that it varies seasonally also. Now I like spicy food, so if you tell me I’m getting hot sauce I expect it to be hot, I don’t want streaming eyes and nose but I expect a bit of heat. Their spiciest sauce didn’t even have a hint of spiciness which is disappointing.
Will I revisit though, probably.

Just had takeaway from hen which we picked up just as it was ready. Still I guess takeaway is never going to be as fresh as eating in so might be worth baring in mind in this review.
First off the guy on the phone was great (and again when I went in). Really happy and helpful. Top marks.
The food we pretty much tried everything. Chicken burger, pulled chicken burger, chicken wings, fries, sweet potato fries, corn on the cob, saurkaut and waffles for desert.
The chicken was great. Really tasty and juicy. My only issue was there was a bit too much sauce and the garnish (a bit of lettuce, tomato and cucumber) was somewhat underwhelming. Surely these days you need to try a bit harder. The saurkaut was amazing as was the corn. The normal fries were better than the sweet potato ones which felt dry.
So all in all probably a 4 for the burgers etc.
The deserts however we rank. Not sure if it’s because they had gone cold but the waffles for tough as old boots and tasted like them to. No where near sweet enough. The hot chocolate fudge sauce tasted just like dark chocolate sauce that was very bitter. We had to bin half of them as they we inedible.
So overall a pretty average score. A few tweaks here and there and it could be really good.
Note to the branding which j loved by the way. It’s what drew me in but I doubt I will rush back with so many other places to try.

What a gem, don’t know how I’ve missed it so far, but I’ll be back. Delicious eggs, happily and uncomplainingly customised to my somewhat unusual preferences, friendly service, cool ambience and a fabulous IPA — what more could you want?

Stumbled upon this place in my adventures around Brighton and popped in for a quick bite.
Really impressed with my chicken and waffles. The chicken is very well seasoned and there are also three sauces made in house from mild to spicy. I didn’t find the spicy too hot but all the sauces were very flavourful.
Great selection of craft beers as well. Quite a few breweries that were new to me.
Décor is quite simple and bare but service is super laid back and friendly.
Would happily return next time I’m in town!