Review: Lost Boys Chicken @ The Joker

http://www.thejokerbrighton.com
2 Preston Road, Brighton, BN1 4QF

"Wing ting! Expect award-winning NY style buffalo wings, beastly burgers and more"

I have two words for you: CHICKEN. WINGS. That is what you will find at The Joker, a cosy pub up past Brighton Station, where Lost Boys Chicken serves up some pretty excellent grub. There's probably a bit less to say here than in my previous posts as, in my experience, everyone looks for something different in a pub, so all the stuff I usually ramble about (atmosphere, chair type, waiters/waitresses) is not really applicable. What I can tell you about though is CHICKEN. WINGS.

 As I've mentioned, these CHICKEN. WINGS. (OK I'll stop that now) are served in a pub, so you don't need to book which is nice. However, it's probably worth mentioning that the last couple of times I've been it's been pretty busy - finding a table has involved a few circuits of the pub, whilst not making eye contact with anyone in case they realise you're that poor person without a seat... Another option is just to sit at the bar until you can dive desperately on stroll casually over to a free table, so keep that in mind.

Once you've found yourself a table (and got a drink from the bar - for some reason this can take quite a long time) have a look at the menu, which for some reason offers items of food which aren't chicken wings. They are trying to distract you from your purpose, but stay focused - the only thing you need to decide is how many you want (10 or 15) and which sauce to have (basically 4 levels ranging from original to extremely hot). The only acceptable side to order here, in my opinion, is curly fries. Sidenote: you may think I'm joking about these instructions, but I genuinely have ordered the same thing every time I've been - 10 Wings with 'Wendy' sauce, 10 wings with 'Thuddbutt' sauce and 2 sets of curly fries. This was between two people, I promise...

Last time I went the food took quite a while to come (maybe just over half an hour) but once it arrived I forgot all about that. The wings here are consistently excellent, always crispy and COVERED in the sauce of your choice. In terms of spice, I reckon anyone would enjoy the original but personally I find the next hottest up from that (Thuddbutt) pretty spicy so won't be going for the one above that any time soon! I salute anyone who can eat the hottest sauce (Shadow). Each basket of wings comes with a few sticks of celery and a (mild) blue cheese sauce, and honestly I'm not sure I ever want chicken wings without these sides again - it's a genius combination. The curly fries are also out of this world, and cramming them into your mouth is a useful way to calm your mouth down when it's on fire.

I have now managed to write waaayyy more than I ever thought I could about chicken wings, so I'll leave it there. Basically what I want to say is, get yourself down to the Joker as these are not to be missed.