Most of the chicken wings I’ve encountered over the years have tended to be rather sad little things, drab and with a miserly amount of meat that speaks of a miserable animal. Notable exceptions exist of course from good folk such as Cluckin’ Oinks and Sloppy’s Burgers but as a rule of thumb they’re not something I’d order in a venue I’m unfamiliar with. Based on a recent visit to Polymath bar to check out Yoyo wings though I’ll have to add a wing-focused establishment to my list of recommendations. Polymath takes on the site that was Izakaya most recently, reinventing it into a bar space that puts on regular events and (now) a food trader. Yoyo wings is the brainchild of Kieran Duffy who built a strong reputation while working at Forage just a short walk away, this being a more casual feeling offering.
The menu lists eight flavours to with which to imbue your wings, which you can order by the dozen or half dozen. We went for a selection including “Shang – High”, “Panang – A – Lang” and “The Honey Monster” as well as the bavette steak loaded fries which turned out to be more than enough for a two person lunch. As I say, I’ve been something of a cynic regarding wings before but these absolutely converted me, to this iteration of them at least if not the less well executed versions. These wings were plump and incredibly tender, a real joy to get smeared all over your hands as you get to work on them in the only practical way to do so. The flavours boldly represented the promised notes from the menu and retained impressive balance, one can just feel the many attempts it must have taken to reach this point. Loaded fries were groaning under the weight of strips of nicely charred bavette steak that remained pink through the majority of its depth. Fresh broccoli topped the plate along with a vibrant chimichurri that rounded things out beautifully.
It must also be said that all this was a bargain, with a dozen wings and the loaded fries being more than enough to satisfy two and coming in at £16.50 a head, more than reasonable in the current climate and all the more so for something of this obvious quality. Even better “Wing Wednesday” brings that down to just 75p a wing, get that in your diary for a great value treat!
