When the Butchers Social first opened over in Harborne we were big fans, as was most of the world I think. To die for chicken wings, inventive brunches and all round damn good food was on offer. It was only ever going to be a temporary thing, and as it played out, the two guys behind The Butchers social parted ways. Luckily one part of the duo decided to keep the dream alive and a few months ago opened up in Henley in Arden.
We finally managed to get down there a few weeks ago after a morning exploring at Baddesley Clinton National Trust.
The lunch time options seemed pretty varied, from a sandwich menu, to pizzas or the full A La Carte, but alas no sign of the chicken wings?! Luckily eagle eyed Lee spotted a group in the corner eating said chicken wings so we asked and we got – but are they a secret? Why are they not on the menu?! A mystery we have yet to solve.
Anyway – alongside some salted caramel and smokey BBQ chicken wings we ordered a couple of the starter dishes off the main menu – The Corn Fed Chicken, Black Quinoa Salad, Pickled Radish, Goats Curd, Nasturtium for me, and the Cauliflower Salad, Almonds, Yoghurt, Farro, Salsa Verde, Golden Raisins for Lee. An eclectic mix of food, but we wanted chicken wings and also wanted to sample their finer dinging style food.
I’m glad we did, as both the starter dishes were absolutely delicious, and wouldn’t be out of place on a michelin starred menu in my opinion. On the other end of the scale of types of food, the chicken wings were also on top form just as we remembered them.
The only slight downside to the visit was that the very few staff that were front of house – just two, were absolutely rushed off their feet, thus although everything was done with a smile and they were very friendly, it was pretty slow. Luckily when the food is that good, it doesn’t deter from the overall experience.
Child friendly? At lunch time it’s pretty small, as they only seem to use the front area (they also have a larger area out the back) so theres not much room for a pram, although could could get one in just about by some of the tables. Highchairs are available and there is a changing unit too.
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