Liverpool is awash with eateries that force you to look anew at an everyday food. Koop has done for chicken what Crust has done for pizza and Baltic Bakehouse for bread. Sometimes the recipe for success is easy: do one thing well. With whole birds, strips, burgers and famous wings, Koop Liverpool is doing chicken superbly.
If poultry is your thing, you’re going to love this upscaled fast-food joint with outlets in Bold Street and Aigburth Road. Formerly Chez Le Coq, Koop is owned by the people behind Kasbah, Bold Street’s Moroccan restaurant. Where Koop is concerned there is but one question: what’s your flavour?
The benefits of a simple menu are obvious: do a couple of things and do them well. The constant come-and-go of Deliveroo drivers at Koop is testament to the continued popularity of Koop’s wares. Yes there are burgers and milkshakes here too, but it’s the rotisserie chicken that keeps people coming back.
We know it’s bad for us but that’s bound up in its appeal.
The rise and rise of dirty food and street food is a curious phenomenon. One some level it speaks to the child in us: all that fat and stodge and salt and flavour. We know it’s bad for us but that’s bound up in its appeal. Dress up some takeaway food with some modern branding and do it well and you have a cheap, tasty recipe for success in a world where convenience rules.
You can have a full rotisserie chicken (from £12) or breadcrumbed fillets, but the main draw at Koop Liverpool are the chicken wings, boned or filleted, and slathered in a variety of sauces from around the world (Oriental, Caribbean, BBQ, Curry et al).
Subway-style you can tailor your chicken to your personal taste and you can choose up to 20 wings in four flavours, making Koop’s chicken wings a favourite or groups of friends or dates.
If chicken isn’t your things there are a bunch of burgers full of pulled things, but there are items here that catch the eye. What other takeaway offers a seabass fillet in tarragon mayo? Or a quinoa salad? How about a green plate full of broccoli, mint, spinach, green beans and shia seeds?
What other takeaway offers a seabass fillet in tarragon mayo?
There’s a variety of street-foody sides to go with them too, though the generous portions mitigate against too much on the side. The sweet potato fries are genuinely good while the cheese-smothered fries and parmesan-and-garlic fries are genuinely bad (meaning good). Veggies are well-served with halloumi wraps, salds and Greek-orientated mezzes.
There are afters too but milkshakes double up as desserts: think thick, sweet stuff served in jam jars topped off with teatime favourites (Jammie Dodgers, Ferrero Rocher) bobbing about on the surface.
Koop Liverpool on Bold Street is a sit-down affair and while there is limited seating in Aigburth Vale it’s much more of a takeaway ambiance. Prices are more expensive in Bold Street too. There are daily specials at both outlets and you can pay with Colu – the Liverpool currency – and access exclusive prices on feasts.
The city centre branch is open late at weekends and is popular with Liverpool’s drinkers taking on some ballast after a night on the tiles, though Koop doesn’t sell any booze.
