Otherside, a new fried chicken brand, landed in Trinity Kitchen this week, dishing up especially delicious strips, burgers and sides to Leeds’ hungry shoppers and passers-by.
The new food brand was created by a Leeds-based partnership, one of whom, Andrew Critchett, has a track
record of successful street food businesses. Andrew was previously awarded Best Main Dish at the British Street Food Awards. He collaborated with Paul Simon, Founder of Potter’s at Northlight Arts Centre, to develop Otherside’s menu and brand.
On Thursday this week, just a couple of days after Otherside opened for the first time, I headed over to Trinity Kitchen with my partner. It wasn’t hard to spot Otherside, with its home in the form of a bright yellow food truck. We beelined for the truck and there met Andrew, Paul and Dan. We found a nearby table to have our conversation about Otherside.
I was curious about the brand name where the idea for Otherside came from and where the team found inspiration for the name. Andrew explained that Otherside is firstly a play on the well-known joke, ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’, but also draws inspiration for its menu from the mix of cultures and cuisines that define New York City. With the logo and branding designed to reflect NYC’s iconic road crossings. We both thought that the branding looked great and loved the clever name.
As we chatted, we were brought a few dishes to try. The menu at Otherside is all about fried chicken, with the option to go for the chicken strips or the chicken burgers. The menu draws on flavours from around the world, with succulent fried chicken topped with delicious sauces, pickles, and slaws.
We were given a selection of 5 of their chicken strip combos to try, including the Jamaican (plantain chips, pineapple and jerk sauce), the K-Town (kimchi, sesame seeds, noodle crunch and an Asian slaw), the Mexican (chipotle sauce, sour cream, jalapenos and tortilla crunch), the Midtown (mayo, American cheese and pickles), and the Uptown (buffalo sauce, crispy smoked bacon and blue cheese). We also had a side of fries – because who can say no to hot seasoned chips?
We both loved the chicken strips and thought the chicken with pizza-like toppings idea was inspired. The chicken itself came out steaming and perfectly cooked, with a well-seasoned, crispy buttermilk coating. The additional toppings on the chicken strips were fab and well-considered.
We loved being able to enjoy some of our favourite flavours from across the world on top of one of our favourite foods – fried chicken. I loved the addition of the homemade slaws with some of the strips. They were fresh, cooling and great with the rich fried chicken. The Mexican Curtido slaw was a particular winner for me, with the sweet corn running through it. Typically, my partner and I don’t always agree on foods, but we both thoroughly enjoyed all the flavour combinations. We also agreed that whilst we would happily eat all of the dishes we were served again (several times over), we thought that the Korean, the Jamaican and the Mexican were standout.
Otherside will be in Trinity Kitchen for the next 8 weeks (into July 2024). After this date, Otherside will focus on Deliveroo and keep an eye out for festival and event catering opportunities, as the team is keen to focus on the street food scene with its camaraderie and sense of community. We’re looking forward to our next visit already!
“We both loved it. Super delicious (one of the best I’ve had, and fried chicken is one of my favourite foods)“
“Food was amazing …. Sooooo good.“
Photography by Mark Wheelwright.
