Southern Kin Cook House and Bar at Somerville in Boston is one fantastic spot to pick up a plate of elevated Southern inspired food. Fried Chicken, Catfish, Shrimp and Grits, She-crab soup, Fried Okra and lots more.

I love this style of food and even though we are a long way from the southern states of the Carolinas where I lived for 6 months recently I was really hopeful of finding something delicious and reminiscent!

A close call as my choice for the night was the ‘buttermilk fried catfish’ which was hidden on the menu under the strange title of “Mississippi Spotted Cat“,

I wondered if this naming was a nod to the music club of similar name in New Orleans?

Either way I was intrigued about this offering served with ‘butter bean, bacon-black eyed pea succotash, and smokey-pepper Cajun remoulade sauce’.

My mouth watered as the words of that description tumbled off the menu page and into my hungry mind. That could be an awesome combination of flavours…

But ….It was not to be as my heart was meant for “Chicken and Waffles”, so simple and humble in my mind, what would their style be? I was about to find out!

Chicken and Waffles

The waffle was huge, basically it was a mat to keep the plate clean! It was nice and crispy to bite but was also kind of soft and pillowy inside. At first I though that it was just a little bit soggy but then I found that it was because of the cheddar cheese that they add to the mix that makes it a little bit of a softer inner texture.

It also has chopped fresh chives added to the batter so you get more of a savoury waffle than I had encountered previously, I kind of liked that.

The chicken was both bountiful and plentiful. There were three pieces and it was almost the whole chicken, breast, thigh, wing and leg, basically all the good stuff and more. The golden coating was everything I had hoped for, crunchy, packed with southern spices, and without a hint of the fryer. This was apparently as it is cooked in a pressure fryer which keeps it with a dry coating, and as a technique it also helps keep in the moistness. That was a boon, as even the breast meat remained moist and juicy.

There were two pots of sauce to enliven and support the waffle and the chicken. First a fresno-infused pepper- maple syrup that was sweet with a little heat, and second a pot of lousiana honey-hot pepper sauce that was the opposite bedfellow being hot with a little sweet.

They were the perfect accompaniments, I usually ditch the dips, but today the sweet maple went well over the waffle and the hot yet sweet pepper sauce moved the already amazing chicken one more notch up the ladder towards something more incredible.

I guess maybe you can tell that I was somewhat enamoured with my meal?

The Bar

I really enjoyed my meal at the Southern Kin and if I was in the area again I would be back to try so much more of their food.

If they had been open first thing as I walked past on my way into the office I would have popped in for one of their “Egg Biscuit Sandwiches” from the brunch menu ‘fried egg n cheese on a farmhouse biscuit  with sausage, bacon or ham and home fries’.

Yes in case you wondered I would want all three meats even they were only offering one of them 🙂

If it was lunch I would probably order the Kansas City Ribs that come with macaroni cheese and cornbread as a safe option? but to be honest I might just get one of the small plates instead such as the ‘devilish eggs’ which are described as ‘creole mustard, cayenne and truffle stuffed eggs with trout pearls,  pickled shallot and Benton’s smoked country ham’. That sounds amazing!

Southern Kin Cook House and Bar at Somerville in Boston is one of a number of restaurants within the residential and retail Assembly Row complex. I was staying nearby at the AC Hotel by Marriot just about 15 minutes walk away across the Mystic River.

There is plenty of parking and also the Orange Line is just 5 mins walk away. It is hard to believe that the stop only opened in 2014 and that many of the places around here have only been here for a couple of years.

Southern Kin Cook House and Bar is located at

500 Assembly Row, Somerville, MA 02145

Phone: +1 617 764-5966

Check out their Facebook page and their Twitter Feed