Not being able to heed the advice
to arrive as early as possible to the 5.30pm opening time we joined the back of
the 20 strong line outside at half past six.
We were unsure how long the wait was but queued patiently and within
half an hour we were near the door and another half an hour to be served drinks
inside and then another ten minutes before we were seated downstairs. It was only when we were led downstairs that
we understood the length of the wait. We
counted space for 18 diners downstairs, some seats not utilised because of
parties of three with another 6 or so upstairs in the bar area.
As the people ahead of us in the
queue slowly whittled down we edged closer to the window with the menu which
felt like a milestone increasing our anticipation of the smoked beef ribs that
we had come for. I had decided on the
beef ribs with bone marrow mash. As we
edged nearer to the door we could smell the unmistakeable aroma of a good BBQ
and the hunger levels increased and dispensed with our thoughts of leaving to
find food elsewhere.
Before too long we were ushered
inside the bar of the corner building at 1 Newburgh Street, Soho. The
queue had since doubled behind us and a constant stream of people entered the
bar area citing the number of people in their party to be directed to the back
of the queue. It was amusing to see the
looks on their faces when given an estimated waiting time. A no reservation system is a fair system
which allows for quick table turnovers as long as there is a queue, and there
is no shortage of one here.
The downstairs dining area was
compact with barely space for the tables and an adjoining toilet, complete with
a large tube for ventilation which reminded me of old school tumble dryers and
the tube that used to dangle out the back of ours. We decided to start with the chipotle chicken
wings and what arrived were delicious wings that soaked up the flavour of the
sauce.
The main event arrived and I was
not disappointed, my beef ribs were big and beefy and smoked to perfection on
the outside with the meat inside radiating pink yet cooked through. I had to turn the flash on my iPhone to get a
decent picture and drew some looks from fellow diners; this limited me to a few
pictures missing the pink goodness of the beef rib meat. There was only one way to eat the ribs and
this was to dig in without cutlery which made it even more satisfying. The bone marrow mash was a game accompaniment
to the ribs along with a small serving of coleslaw.
My colleague chose the special of
smoked bone and leg of pork with green chilli slaw. We overheard how special the cut of pork was
it certainly delivered on the taste test.
The quality of the pork was undeniable and it rivalled the jowl of pork
I had sampled at The Ledbury a week before.
As small as the venue is we never once felt
rushed and this showed in the wait for the food which was a good five minutes
from finishing the chicken wings. This means
that the chefs can concentrate on ensuring quality rather than trying to send out
as many plates as possible, although I’m not sure how the kitchen could handle
serving more diners as it takes time to smoke the ribs. One things for sure arrive early to avoid the
long queues and even being disappointed as they do sell out.
No comments:
Post a Comment