Grilla, Liverpool

Grilla is a Scandinavian / Mediterranean grill restaurant on Hardman Street. Having had some bad press recently with a zero hygiene score due to paperwork issues it was reopened with 5 stars. This didn't deter us and we wanted to take advantage of the Monday night deal of 30% of the signature Mix Grilla platter. The customer areas were clean and modern.

With the main event turning out to be monstrous I think we made the worst choice of starters possible in terms of size in garlic bread with cheese and grilled halloumi cheese!

'Mix Grilla' for 2 - variety of meats including lamb and pork on the spit and chicken, roast potatoes, yogurt lemon mint dip, chips and salad. There is certainly a lot of meat for your money, although with it being a Monday night it was quiet which led to the meat being quite dry as we suspect it had been cooking for a while and become tough to eat as it cooled down. The lamb chops were easily the standout of the meats. The tables are on the small side and the platter virtually takes up the whole table so that other dishes had to be perched on a side table.

After being defeated by the meat board we were presented with a small brownie dessert to finish, complimentary to every table as far as we could tell. Although the food didn't wow us, the grilled meats would be ideal with a little less cooking. With 30% off the Mix Grilla on Mondays our bill for two come to just under £30 which is good value for money for the quantity of food.

Slims Pork Chop Express, Liverpool

Slims Pork Chop Express is an offshoot of the popular watering hole, Salt Dog Slims. Conveniently situated next door on Seel Street on the site of an ex sex shop. The exterior retains an alluring black painted frontage with a pink neon sign. Occupying two floors we were led to the upstairs dining area also where the kitchen is housed.

The menu is split between brunch and evening with a strong emphasis on American style fare. Being a large group we took the opportunity to order an array of smoked meats to share. I think we over ordered but it was only clear to what extent when the food arrived! 

On two large trays we tried beef short ribs, 7 hour hickory smoked beef ribs, peppered house rub and slaw. Two great hunking pieces of beef, the first of which was slightly tough and dry on top but the rest of it was sensationally moist with fatty goodness running through the meat.

The 5 hour hickory smoked spare ribs, 16 hour smoked pork with bone marrow butter, and beef brisket hit the spot without hitting the heights of the short rib.

For a bit of meat variety we also ordered some chicken dishes. Chicken and waffles, buttermilk fired chicken with light malted waffle, served sweet. Slightly over fried but somehow the texture of the chicken was fine. The sweet waffle ended up being dessert when everyone gave up on the meat from being too stuffed. Chicken wings in hot and original flavours were average.

For carbs we opted for the Coach Bombay fries, confit duck, duck gravy, fired duck egg, topped with montery jack and chilli cheese fries, homemade chilli with cheese sauce. To top off the meal we also tried the XXX mac and cheese, a deep fried mac and cheese burger.

A good addition to the city centre with some interesting brunch options for next time. Be prepared and go hungry would be our advice, or alternatively don’t be greedy like us and order the smaller sizes for the smoked meats. One of our party had one final query and rightly so, where are the pork chop options on the menu?

Cane and Grain, Manchester

We visited Cane & Grain, a new rib joint in the Northern Quarter, during its opening weekend where they offered 50% off food. Specialising in ribs we were famished and ordered a selection to share including slabs of St Louis and Memphis style spare ribs. After recently visiting Big Easy in London for their St Louis ribs these were in contrast a disappointment. The ribs appeared to be rather small with a lack of meat and were a bit dry. Out of the two the Memphis ribs had the edge for flavouring.

I was disappointed that they had run out of the beef short rib so went for the dino rib to satisfy my beefy cravings. The dino rib was absolutely humongous when it arrived at the table, sitting in the middle as the centrepiece. The dino rib comes from the short loin and is cut with a lot of meat left on the bone, just as well given the lack of meat from the pork ribs. The rib was well smoked and the meat was tender and cut off the bone with ease. It was fun eating the mammoth meat off the bone although a little awkward as by the time we had gotten through all of it it had gone cold and was quite tough.

All ribs come with house fries which were pretty standard. We also ordered sides of truffle mac n cheese and Carolina slaw. The sauces available are quite fun, especially the Vimto and Dr Pepper. The food at Cane & Grain did not blow us away and some work is required to lift the pork ribs if that is to become their signature and calling card.

Big Easy, London

The thought of barbecue meat for dinner always gets me excited but almost always ends inevitably in disappointment back home in the North West. Since my visit to the excellent Pitt Cue Co last year nothing I have had since has compared to it, let alone be fit enough to lace its boots. Therefore I was on the fence pre visit to the Covent Garden branch of Big Easy, not knowing what to expect.

The restaurant is spread over two floors and we were led to the basement where huge smokers and grills on display as you descend the stairs, so far so good with huge slabs of slow cooking meat on show. I don't tend to pay attention to surroundings and decor and even less so here as I was just looking forward to some ribs. It was quite dark in the basement with dark wooden fixtures and fittings. The wall behind us was filled with various business cards of customers, I strategically placed mine over a competitors from my profession.

Big Easy is also known as a crabshack and the grilled lobster and lobster bake options seemed enticing but we settled on our primary target and ordered the Bar.B.Q Blow Out at £18 per person. This included pit-smoked BBQ chicken, dry-rubbed St Louis pork ribs, Carolina pulled pork with cornbread, pit smoked beans, coleslaw and fries.

The tables are quite small and a stand was produced to hold the huge meat platter when it arrived in order to allow us space underneath for our plates and sides. As soon as I saw the meaty pork ribs I knew they would not disappoint. This will be my benchmark for 'meaty' in future. I like how the menu states all meat is served warm as it is slow smoked, rather than blast heated and roasted which tends to dry out the meat.

The pork meat was very tender and well smoked with the dry rub adding a great flavour. If anything they were too meaty and we struggled to polish them off! The pit smoked chicken was one of the most succulent pieces of chicken I have had in a while. Half a chicken was served to us and even the breast was extremely moist and not heavy to eat, just as well given the amount of meat on show. By the time we got round to the pulled pork we were suffering to meat fatigue and this had the least impact of all the meats. Whilst not quite on the level of Pitt Cue, it was certainly a very worthy contender and probably a lot easy to get a table given its size.

Pitt Cue Co, London

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.