Pitt Cue Co., 9th August

I’m going to dispense with suspense here and just start off by saying I now love Pitt Cue Co with abandon. Once again Stephen and I either timed it perfectly, or benefitted from the Olympic effect (or both), but we managed to avoid having to queue for ages to get in. We turned up before it opened and so popped next door for a drink. When we went back at about 6:10, there was a small line, but they were only just letting people in and we weren’t waiting for very long. We sat upstairs at a bar, which was probably the best place to sit, apart from outside which was already taken. It had been a seasonably hot day and sitting downstairs away from windows in their overly intimate seating arrangements may have been slightly unpleasant.

Pitt Cue Co. don’t give anything away on their website, but I follow them on twitter, and had been to their van at the Hungerford Bridge so I knew roughly what to expect. In their sit-down place you can choose pulled pork, house sausage, pork ribs, or beef ribs, which come with a choice of side. There were two specials – chicken fried rib-eye (thinly cut ribeye shallow fried in a breadcrumb batter) or a saddleback pork chop. I was tempted by the pork chop having seen pictures of the beautiful meat, but felt like I should try the basics first. We did our usual – one of us went for beef ribs and the other went for the pork. We chose baked beans and bone marrow mash for our sides.

While we waited for the food to arrive (which did take some time) we sipped on some drinks. There’s a good choice of beers and cocktails, but no wine. Oh dear, guess I’ll just have to have cocktails! I had a couple of whisky sours which were really well balanced – not too strong and not too sour. At £7 they were also a reasonable price for cocktails in this fair city.

Whisky sour

Finally, our food arrived in those ubiquitous Falcon enamelware dishes with the blue rim – not really plates, more like roasting trays. I must admit, both Stephen and I expected to be underwhelmed. We’d been to the Pitt Cue truck and didn’t really get what all the fuss was about. The pulled pork was nice but wouldn’t have me queuing round the block, and I had been disappointed with my brisket, expecting (I don’t know why) to get slices of it like you do at Fette Sau in NY, rather than a brisket version of pulled pork. You might be wondering why we bothered with them again then, but I had been seeing on twitter that the menu at Newburgh Street was more extensive, and I was curious. They had some fabulous sounding desserts as well. As you will have guessed from the opening sentence, I am glad we did.

Beef ribs and beans

I don’t like it when people say something was ‘a revelation’ when it comes to food, so I shall use my own terminology to describe the bone marrow mash: Wow. Just Wow. It comes close to the oh-so-buttery mash I had at the Bull and Last for being the most delicious, most sinful mashed potato I’ve ever tasted. I’ve never had bone marrow before, so choosing this was a bit of a risk, but that risk was well rewarded. The bone marrow on top had been cooked to provide a savoury, but rich-enough-to-seem-slightly-sweet jus. Delicious.

The baked beans, which I had not been impressed with at the van, had improved ten-fold. They had a great flavour and a soft texture which I prefer to a bit of bite.

But the main stars were the ribs. Where Duke’s were smoky but on the tough side, and Red Dog’s were tender but not smoky enough, Pitt Cue have got it completely right. The flesh was beautifully pink on both sets of meat, tasted like BBQ should, and fell away from the bone all too easily. My only slight gripe is that I found the pork ribs to be a bit fatty for me sometimes. A mere trifle. The ribs here (both priced at £12.50 and as mentioned above, includes the side dish) are also cheaper than either Duke's or Red Dog. I guess this is where you feel the benefit of a no reservation policy.

Pork ribs and mash

The ribs are saucy enough without addding either the BBQ sauce or hot sauce. However, these are both good too. The BBQ sauce has more than a kick to it, and the Hot Sauce, (jalapeno-based I believe) was nice too – more of a relish than a sauce as it was quite chunky. The only thing I didn’t like, in fact, which will come as a shock to anyone who knows me. was the bread! Mine was rock hard and, I thought, needless – there wasn’t anything to soak up with it by the time I was finished!

The only other minor disappointment was that the dessert they had was a lemon tart. It sounded good, but not as good as the Snickers mess they were serving when they first opened. Even then, we might have had one, if we hadn’t spent the last two days eating our own homemade lemon meringue cupcakes. We were lemoned out.

The atmosphere, at least upstairs, was good. They have a great soundtrack to munch to and when James Brown’s I Feel Good came over the stereo, Stephen pointed out that the song was very appropriate, given the effect the food had on our moods. 

Done.

We’ve already decided to go back soon - very soon – at the end of August in fact, in case they feel like putting that Snickers dessert back on the menu at any time (hint hint). I’m even prepared to queue if we have to.

Duke's Brew and Que, 18th July

Having reasonably recently been to Red Dog Saloon, going to Duke’s Brew and Que was inevitably going to invite comparison. And yes, they are broadly similar, but there are some important differences. They’re both in trendy areas (Red Dog is in Hoxton, Duke’s is in Haggerston) but Haggerston is decidedly more down-at-heel than Hoxton and consequently Duke’s had a higher hipster to normo ratio than Red Dog. In fact, I think my party were the only normos in there, with the girl in the shiny lycra pants and neon trainers lifted straight out of an 80s aerobics video, and the superhairy Serge from Kasabian lookalike at the next table only marginally standing out from the rest. That was inside, anyway. On the tables outside some men of the older generation were happily supping pints and braving the unpredictable weather. 

Duke’s is a lot more stripped back than Red Dog, the vibe a bit more laid back. It has various sizes of wooden tables and benches/seats, a small bar in the corner and few decorations save, for some reason, a pram at the back with a doll sporting a Jedward hairstyle. It feels more Wild West than Red Dog even though it doesn’t have ‘Saloon’ in its title, especially when you go to the toilet and wash your hands in the metal tub with a foot pump.

To go with the bare vibes, the menu is also pretty pared back. There are no starters and only a handful of mains, plus one special written on paper with marker (fried chicken. For some reason I suspect it is always fried chicken. And what’s wrong with a chalk board? It’s easier to see and surely more environmentally friendly?). There are no American-style challenges here, like the naga viper chilli hot wing challenge. In fact, there are no hot wings at all. Or starters. Or variations of burger. That didn’t matter. Almost everyone went for the same thing - pork ribs, with Stephen going for the beef ones so we could see what they were like, and his friend ordering a burger. Ribs come with a half pickle, some coleslaw and pickled onions (I love pickled onions!) but we ordered some sides as well. We got some beans with burnt ends, some friend pickles and okra, some seasoned fries and some mac ‘n’ cheese.

The sides weren’t amazing – I think there could have been more meat in the beans and the mac n cheese, while very gooey and cheesy could have done with a bit of a crust on the top I think. Stephen wasn’t too fussed with the fried pickles and okra but I thought they were quite pleasant and light even though they were fried. The only thing was I think they were supposed to come with some chipotle mayo but we didn’t get any. I didn’t mention it though, as I was happy to dip them in BBQ sauce.

And so, on to the main event. The ribs at Duke’s are as different as ribs can be from those at RD. They came stacked, a bit like a meat jenga and lookswise, they were the business. Tastewise they did the same. There was a lovely smokey flavour throughout, a bit of a char on the edges, and the marinade coating them had formed a lovely sweet, sticky tar but also had a bit of a kick to it once you’d had a few bites. This goes for the beef ribs as well, meaning that they had achieved what I thought the beef ribs at Red Dog lacked – the essence of barbeque. Their texture was also quite different from the Red Dog ribs. While some were soft enough to slide easily off the bone in one go, you did still have to put in some effort to tear the meat with your teeth to get bite sized chunks; the meat didn’t fall off into your mouth at the slightest touch. To be honest, I sort of wished they did so in that respect Red Dog was superior. The general consensus at the table was that the pork ribs were the better rib but I preferred the beef ones! The friend who had the burger said it was a decent burger, nothing to write home about. He does, however, say that about every burger. In this case his only real criticism was that the patty was a bit crumbly. 

Beef ribs

Pork ribs

Unfortunately no one went for the sliders but I saw them being taken to another table and they looked fabulous – the brioche was so shiny they looked like little meat candies perfect for popping in your mouth. I’d like to try them, although they looked so dainty I don’t know if three would be enough. Another good thing about Duke’s was that the portion sizes were very sensible. You get four pork ribs or three beef. After polishing off two pork ribs and half a beef one I was most definitely full but knew I had enough room to try a dessert.

These were also written on the paper roll. When we arrived the choices were sweet potato pie, cheesecake and bread and butter pudding which all sounded exciting. While we were there though, the roll was moved on and new desserts written which rather disappointed the cheesecake fans – the choice was now Hackney mess, brownie, or bread and butter pudding. The Hackney mess apparently changes every night and our waitress wasn’t sure what was in it, but I quite like a surprise so I ordered it anyway to share. As did the other couple. Even though it didn’t have any meringue in it, it was definitely the sort of mess I appreciate. Not being a fan of berries, I was very happy that this one had made only the slightest gesture to Eton mess and its usual berry swirl. There was a raspberry on the top and the occasional dot of it throughout – not enough for me to really notice the horrible pips that I’m so against. Instead there were chocolate chips! So it was more or less an ice cream sundae – cream, ice cream, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce – but that was fine by me. The same black sheep who had gone rogue and ordered a burger, ordered the chocolate brownie, but I was too far away to sneak a taste. It came with cream and ice cream and looked pretty good though.

So, Duke’s has its merits and I am sure I will be back, not least because their brunch looks fantastic. A word of warning though: book ahead because a) it's a novelty these days for a restaurant to let you reserve but most importantly b) it gets crazy busy. We only got in because there was a cancellation and they were getting plenty of calls and walk-ins that they had to turn away. The downside to being able to book is that they only give you a slot of an hour and a half. Personally, I think this is a small price to pay for not having to wait for upwards of an hour for a table. We finished our meal within that time without being rushed, and while we may have hung around and had a few more drinks normally, it was no hardship to repair to a local pub.

Red Dog Saloon, 18th May

I have been watching far too much of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and Man V Food. It’s becoming almost a daily occurrence and might explain why a place like Red Dog Saloon appealed so much. I like the sound of a BBQ place anyway, but Red Dog goes one step further in emulating places in the States by having their very own challenges. They have the Hot Wing challenge, the Philly Cheese Steak challenge, and they have a burger called the Devastator, which isn’t an official challenge but I’m sure would be something of a personal feat to finish.

We had decided we were going to go and do the Hot Wing Challenge. It says on the menu we’d looked at in advance that the hot wings are coated in a hot sauce made from the naga viper chilli. Now, we had been putting the Rib Man’s hot sauce on pretty much everything since we bought it a couple of weeks ago, and that has naga chillies in it, so we thought we’d been in training for this, and would be able to handle a few hot wings. If we had been a bit more savvy, we should have noted the addition of the word ‘viper’. But we didn’t. I was a little more cautious – Stephen wanted us to have the hot wings as a starter and then our mains but I was insistent we order them with food in case we needed something to take the edge off.

When we asked about the Hot Wings, our waitress explained that in order to do the challenge you have to eat the six hot wings in ten minutes, without eating or drinking anything else. You then have to sit a further five minutes without eating or drinking anything in order to ‘feel the burn’. If you did that, then your wings were free and your name went on the Wall of Fame. If you failed, you had to pay for the privilege and your name went on the Wall of Shame. We explained we wanted to both try them and so we’d have them but sans Challenge. 

innocent-looking wings (and I apologise for the quality of the pictures)

For our mains we wanted to try as many different things as possible to get a broad taste of the place so Stephen ordered the beef rib dinner (which comes with a side of your choice – his was fries) 

and I ordered the pulled pork and pork rib dinner with a side of meaty beans. What goes better with meat than more meat?

In due course our food arrived and we were pleasantly surprised that our ‘dinners’ also came with some coleslaw. In just a few moments that pleasant surprised turned to abject gratitude as I tried to douse the pain in my mouth with alternately the cool mayonnaisey coleslaw and great gulps of wine. I have never. In all my life. Eaten anything. So hot. It was unbelievable. It was so painful in fact, that I can’t really believe how painful it was. My mind has blocked the memory of it. Much like childbirth I believe. I had taken a wing in both hands and taken a tentative bite. The smallest of bites. It was enough to burn my lips, my tongue and my throat and almost made me want to cry. I did cry in fact - involuntarily, from the heat – a rivulet of water streaming from my right eye, without me even meaning it to.

Stephen fared worse. Throwing sense to the wind he grabbed a wing and had a bite which took off at least half the wing, if not more. The expression that then appeared on his face is hard to describe. He ate some coleslaw, and drank a lot of his beer. And repeated. But I could tell nothing was working. After what felt like an eternity of this, he looked like he was going to do a combination of vomit or cry or have a mental breakdown and just as I was getting really concerned and was going to ask him if he was ok, he excused himself and went to the bathroom. When he returned he looked much more himself but said that despite repeatedly washing his mouth out with water, his entire lower face was numb. He kept prodding it, almost bemused at the loss of feeling. I then took a moment to wash my hands. Twice. And yet, when I licked my fingers during the meal (because the rest was indeed worthy of finger licking) the residue was still enough to burn my tongue. We pushed those wings as far away from us as possible and declined when they offered to box them up for us.

uneaten wings of the Devil

So, onto the food. I enjoyed it. My favourite morsel of them all were the pork ribs. They were lovely and pink as they should be, moist and a little fatty, coming off the bone easily when torn into with teeth and properly smokey as I expect BBQ things to be. I’d been warned that the pulled pork could be a little dry but I thought mine was fine, I didn’t even need extra condiments for it. Stephen’s beef short ribs were lovely but to me, they didn’t capture the essence of ‘cue enough. I’m never going to denigrate a lovely piece of slow cooked beef, which this was, but apart from a very small amount of BBQ sauce drizzled over them, it was just that – slow cooked meat.

My meaty beans had a nice flavour although the beans themselves were a little too ‘al dente’. The fries were just fries – nothing to write home about. I did like the coleslaw quite a lot, though that may have been because it was such a saviour when combatting those naga vipers. The servings were generous but I think we made a good dent in them...

Service wasn’t the best in the world. We had a reserved a table but it wasn’t ready when we turned up on time so we had to sit downstairs in the basement bar area and have some drinks, which didn't show up until after we were given a table a good 20 minutes later. When we were seated it was in a booth in this same downstairs area, toward the back near the kitchen. This turned out to be a blessing because they also had live music down there, which was just a touch too loud where we were, nevermind if you were any closer to them. And when we ordered a second drink or tried to pay, service was definitely sluggish. But the atmosphere was good, the waitresses were friendly when they were around, and the whole thing felt like a real American-style experience. I would go back, if I had any meatloving friends to impress, or I wanted to torture myself again. And yes, I would try another hot wing if given the chance.