Jubo: London's love affair continues

Just when you think London may be slowly falling out of love with American fast food, when sensible, grown-up, dare I whisper it, healthy, restaurants are opening to fanfare, you are again faced with chicken strips. Okay, so Jubo isn't quite in the same mould. Its Manhatten via Seoul. Nevertheless, the American influence weighs heavy.

Nestled into the corner of the ground floor in the Bedroom Bar, Jubo serves food to eat while drinking. There are wings, chicken strips, and steamed buns of various sorts. Kimchi slaw. A beef-stuffed sub. Perfect food after a few cocktails.

The "Yangnyeom Tongdak" (Korean-fried) chicken came winged or stripped, with soy or hot and sweet. We went for the strips, three of each. I am reliably informed by my trusty companion Wikipedia that the difference between American and Korean fried chicken is that the Koreans are not happy with frying their chicken once. No, theirs is double-fried for extra crunch (cue Heston's next show, triple-cooked chicken). And, sure enough, the chicken was super crunchy, but still juicy and tender inside. The hot and sweet ones with sesame seeds slipped down a treat.

We also got the Bulgogi (Korean-marinated) beef sub - a tasty roll, but nothing exciting.  Kimchi slaw was disappointing - the fermented hit lost in a sea of mayonnaise.

Hirata buns, one filled with slow-cooked pork and sriracha, the other with portobello mushroom, were rich, the mushroom heavy with umami. A couple of years back, they would have been exciting. Now they were just a little disappointing, at least when compared with those on offer at places like Yum Bun round the corner. Still, not a bad effort, and certainly fine to nibble on while drinking with friends.

The mushroom hirata...

And that's where I end up with Jubo. If you are going expecting a revelation, you will be disappointed. If you are meeting a few drinks and want some tasty bar snacks to sit alongside your cocktails, Jubo will do just fine.

BBQ Whisky Beer: A Ronseal Moment

You'd never guess what the lovely people behind London's latest pop-up do. Well okay you might. Its not all that subtle. Its called BBQ Whisky Beer. And that is exactly what it does. Very well indeed.

Set in a Young's pub called the Lord Wargrave near Edgware Road, I wasn't holding out for much.  Apart from being able to transport myself to the karaoke bars of Thailand down the narrow stairs at the Heron Pub nearby, Edgware Road doesn't normally feature as a destination.

Hardly unique, the Wargrave is an identikit London boozer. That is until you look at the back wall. Thereon lies the first difference. Row upon row of neatly written names. Like a roll call of former club captains, their ages written neatly alongside. Mr Laphroaig, 18 years. Mr Glenrothes, 21 years. Mr Talisker 25 years. It goes on, I need not. You get the picture. This place is serious about its whisky, so am I. Suddenly I feel like we could become friends. (On Saturdays they do "Flight Club" - there are even rules - various flights of whisky with ever increasing ages (and prices), well that's at least one Saturday night spoken for in the next few weeks!).

On to the second limb of this triumvirate. The beer. Reasonable selection, nothing to get excited over. It's tied to Youngs. Would love to see a few more of the smaller London breweries included, London Fields, Hackney Brewery, Redchurch Brewery, all great and all local.  Still, not bad.

Now the real reason I was here. The BBQ. While it is easy (relatively speaking) to become London's whisky bar, to top its BBQ leader-board is a taller task. Places like Pitt Cue Co, and more recently Climpsons Arch have really taken BBQ up a notch.

We started with a couple of things from the snack menu. A plate of Chip Bits (you know those little crispy things at the bottom of the chips, the best bits) with Pulled Pork. This took "dirty" to a whole new level. It may have taken at least a couple of minutes off my life, but it was good, really good. Excellent pork, tart BBQ sauce, crispy chips. Like chips and gravy, but much much better. This should become Scotland's national dish - perfect alongside the whiskies.

 We also had chicken wings - sticky, with blue cheese dipping sauce. Like the Monkey Fingers at Meat Mission, although maybe slightly better, bold.

Given that the "snacks" were larger than most main meals (think American-sized), we were struggling a little.  A short break then some ribs and the "Beef Royal" burger. The ribs were spot on - tender meat, great sauce.

The burger itself was great: loosely-packed, well-aged meat, seeded bun.  But it was just too big - burger plus onion rings plus beef rib meat plus mushrooms.  There was no way of getting your mouth round it - I took the onion rings out.  That aside, very good indeed - and in fairness they do do a burger without all the toppings, so maybe that will just teach me. Special mention should be made of the short rib off cuts - these deserved to be more than a topping - they should be a dish in their own right. Celebrated. That good.

The market for American BBQ in London is keen, as is London it appears. Burgers are debated, I wouldn't be surprised if someone has come to blows over whether Pitt Cue or Duke's Brew and Cue serves up the best ribs. So where does BBQ Whisky Beer fit into this. On the whisky front they are so far out ahead there is no competition. On the beer, a little behind the pack. So by all accounts the BBQ should be smack bang in the middle. But it is a little better than that. Those ribs were as good as anywhere, with a little tweaking the burger could be too. The perfect accompaniments for my induction to Flight Club.

Follow them on twitter @BBQWhiskyBeer

*All drinks and food were provided courtesy of BBQ Whisky Beer, thanks guys.

   

Meat Mission: Meat Liquor, but fun

I have been following the MEAT franchise since the days of New Cross Gate. Many an hour I have whiled away standing on the streets of South East London, then later in behind Oxford Street. And yet, while I used to be a devout follower (it is incredible how the Meat brand attracts an almost religious fervour), I was left feeling empty by my last trip to Meat Liquor. The music was too loud - when Metallica invades your personal space to such an extent that you feel you are sitting inside one of Lars Ulrich's bass drums, something is wrong. The service brusque. And worst of all, the food was a major let down. Overcooked burgers and a terrible Philly cheese steak roll. This was not the #MeatEasy I had fallen for.

So, when they opened their next venture, Meat Market, I let it pass me by. But then came a third, Meat Mission, and the feeling returned. I remembered the good times, and I decided it was worth one final shot.

Once a great place for a beer, but barren for food, the restaurant scene in Shoreditch has had somewhat of a resurgence in recent years.  First came the big boys (Busaba Eatthai, Byron), then more recently Brindisa opened its latest outpost, Tramontana.  Now the MEAT guys have moved on.

Set off the main drag, MEAT Mission is a cavernous place - only half of it was open on the evening we were there. And, ironically enough, you can book. No more queuing for me. The atmosphere is everything MEAT Liquor is not - friendly, welcoming, egalitarian. I felt comfortable once again.



The menu is similar to the other outposts - I went for the Dead Hippie, the original MEAT burger combo. Rare, sloppy, delicious - this was a return to form.  Back up there with the Lucky Chips of this world - a proper dirty burger. The Fashionista had the cheeseburger which was equally good.

Alongside the burgers, we got some of their Monkey Fingers - battered chicken with a hot pepper sauce and blue cheese dip. These have been getting rave reviews - but I was left nonplussed. They reminded me of the kind of soggy sweet and sour chicken people seemed happy to devour growing up in Scotland in the 90s.  That said, the blue cheese dip was some finger lickin' stuff.

MEAT Mission has restored my belief in what the MEAT guys are doing. Proper dirty burgers up there with the best of them. But I think I will stick East to get my MEAT fix, maybe I am getting old, but MEAT Mission is just so much nicer. MEAT Liquor feels like a teenager trying to be something, MEAT Mission has got through the angst and knows what life's about.

Pitt Cue Co: at last the wait is over

The London restaurant scene is full of hype.  Sometimes its well-placed (Honest Burger, Upstairs at the Ten Bells spring to mind), other times less so (Ceviche being the perfect example).  But no restaurant has received as many glowing reviews in the past year as Pitt Cue Co.  The darling of bloggers, newspaper critics and anything and everything in between.  But could it live up to its billing? 

It certainly kept me in suspense.  Before today I had tried three times since it opened, but have been faced by a two-hour wait each time.  Such are the options nearby that I have never managed to wait it out.  So with a free bank holiday upon me and the Fasionista out of town, I decided to head along to try it out solo.  Slipping into a single seat by the window, I had arrived.

How I wished others were with me so we could have ordered the full menu.  However without them I restricted myself to some pulled pork, green chili slaw and the "hot rib tips".

The pork was melt-in-the-mouth, topped with sweet, rich, BBQ sauce.  It came with some sourdough (a little dry but okay with the sauce) and pickles - one cabage and apple, the other gherkins. The slaw was delicious - a nice bit of heat and topped with puffed rice - it had slight undertones of an Asian salad. 

The rib tips fell off the bone and were coated in sweet chili sauce.  The meat had a nice flavour but was slightly overpowered by the sauce.  Better than I've had elsewhere, but not a scratch on the pulled pork and slaw.

So was it worth the wait? Was the hype hyperbole? Was I left disappointed?  Certainly not. For once, there was no exageration - Pitt Cue Co's reputation has been hard-earned.  It is without doubt the best place for BBQ in London.