Smoking Goat: Inspired

Since the summer of 2007, smokers have had to stand outside, shielding their glowing embers from the sideways rain, a true British summer experience. But inside kitchens all across the Capital, there has been a growing trend to cooking the campfire way. Josper's shares must have gone through the roof - charcoal is in high demand. Others have turned to wood. But I have never before seen coal used on a menu. Step forward Smoking Goat, a restaurant serving BBQ with the flavours of Thailand, with their "coal roast aubergine salad". Similar to those smoked aubergines you can pick up in Istanbul. But with extra smoke. A mound of mint leaves. A soft boiled egg. And a drenching bristling with chili, lime and fish sauce. No one in Thailand may ever have eaten this. But I bet they wish they had.

All of the chit chatter had been about the crab which was sadly not available on my visit. So, chicken wings it was. After burgers and hot dogs, chicken wings have been a staple in London for longer than perhaps they should. As with any food trends, so many of the late arrivals are sad imitations. Not Smoking Goat. They'll see your smoked chipotle or gochujang and raise you some fish sauce. Salty, crispy, spicy, these were inspired.

Next up a yellow curry with clams - perfectly balanced flavours, generous clams - this on its own would merit a trip to Smoking Goat.

Back to another food trend sadly often ruined - ribs. In place of pork or beef: lamb. We had nothing to worry about. Cooked to the right side of tender, smoky from the wood: sweet and sticky on their own, they were transformed by a quick dunk in a dipping sauce straight out of Chatuchak.

The only things which didn't quite hit the mark were the som tam, a little carboardy and lacking in punch, and the rice which arrived late and was underdone. Still minor aberrations in what was otherwise an incredible meal.

Décor is non-descript, a few of those low-flying bulbs to hit your head off, bare wooden tables. So understated in fact that a father and son came in while waiting for sisters and mum. They didn't eat a thing, assuming I suppose that it was just a quiet pub, a place to grab a quick pint. I was tempted to beseech them to stay - at least for a portion of those chicken wings - but as soon as they arrived, they were gone, a swift pint down the hatch and back outside to the madding world of Soho.


Smoking Goat opened about the same time as Som Saa, and with both focussing on Thai BBQ, comparisons were always going to be made. But I am not sure that is all that fair. They are both absolutely fantastic, each in their own way.

 

 

Rotary Bar and Diner: bad, really bad

It was always going to happen. Such is the proliferation of American BBQ diner food in London, one bad egg was always going to get through. A cynical attempt to jump on the band wagon, to cash in without putting in the hard yards. I just didn't expect it to be now, here, at the Rotary Bar and Diner. This place has pedigree. It's owned by the Rushmore Group, the same people as Giant Robot and the Player Bar, both of which are great. Rotary Bar and Diner is not. In fact it's not just not good. Its really, really bad.

The bar itself is fine, good place for a few drinks. The menu looks enticing - everything seems to be in the right place. There are wings, devilled pig skin, burgers and ribs. What could go wrong.

We started with the chicken wings. They were cooked. But that is about the extent of the positives I can muster. Greasy, they tasted like they had been slathered in butter. And not in a good way. Even worse were the pork scratchings (sorry, devilled pig skin) - they tasted only of old oil. And finally, the smoked chicken salad.  I think they may have popped out to Subway for the sauce, the chicken was barely smoked. Worst of all, in the midst of it all was chicken skin. Not lovely, crispy, salty chicken skin. No, a slimy, limp dishcloth of a piece of skin. Horrible.

After being all smiles and sunshine to start, our waitress turned sour when we said that we had not wholly enjoyed our starter. And we were still on our best behavior at that point. I mean yes the starters were awful, but we still had chicken, ribs and steak to come, things were about to look up. Right?

The chicken and ribs came covered in "BBQ sauce". Sickly sweet, this was everything BBQ sauce should not be. Here is my plate when I started.

Here is where I finished.

I couldn't eat it.  That is not like me, as my friends and waistline will attest. I love food, I never leave things. I have been brought up on "waste not, want not". But I just couldn't eat it. Neither could the Brand JD manage the dry chicken, again covered in that sauce. But wait, there was a corn muffin. Surely that must have been good. Well, it might have been a corn muffin at one point, but by the time it made it onto my tray it would have been better used as a cricket ball. One bite was all I could manage.

The steak at least did not come drenched in sauce. It had been well-aged and reasonably cooked. But it looked lonely on the plate with only a side of over-cooked and over-buttered cabbage to accompany it.

By this point our waitress was steadfastly ignoring us and a young Parisian took over. We were being less well behaved by then. The complaints rained down on him. I felt a little sorry, it wasn't his fault and, as he rightly pointed out, he had not cooked any of it.

I really hate writing negative reviews, you've had a bad meal and now you need to relive it. Often I don't bother, why go through it again. But in this case it was so bad I felt I had to. In fairness they did give us 25% off the price. But then, if I had paid full price for what I had just eaten, I would have been upset, really upset. It would have been over £25 a head with one beer. For that money you can eat seriously well in London. Just not at Rotary Bar and Diner.  Don't go.
   

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.