BBQ is taking over London!
And Pitt Cue Co is the forerunner in the trend for Southern-style ribs, pulled pork and a whole lotta slaw.
Located in Soho, I hear the TINY eatery often has queues going around the corner at weekday lunchtimes, but on the sunny Saturday afternoon we visited we were seated straight away, though I would have preferred a seat in the small but cosy upstairs bar, which has a view of the street outside, as opposed to the windowless basement dining room.
Can't win em all...
I had it in my head that I was going to order the ribs in the 'build-up' to eating here (yes. there was a build-up. I'm sad like that). Seeing as though there is no comprehensive website (just a holding page) with a menu to view, this was the only dish I'd heard being attributed to Pitt Cue Co, and so I assumed it was their best.
While we are on the subject, can restaurants please start putting menus back on their website? This, like the no reservations trend, which PCC also adheres to, really gets my back up. I, like many other diners, like to know what's on offer at a restaurant before I risk venturing into town only to find that they don't have anything on offer that really tickles my fancy. Not only that, but how is one supposed to gauge the amount of money that will be spent on a meal if they have no idea of what each dish roughly costs?? I'm aware that many restaurants now have daily changing menus, which depend greatly on the produce they receive from suppliers that morning. But really. This is a BBQ joint. There will always be ribs. There will always be sausage. There will always be pulled pork. So just put a damn menu up!
I mean, it's not like the menu was long or anything...
Here's proof:
See!
Anyway, the Pulled Pork Bun Meal totally threw me. Especially with the promise of Burnt End Mash...
It is a dish I attempted to make myself earlier this year with limited facilities and an extreme lack of time. I'll spare you the horrendous details, but anyone who knows pulled pork will tell you that you need AT LEAST four hours to get the right level of tenderness.
There Burnt End Mash was so-so. I was expecting mash on the same level as the mash-with-roasting-juices concoction that changed my life at Dabbous a few months ago. Realistically, no other mashed potato will EVER reach such heights, but, but...did, did I just taste a- gasp- LUMP?!?! Ew.
The pudding wasn't so great either. Our waiter did warn us that the sponge was soaked in bourbon, but by soaked, he meant SATURATED and by bourbon, he meant PAINT STRIPPER. Nobody would sit next to me on the train back home, on account of me smelling like a lush.
The star of the show though, was the pulled pork. It was gloriously messy, as in 'Pass me a napkin because this shit is trickling down my wrist and into my sleeve' messy. I love that kind of messy.
The coleslaw inside the bun wasn't that horrible mayonnaisey stuff that is often passed off as coleslaw, but was actually a touch sweet with a satisfying crunch to balance the sloppiness of the juicy pork. Perfection and well worth £9.50.
Scrum diddly-umptious.
Pitt Cue Co
1 Newburgh Street
0207 287 5578
And Pitt Cue Co is the forerunner in the trend for Southern-style ribs, pulled pork and a whole lotta slaw.
Located in Soho, I hear the TINY eatery often has queues going around the corner at weekday lunchtimes, but on the sunny Saturday afternoon we visited we were seated straight away, though I would have preferred a seat in the small but cosy upstairs bar, which has a view of the street outside, as opposed to the windowless basement dining room.
Can't win em all...
I had it in my head that I was going to order the ribs in the 'build-up' to eating here (yes. there was a build-up. I'm sad like that). Seeing as though there is no comprehensive website (just a holding page) with a menu to view, this was the only dish I'd heard being attributed to Pitt Cue Co, and so I assumed it was their best.
While we are on the subject, can restaurants please start putting menus back on their website? This, like the no reservations trend, which PCC also adheres to, really gets my back up. I, like many other diners, like to know what's on offer at a restaurant before I risk venturing into town only to find that they don't have anything on offer that really tickles my fancy. Not only that, but how is one supposed to gauge the amount of money that will be spent on a meal if they have no idea of what each dish roughly costs?? I'm aware that many restaurants now have daily changing menus, which depend greatly on the produce they receive from suppliers that morning. But really. This is a BBQ joint. There will always be ribs. There will always be sausage. There will always be pulled pork. So just put a damn menu up!
I mean, it's not like the menu was long or anything...
Here's proof:
See!
Anyway, the Pulled Pork Bun Meal totally threw me. Especially with the promise of Burnt End Mash...
It is a dish I attempted to make myself earlier this year with limited facilities and an extreme lack of time. I'll spare you the horrendous details, but anyone who knows pulled pork will tell you that you need AT LEAST four hours to get the right level of tenderness.
There Burnt End Mash was so-so. I was expecting mash on the same level as the mash-with-roasting-juices concoction that changed my life at Dabbous a few months ago. Realistically, no other mashed potato will EVER reach such heights, but, but...did, did I just taste a- gasp- LUMP?!?! Ew.
The pudding wasn't so great either. Our waiter did warn us that the sponge was soaked in bourbon, but by soaked, he meant SATURATED and by bourbon, he meant PAINT STRIPPER. Nobody would sit next to me on the train back home, on account of me smelling like a lush.
The star of the show though, was the pulled pork. It was gloriously messy, as in 'Pass me a napkin because this shit is trickling down my wrist and into my sleeve' messy. I love that kind of messy.
The coleslaw inside the bun wasn't that horrible mayonnaisey stuff that is often passed off as coleslaw, but was actually a touch sweet with a satisfying crunch to balance the sloppiness of the juicy pork. Perfection and well worth £9.50.
Scrum diddly-umptious.
Pitt Cue Co
1 Newburgh Street
0207 287 5578