Order placed, we picked a couple of cocktails off the menu to settle us in. The Delicious Sour, with bourbon, lemon and peach was easily the favourite. While the Stone Collins, a mixture of gin, lemon, apricot and soda was less to our tastes. The wine list was rather delectable too. Very short, well chosen – a little on the pricey side but the Bodega Norton Malbec was a dream and goes well with just about anything here. Food shortly arrived and it was on epic proportions. Technically not a starter, but we treated it as such was these chipotle beef rib tacos. Smoked and juicy short rib beef, chimichurri, crispy fried shallot, rocket and chipotle mayo. Everything had flavour, it all had a little heat and the meat was stunning. I’d dare to wonder how long they cook the beef for because the bark on it was as thick and smoky as I could ever have hoped for.
In case you were wondering, the bark is that part on the meat that turns hard, black and crispy after a long slow cooking – this giant USDA prime beef short rib had plenty of it. My photo does its size no justice but it was the size of my arm, at least. Get anywhere near it with cutlery and the meat falls to shreds, quite literally sliding off its bone. The marinade was a little sweet, full of smoky flavour and with a spicy BBQ pouring sauce to drizzle over, which packed one hell of a flavour and heat. If you come to Hot Box this is the dish you order. A side of grilled elote (corn on the cob) was perfectly fine but didn’t excite, and the mac ‘n’ cheese was way under seasoned but almost there. The star here was that beautiful slab of meat.
At this point we were already completely full, so when the Hot Box smoked selection platter arrived – you could imagine our faces of shock. More beef short rib, pork rib, chicken thigh, hot link sausage and pulled pork. Again the whole board was huge, but this time around the size of my torso. Stand out was the chicken thighs, they were unbelievably juicy, had lovely crispy skin and a nice slightly sweet marinade. The sausage wasn’t bad too and neither were those pork ribs nestled underneath this mountain of meat. More sides but this time we got the best of the bunch. Very spicy, but very flavoursome was the ham hock pinto beans. Pickled slaw which was of the Asian style was one of the best slaws we’ve had in some time. Halfway through this platter we ended up slouching over the table, throwing our fork around it all in agony, admitting defeat.
We thought we’d have no room for dessert, but easily managed to squeeze in a carafe of sauvignon blanc, which was excellent. Not the grassy full on flavoured kind you get in the supermarket, but instead refined and classy. I hadn’t expected desserts to satisfy us too much if I’m honest. Especially as they were out of deep fried Oreos (I know). All that was left to choose from were ice cream and a molten chocolate cake, the latter of which I’m not a huge fan. Still I went with it and I was so glad I did. If you can make it this far through the meal, then go the whole way. The molten cake was firm on the outside and liquid chocolate centre on the inside – all laced with chilli. The banana ice cream was also one of the best example I’ve had in some time too. This was a revelation in my books and one worth seeking out any day.
Still no room, but still managing to put away even more food. Ice cream and sorbets here are really something. The banana was just the start and a chocolate version was equally as good, if not better. Sorbets such as this cherry variant was perfect – Hot Box are putting Italians to shame. Bursting at the seams we wobbled out, undone a button and made our way to the nearest pub. Hot Box truly was an excellent find in this part of town and with all the competition in the Spitalfields area, let me tell you this – you won’t find a better BBQ joint this side of East London.
8/10
