Meat is big business these days. I can remember only five years ago when complete meat or steak based restaurants were few and far between. Barbecoa was actually one of the leaders in this meaty generation and opened their doors around six years ago with the name Jamie Oliver behind it all. Barbecoa isn’t just any old meat restaurant either. The kitchen bases its menu around the traditional fire-based cooking method, utilising everything from pit smokers, tandoors (weirdly enough my step-father installed them here recently), robata grill and smokey wood-fired ovens. All this fire and theatrics can be seen from the restaurants open kitchen too – a design feature of which I’m a big fan. I like the idea of seeing my food cooked and more importantly the state of the kitchen – which was gleaming here.
Inside it looked great too. Huge carcases of meat strung up behind the reception as you walk in, low lighting, glitzy table settings, lots of marble and being in The City – a buzzy atmosphere. That’s the strange thing about The City. London is filled with tourists and millions of people – yet The City of London is a ghost town at the weekends. If like me you love a little peace and quiet, then don’t forget about this part of town. With all the lights beaming out from office windows, it can be rather magical place on a cold winters evening.
Just in case you were wondering, Jamie Oliver does not work in the kitchen here at Barbecoa – it’s simply his name behind it and you can taste that in the food. It’s good yes, but everything feels like it needs a little more love, especially as most dishes arrived luke-warm. Crab hush puppies were first out and sat on a bed of spiced squash salsa and chipotle mayo. This was probably one of my favorite dishes of our whole evening. Warm, full of flavour, perfectly seasoned and the hush puppies had a lovely texture to them. Devils cornbread is one of those dishes you can’t ever help ordering if it’s on a menu. The promise of a million calories and a potential heart-attack leaves for too much suspense. The cornbread was nice here, though perhaps not as gooey as it looked (a layer of very runny molten cheese would have been nice) and considering the sheer amount of toppings, I was expecting unforgiving flavours – but actually they were a little muted.
We really went to town with our main course, sharing a huge beef chop for two priced at a steep £74. It may seem like a lot of money, and it was – but photos do its size no justice as this was easily enough for four. The meat was served with some beautiful charred onions and array of condiments – all utterly devine. The meat had a terrific flavour too – rich, deep, meaty and lingering, but it didn’t retain enough heat to it all. If this dish was ever so slightly warmer, I may be inclined referring to it as one of the most flavoursome pieces of beef I’ve encountered for a very long time.
Lately I’ve developed a real obsession with sticky toffee pudding. After I recently took a trip to a little village in Ryhall just outside of London and discovered the best sticky toffee pudding I’d ever eaten, I’ve been on the hunt to see if the experience could get even better elsewhere. So far it’s not been a successful search, however the example here at Barbecoa, served with maple butterscotch sauce, scoop of ice cream and maple pecans – has made its way onto my list, in second place. It doesn’t disappoint. Rich, sultry and flavour to the max.
When Barbecoa first opened its doors all those many years ago, competition in the meatopia world wasn’t particularly high, but now London is flooded and there are so many choices to choose from. Is Barbecoa the best meat experience in town? Probably not – but it’s in the top ten. The thing for me which really surprises me here are the prices – It’s expensive. Compared to restaurants such as Hawksmoor or Goodman – it just doesn’t feel quite as loved. A 3 courses meal for two with wine will easily set you back £200. At those prices, I expect the best of almost everything.
7/10
