BBQ Ribs, Southern, Meat Sweats, Picklebacks & Gelato!
This place needs no intro, I mean look at those tendered ribs, sticky and sweet, falling off the bone, dressed with gherkins & pickles not to mention the chunk of chargrilled bread to dip into accompanying spiced beans.. Pitt Cue Co is the word.
This place is a mecca for those south style ribs, meats, mash, beans & all we need is a little bit of sunshine..
From the brain childs of Tom Adams and Jamie Berger they decided to bring their version of American BBQ to London’s street food scene by starting off selling under Hungerford Bridge. Now having set up their restaurant perched on the corner of a soho street, this joint has been all talk on Twitter and finally I got myself down there ( a little late but still excited).
Huddled in a group of food bloggers plus the lads from Pizza Pilgrims we waited outside (luckily a sunny evening) for a place to wait in the bar..then to eat! It’s a long wait but we hope its worth it, after organising this date for over a month, we stake it out nattering away about pizza’s and all things eatable.
On entering the bar area, we usher our way to the bar, cramped but vibrant and buzzy. You can smell the wafts of meat grazing your nostrils from those seated and perched by the window seats, digging into their meals. Pizza Pilgrims waste no time in exclaiming ” you don’t know what a pickle back is!”.. Nope I had no idea but figured it involved strong bourbon or whiskey from the many bottles layered up on the far side of the wall,with some quirky element to it. That being ..pickle juice. Nice.
Shots are poured, bourbon and a second glass of “the juice” looking all putrid, cloudy and I am trying not to sniff it. Hey ho, we do the shot on a count, absolutely and surprisingly delicious, bourbon heats you up, straight after the sour tang of the pickle counteracts the heat. Hell it works!
So after another half an hour or so (you have to get used to the non-reservation policy alot of restaurants adopt today). After 45 minutes or so we opt to seat ourselves on the window seats, because lets face it we were too damn hungry. Between myself, Laura (The Writing Type), Guilia (Mondomulia), Katy (Feel Good Foodbook) and the last-minute pop up of Pooja (Table for One) we ordered one of each basically, beef ribs, pork ribs, pulled pork, loin chop with bone marrow, with complimented sides of burnt end mash, chipolte slaw, pitt cue salad ,pickled shiitake and smoky beans. No fries on the menu?
In anticipation our food arrives on trays (that prison vibe to it), layered with hunks of ribs, a chunk of bread (a little hard, not warm) with the extras. The show stealer for the majority was the pulled pork, soft and tender, succulent, BBQ sweet, would be perfect in a bap. The ribs were also falling off the bone when given a gentle prod with your fingers, well seasoned and marinated, I enjoyed them more than the higher priced loin chops.
The sides were interesting, the pickles & gherkins added more flavours, mash was creamy with burnet ends, the beans were so-so, crispy shiitake mushroom was a delightful addition for that fried crunch and the salad was refreshing amongst the meat.
Meals cost £11-£16 for a main, including sides, extras, desserts change all the time with one or two specials, we opted for the chocolate trifle-esque, layered bourbon alcoholic truffle mass at the bottom, with smooth choc cream & a salted caramel creamy kick on top. Indulgent, shared by four.. we were off to get some gelato.
Would love to come again for the food, minus the queues and not to forget the “picklebacks” !
After getting the serious meat sweats & craving something cold, we being food bloggers, had a list of recommended gelateria’s in the soho area and headed down to Brewer street to Scoop!
Towards the end of the night, there were still a few people buying their dessert treats in this small cafe, with all their flavours described on the wall, they were running low of the Amaretto and Amarena we were craving, yet opted for a 4 scoop between two people at £4.50, mango, pistachio, biscotti and coconut.
The gelato ‘natural luxury’ is so smooth, creamy, not as sickly sweet as some ice creams, flavours were intense and delicious. Coconut was a dream , pistachio and fail safe hazelnut you can’t go wrong here.
