view of St. Paul's cathedral from our table at Barbecoa
When Barbecoa opened last fall, Jamie Oliver’s name got thrown around a lot. For me, though, the draw was his partner, Adam Perry Lang, whose BBQ shows and cookbook many of my barbecue-loving friends in the US swear by.
Early blog reports were not good. Neither Cheese and Biscuits nor Food Stories enjoyed their meal there, but because their reviews were written so early and left me with the impression that they’d hated their steaks, I thought perhaps over time things might improve on the barbecue front. After all, when I go out for barbecue, I’m not looking for a steak. In fact, I’d be surprised if a barbecue place in the US even offered steak on the menu. So query why reviews like this one in TimeOut seemed to suggest a good barbecue place should be serving lots of steak? (“For a barbecue restaurant, the choice of beef steaks is very limited . . . .”)
Jon and I turned up on a Friday night. It was my first trip to the shiny New Change shopping mall (where Barbecoa sits). In that sense, it definitely felt like America.
Barbecoa is a huge space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking St. Paul’s Cathedral. But I’m sad to say that like many places with fantastic views, Barbecoa should work a little harder at its food.
crispy calamari, smashed avocado, lemon and mustard greens (£10)
When Jon and I looked over the menu, we were disappointed to see relatively few barbecue dishes. I can now see why people have been ordering steaks and burgers — the menu offerings are really heavy on those. That’s fine for a steak place, but this is supposed to be a barbecue place! Why are baby back ribs served only as an appetizer? Why, for that matter, is only one style of ribs served? And where’s the fried chicken? Buttermilk biscuits? Now, I’m not claiming Blue Smoke in New York is the paragon of barbecue places, but this is more what I was expecting from Barbecoa.
Jon and I tried to zero in on the more “American” looking dishes, like the crab cakes. Alas, our server informed us that no crab cakes were offered that evening and tried to push us towards a crab salad instead. When we ended up ordering the fried calamari, the waiter asked us why we didn’t want the crab salad, which I thought was a funny thing for him to do. He was surprised to hear that crab cakes, in our opinion, are a special American treat – hard to find in London. Crab salad, on the other hand, not so special.
It was probably for the best that we ended up with fried calamari given the non-existence of jumbo lump crab meat in London. And the calamari, while a relatively small portion for £10, were good. Greaseless and not rubbery. The smashed avocado was pretty useless, though.
baby back ribs with an apple cole slaw (£9)
Baby back ribs as a starter had its high and low points. It was pretty weird. A few of the ribs were very good, with the right amount of spice and tang and a falling-off-the-bone texture. Other ribs, though, were a bit dry and tough. From one point of view, it’s remarkable that ribs right next to each other could taste so differently. But it didn’t make for a pleasant dining experience.
pulled pork shoulder with jalapeno corn bread (£16)
Finding nothing else among the mains that looked “barbecuey,” both Jon and i ordered the pulled pork shoulder. I’d hoped the cornbread would be served in a way where you could make a pulled pork sandwich (which is *the* way to eat pulled pork, imho). But no. The cornbread was just damp and oily, so nothing much has changed on that front since Food Stories and Cheese & Biscuits ate at Barbecoa.
Jon and I ordered the “bread board and butter” for £4 in order to make our own sandwiches topped with the cole slaw that accompanied our pulled pork. That improved things somewhat, though the bread board, as you’ll see below, isn’t ideal for making sandwiches:
bread board and butter (£4)
With just two glasses of wine, our total came to £86 for the two of us.
Service was polite and extraordinarily fast (Barbecoa’s slick-looking ordering systems waste no time in ensuring your food gets to the table asap, and the tables turn at dizzying speed), but based on our experience, the staff don’t seem particularly enthused or knowledgeable about barbecue.
So go for the views of St. Paul. Bring your out-of-town friends and drop by for drinks. But don’t go for the barbecue. *Sigh*
Barbecoa, 20 New Change Passage, EC4M 9AG; 0203 005 8555.
Yes it was early when we went. I must clarify though, I didn’t have steak, I had pulled pork.
@Helen – Yes, when I went back to your post today to re-read it, I saw that it was your friend who’d hated his steak. The first time I read your post, though, I remember thinking “too bad the steak sucked, but why would you order a steak at a BBQ place anyway.” Now that I’ve seen Barbecoa’s menu, I better understand why everyone keeps mentioning the steaks there . . . it’s like a self-described barbecue place that can’t resist the siren (cha ching) call of serving lots of steaks.
It’s not a barbecue restaurant you donut!
@Tom – Well, the restaurant’s called Barbecoa, Adam Perry Lang’s involved, and it seems to market itself as a barbecue place. But in actuality, I would now agree with you: given its menu offerings, I don’t think Barbecoa should be considered a BBQ joint.
I think something is lost in translation in respect of the term, barbecue, and what it means on either side of the pond.
In the US, you’d expect slow cooked smoky ribs and stuff like that whilst in the UK, people think of burnt steaks and chicken cooked on their barbecues in the summer.
Now obviously, you’d expect this place to serve US style barbecue, as that’s what it markets itself as, so you’re right to be disappointed.
Without wishing to sound like a total foodie snob, it should come as no surprise that they push their steaks, as its location on the edge of the city lends itself to selling steaks to suits.
And without being too unkind, how many of those corporate warriors would stop to think about whether Barbecoa are selling proper US-style barbecue?
@Mr. Noodles – Yes, I definitely got the impression from early reviews of Barbecoa that Brits had a different set of expectations of a barbecue place. That said, most restaurants in London are frequented by “the suits,” don’t you think? I mean, I know Barbecoa is in the heart of the City so it’s especially tempting to say “Oh, the only people who eat there are City workers and they don’t know better,” but the reality is that people with money to spend in London restaurants must, in some significant part, work in the City/financial sector, don’t you think?
Also, not to sound defensive or anything, but a lot of people I know (not to mention my husband and I) work in the City. : )
I still haven’t got around to posting on my visit to Barbecoa (it was actually better than I expected after reading some pretty scathing reviews). That said I agree the views are better than the food. I too desperately tried to search for the BBQ items given your advice that BBQ items are not really about the steak, I gave up and ordered steak! (After ribs to start).
The bread board looks like a complete Jamie Oliver contribution. I feel like the menu here is directed toward the daytime eater who has to use a knife and fork during the meal with a client and not towards the finger-licking rib eater like myself. Perhaps this clientele p.o.v. went into the decisions of what to place on the menu.
I agree, I don’t think we have a defined concept of a ‘barbecue restaurant’ in the UK. To my English ears it suggests nothing more specific than something involving grilled meats, and I would certainly expect steaks to feature prominently, alongside the ribs etc. Does London have anywhere that serves proper American barbecue?
(PS as a suited corporate warrior working just next door to Barbecoa, I am not going to take the bait. But rest assured, some of us do escape the square mile occasionally, and have even been known to venture beyond steakhouses!)
@Gourmet Chick – Will look forward to hearing about your steak, then. : )
@London Lady – I see what you’re saying, but then why bother opening an American-style BBQ place at all? Why claim to be opening one of those places and then serving items that require knife and fork? Bait and switch. Very annoying.
@Aaron – You don’t have to take the bait bc I already did, lol. I can’t remember the last time I had BBQ that I didn’t make at home. I’ve been to American parties where some of the food was catered by Bodean’s, but I ‘ve never been to the restaurant and wouldn’t want to judge the place based on its catering. In any case, I had high hopes for Barbecoa given the J.O./Adam Perry Lang connection. Oh well.
I’d imagine the Argentineans would have a a different perspective on weather or not cooking big steaks on an open coal grill is considered good BBQ and a similar argument could be had with some europeans with cooking fish and meat in a wood fire oven. The smoker is only one section of Barbecoa.
I think whatever your opinions on the food you are always going to be let down if you consider it to be a American BBQ joint. It’s not and never has tried to be, ever. Adam has one of those already in New York. It’s always been about cooking with fire and trying to embrace a global viewpoint off BBQ rather than just one nations take on it.
How successful its been is a matter of opinion but if anyone is waiting for it to turn in to daisy mays anytime soon they will have a long unsatisfying wait ahead of them.
@flc – I didn’t get the sense from Barbecoa’s menu that it was bringing together the grilling cuisines of multiple countries (e.g., I didn’t notice a tandoor or anything like that). I’m also not sure why you have this impression: “It’s not and never has tried to be [an American bbq place], ever.” Just because APL has another BBQ restaurant somewhere in the US is not evidence that he hasn’t tried to open one here in London.
I will agree with you on the following, though: “if anyone is waiting for it to turn in to daisy mays anytime soon they will have a long unsatisfying wait ahead of them.”
Come to think of it, I am a suit, and I apologise for my clumsy stereotyping. If anything, it detracted from my main point that the term barbecue is one that has a very different meaning over here as opposed to the States.
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