Texas Joes (Located in Brewdog Shoreditch)

[crizmo]

Hi Guys,
I thought I'd leave a review for Texas Joes as I ate there on Saturday. It's located in a bewdog bar on shoreditch highstreet. We went in and could see straight away it is not a place geared up for serving food. There's very few tables and you can't order unless you have one. We managed to get one after waiting 15 mins. I went o the bar and ordered food. The prices are more expensive than is stated on their website. I went for the platter which was £23 and includes ribs, brisket, pulled pork and hot links. We wanted to order some chilli chips but they didn't have any.



It took about 30 mins to arrive but to be fair to them they warned us there could be a wait. We started tucking in as we were due at a show that night and were in a bit of a hurry.

The pulled pork was not really pulled, more separated into large chunks that had to be cut up. It didn't really taste of anything apart from cooked pork. No smoke or seasoning taste. The hot link was ok and was probably the nicest thing on the plate. The brisket was very moist but had a LOT of unrendered thick fat in it. It tasted ok but I suspect it was part boiled or some other method than bbq'd because of how wet it was.

When we got close to finishing things we realized that there was no ribs. I flagged a member of staff over and he said he'd go and check. He came back a few mins later stating that they had made a mistake and my ribs would be with me shortly. It then started approaching the time we needed to leave for the show. I sent the wife to find out where the ribs were and a member of staff told her they shouldn't be too long and he didn't understand why they were taking so long. As he was saying this another member of staff told him, in front of my wife, that there were no ribs left.

So we'd been kept waiting for ages on the pretense that ribs would be on there way, when all along there were none left. My wife asked about getting a partial refund and credit to the bar, they gave us a full one. So although they did try to make a mense, the damage was done by already lying to us several times. With that and the quality of the BBQ I would defiantly not recommend this bar for BBQ food. You'd be safer at Bodeans where the food will probably never be great, but you'll get a better service.

Cheers

Chris

[texasjoes]

Howdy Chris

Thanks for coming in.

Yeah we exist in a pub. That is fairly clear. It's a BrewDog bar. We typically have a large seating area downstairs but it is currently being remodelled. You don't need a table to order. There is a whole lot of counter space available as well.

Your sampler platter was £20. There was a mixup with the menu that day.

We had plenty of chilli and plenty of chips. I made a batch of a really nice brisket chilli actually. It was sexy.

We slow smoke our pork for 16 hours over hard wood..aged oak if ya wanna know. Logs. No pellets. if you can't taste the smoke I don't know what to say. We use a basic dry rub but give ya a nice portion of our house made red dip. It's sexy too.

I sent you the fatty end of the brisket. It's what BBQ dudes typically dig. I had some myself and the fat was perfectly rendered. Here's a pic I took of it. I was quite proud.

pic.twitter.com/1MWQ1DIHwV

If I ever boiled or even foil wrapped my brisket I would probably jump off a bridge. I would know it was over for me. I must have lost it. I am born and raised in Texas and could shot for such a crime.

I had told them there were no ribs. You should have been told that. Our bad. You weren't charged for ribs.

You got your food for free but post this? Thanks. Enjoy your BoDeans. They parboil every day.. and should be arrested for it.

Cheers sir!

Joe

[ConorD]

Alright Joe, looks like we need a bigger sample audience to give you a fair revue - I will accept that challenge and will take the sampler and stuffed jalapenos (which look interesting) when I try to get to the pub on Thursday.

I've eaten my fair share of Q in London so be interested to see what you are cooking up.

[derekmiller]

I have also been up there. I had the same problem, No table No order. I live in the area (well Aldgate). so was very disappointed. Ok I came up on my own, and yes, a lot of places "dont like" tables for one. If you can guarantee a table for one, I would quite happily give my feedback.
Derek.

[texasjoes]

Howdy y'all

You are all welcome anytime. Derek you don't need a table to order. You can order right at the bar. Our downstairs dining room reopens on Thursday as well which means there is always a table after 7.

We also have a new location in Shepherds Bush.

http://www.brewdog.com/bars/shepherds-bush

Hope to see y'all soon!

Joe

[gingerchris]

I work just next to Brewdog and have been down a few times for meals. The first time was a bit hit and miss, some of the food came out cold but it was a busy friday night so I forgave them for it (also it was my birthday so I was drunk and happy). The ribs were fantastic though, as were the jalapeños which we were very kindly given for free.

Every time I've been back since then it's been a lot better. I've had the sample platter a couple of times and one of their dogs and not had any complaints. I'm also a big fan of the beer at Brewdog, so take every chance I can to go there.

I suspect my tastes might not be as refined as most of the other forum members as I'm a relative noob to BBQ, but I have eaten in a lot of places in London and I rate Texas Joes pretty highly. Certainly higher than Bodeans.

[ConorD]

So managed to get in for 1pm today and was not too busy (about 12-13 people upstairs when we got there) so grabbed a table and ordered up two sampler platters (£23 each - barman said that the menu on the website wasn't updated which was also why the Brisket stuffed chili-poppers that I was looking forward to weren't on there anymore ). Took a little over 10 mins to get the food.

First and foremost I would go back there for the beer alone - awesome.

The sampler platter came with a nice slab of brisket, a full spare rib, some smoked pork shoulder, a hot links, bbq beans, slaw, sauces and soft tortillas;



So to dissect....

Brisket - given the name of the cook this was the part that I was expecting to be the best as Texas BBQ means beef, beef and more beef. Although not as aggressively trimmed as I do at home I get why this is, given that no foiling takes place, and actually this is not inedible connective tissues but flavour dripping fat. The beef was really good with a nice rub that let the meat do the talking but still added a bit to the pallet (with a nice smoke ring and good bark). Flavour can be quite a personal thing but when I eat brisket I want a bit of smoke, a little bit of spice and heat but mainly I want to taste good meat and this delivered;



Hot Links - awesome and in complete agreement that this was the best part of this tray of meat. Really good bit of heat but with smoke and a bite to it - awesome (can't think of anything else to describe it);



Spare Rib - now I prefer my ribs St Louis style and foil them at home which is where they seem to pull back from the bone a little more than unfoiled. They were also a little on the fatty side with my rib having a "cap" on it that I had to trim off - my colleague scoffed his so maybe I was just being fussy. That said the meat came away from the bone without falling off it so retained a nice bite. Nice rub with but a little lite on the smoked flavour - interested to know if all of these meats are smoked over the same fire as the rib and the shoulder didn't carry as much smoked flavour as the beef and links.



Pork shoulder - this was the weakest of the meats on the platter. I like the fact that it comes in chunks instead of shredded like Peking duck - just a personal preference again I guess. The lack of foilling is a cooking choice but I do believe that you can end up with meat that is a little on the dry side and this is what I found here. I couldn't taste the rub or the smoke from this pork and I would be interested to hear how long it rested before being served. That said the platter came with tortillas (genius) and some nice simple slaw and good sauces which ended up making some very respectable tacos;



The beans deserve a mention (even though this was billed as a carnivores outing) as they were extremely good and got chucked in a taco or two with the pork.

You can see what I had to trim off but given the amount that I received at the start I am not complaining and I know people who would have eaten most of what I took off the brisket in the same way as I eat the whole of a rib-eye steak;



All in all I will be back as this is at the better end of what I have eaten in London and the beer makes up for any short comings in the Q. I would put this head and shoulders above Bodeans (although adding some burnt ends to the menu will never hurt ).

[crizmo]

OK, I'll clear up a few points here. Yes, I left this review even though I got my food for free, I did credit you guys for doing that so I don't see your problem. Also, we did not demand a full refund. My wife asked for a partial refund for the ribs that were not provided. You said the platter was £20 when it is not, it's £23 so maybe you should check that.

Maybe you should also check with your bar staff that tell people they can't order without a table, as noted by another poster. I was also told you had no chips so we ordered chilli instead. If you had chips then your staff misinformed me.

I didn't come here and slate you, I said exactly what happened. I was not complaining about the fact that it's in a bar. I was saying in my opinion, it does not work in such a busy bar. Oh, and that picture was NOT the piece of brisket that I had. I am a BBQ dude' and I do like fatty brisket and have eaten the best (Franklins) but this was beyond that. There were massive chunks of un-rendered fat.

You've clearly been a little annoyed at my review which is fine. Don't come here claiming facts that just aren't true though (table needed to order, picture of different piece of brisket, price of platter and having no chips).

Cheers

Chris

[Mc Slims BBQ]

Hi All,

Went to the shep bush brew dog today and had the sampler, fries with the works (chilli, pork and cheese) and a few beers.

All in all a very good meal, brisket and ribs were very good with the pork OK, hot link was the best ive had!!!

Lots of tables avalible.

Sampler was £23 with fries with the works £5, not cheep but i would not hesitate to go back or recomend any BBQ critic.

Cheers.

[Dennis52]

Went to Shepperds Bush Brewdog / Texas Joes on Saturday. Had the sampler £23, it was very good. First time I've had brisket and liked it! Only had a tiny bit of BBQ sauce I'm sure if I asked they would of given me more. We were a group of 8 everyone one enjoyed their meals.
Cheers Dennis