British BBQ Society Forums

Bodeans Soho 7/11/2009

Apparently they have the best ribs this side of the Atlantic, so with trepidation of the possibility of being shown up I went there with my wife and daughter yesterday………



How disappointing! The starters turned up, the platter to share looked like it had been thrown on the plate. The ribs were undercooked by about 2 hours (if they are indeed using a smoker), the chicken wings were dripping in oil which was a bit of a concern as my daughter was having them for a main course……… the crab cakes, what can be said about the crab cakes……. Soggy I think sums them up perfectly, and the taste? Well tuna mush?



We ordered Mixed main courses, Chicken, Beef Ribs and Pulled Pork for myself, Chicken, Pork Ribs and Pulled pork for the wife. My daughter had chicken wings and chips, we had to place these on a napkin to soak up some of the oil before we would allow her to touch them, as it was she wasn’t interested.. The biggest critic in the world is a hungry carnivorous 5 year old.



The pulled pork had absolutely no flavour and was dry. I can understand why people love the pulled pork sandwiches because it is vast and smothered in BBQ sauce, I think it is a mistake serving it dry on the platter. The beef ribs, I tried both sides and top of the 2 short ribs received with the meal and gave up, They were tough! I mean real tough. The chicken was the only saviour although the bbq sauce that it had been coated with during cooking had turned into charcoal, but leaving that at the side of the plate at least I was able to eat something.




While outside one of the kitchen staff (in whites) was rolling a cigarette and I took the opportunity to ask him what type of smoker they used, the response, “ummm it’s a big thing from America and it goes round and round” I just stared at him blankly.

I think the passion that started Bodeans has been lost, I am certain it will keep growing and will become a London based TGI, the biggest advantage Bodeans has it that most of its customers actually believe this is how BBQ should taste.

Toby Shea

I'm on my way to London now and I'm hoping to try out Rhodes BBQ Shack in Wapping on Tuesday [if its not already closed down...I can't get in touch with them].... will leave a review if I get to eat....

Apart from Bodeans you could try the Chicago Ribshack, just round the corner from Harrods this was a highly successful restaurant in the 1980s that closed and reopened under new management a year or two back.

Also very popular and cooking with Oak is The Big Easy in the Kings Road, Chelsea.

I'd be interested in any others of this ilk... there don't seem to be any , so that I can supply them their wood !

You have almost read my mind, I was a big fan of the Chicago Rib Shack & its sister Pizza Factory and Chicago Windy City and like most was disappointed when it closed shortly after the death of its owner.

I went to the pre launch of the Chicago Rib Shack when it re-opened and it was dreadful. As that was sometime ago I was thinking about a visit in the not to distant future. They have had time to iron out the initial problems, I really hope they have.

I am planning to go to the Big Easy on the Kings Road this week and will let you all know what i think.

wow that Bodeans really does not look appetising, would have considered sending it back if that came out in front of me.
From what I can see it looks like the kitchen staff really dont care about the food they're cooking, the least they could have done was arrange the food in a decent fashion, but I suppose even if the food tasted amazing you could forgive such sloppy food arrangement.
This is 1 restaurant I will be avoiding, your right it looks like a low budget TGI's.

It's a shame about Bodeans, I was hoping what I'd heard would be wrong, but it seems not.

I hope some of the others mentioned here turn out to be better

Bodeans do have a section on their website 'My Bodeans' where comments are invited.

Andre the big boss would want to know if customers who know about BBQ were very unimpressed.

I emailed a link to the review through to Bodeans. I think that they should see feedback like this. Hopefully they'll improve things before I'm in London next

I went to Bodeans in Soho on Saturday and had a blast. With two of my mates Tony & Derek, we had a top evening. After looking around the restaurant area upstairs and downstairs, we decided to eat upstairs. The atmosphere was good, the place was busy. We were greeted by a waiter who gave us some menus and took our drinks order. I asked the waiter what type of pit they were using, he wasn't sure so he got the Polish manageress. She came along and said they were using an Ole Hickory Pit and would I like to see it. So she took me downstairs to the kitchen. They had a very large Ole Hickory Pit rotisserie, two chefs, and racks upon racks of cooked meaty belly ribs. She said they used Oak and cherry woods.

The food came, Beef ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends and pork spare ribs. It was all cooked well and all three of us really enjoyed our food. It was by no means competition standard BBQ, but non the less good.

The food was less seasoned than you would find in America and less smoked, but I'm sure this has been done to cater for the European taste.

Value for money 8 out of 10
Atmosphere 9 out of 10
Food 8 out of 10
Drinks - expensive £4 for a 330cl bottle lager

It's good that they showed you the pit Andy.

With two such contrasting reviews, I guess I'm going to have to go to try it for myself. What a shame, I'm going to have to go into Soho to eat at a BBQ restaurant, how will I cope

So you reckon the beef ribs you had were good then? I love beef ribs.