Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby Swindon_Ed » 28 Apr 2013, 18:36

When has anything had to be authentic for it to be wanted by the masses :?: :?: :?:

Domino's Pizza is a million miles away from authentic and it's also not a fair price for what it is, yet the public demands that there is one in almost every town and city.

The guys at Reds are running a business and have to give the public what they want, and they're doing an excellent job from what i've seen.

People complaining about meat not being smokey enough is going to happen when you'll get some people that will say that their meal isn't seasoned enough. Yet for the 99% of other customers if it was season to the same level the 1% would want the other 99% would complain it was too salty and then not come back and then that place would go out of business.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby The Smoking Canon » 29 Apr 2013, 00:06

BBQ Shack at The Worlds End in Brighton seems to be doing it right.

No' 16 in Jay Rayners 20 best restaurants review on the Observer food supplement. One above The Hope & Anchor which is a bloody good restaurant on The Cut, near Waterloo.

Run by John Hargate who's 2010 British BBQ Society’s Pitmasters Grand Champion no less.

Also if you're in London check out Pitt Cue in Soho. It's tiny and you cant book, but it's good. Plus they've got a food truck under Hungerford bridge down on the South bank by the festival hall, for the Summer. Pulled pork a-plenty. They've even started breeding Mangalitsa pigs to eventually supply their kitchen. Now that's commitment I reckon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... t-pitt-cue

http://www.thesussexreview.co.uk/2011/0 ... st-sussex/
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby thelawnet » 29 Apr 2013, 09:09

Tiny wrote:Thelawnet.
I stand by what I said, was it a fair plate of food for a fair price? if yes, then well done them. The attitude you seem to project is that it isnt "proper", I doubt most residents of India would recognise the contents of our "indian" resteraunts, but there are many that serve up a decent meal for a fair price.


Well we actually have several million South Asians in the UK, and it's not difficult to find authentic food, e.g., in places like Southall. I've had the same dishes in India, but I guess it depends what you order in the UK, I wouldn't order a Tikka Masala or a Korma, because they are too sweet, but a Madras is an Indian staple and perfectly recognisable to Indians.

If you visit a resteraunt and dont like there offerring then you can tell the world on sites like trip advisor, often the damaging reviews are made because it is easier to be rude and insulting from the anonymity of your keyboard than actually discuss what is wrong with staff and the management team. It irks me that in most cases restaurants are trying to give a decent meal and service and it is all too easy to decry this with harsh anonymous words.


Of course it is. But that applies to all restaurants, so it's relative. No restaurant is immune, so it's a democratic process.

I actually find it bizarre that you would want to have a confrontation with the management about the quality of your food when trying to enjoy a quiet dinner.

I was asked in Nandos a while ago 'How was your food'. I said 'well actually this chicken is a bit red here'. And she said 'Well you've eaten it now'. So I just thought 'don't know why you asked if you just wanted me to say, yes it's perfect'. So you just say 'yes, fine', and leave quietly.

We've got a restaurant locally where the chef was a Masterchef contestant, and he's trying very hard, and he came out after the dinner and said 'How was it?', and you just say 'Yes lovely', because I've seen this guy online getting very upset about criticism of his cooking. You've gone out for dinner because you want to have a nice time, not because you want to get in an argument with a very defensive chef. There were actually a few things we didn't like, but we weren't going to share them because you could just tell that the guy actually doesn't want to hear anything other than 'yes, it was fantastic'

If you are going to open to the public you are going to get unjustified criticism, and that's just the way it is.

On this thread the original chap didnt like it, fair play but this doesnt mean that the restaurant is terrible. I think the "it isnt PROPER bbq" is neither here nor there these guys are serving bbq and it seems the good people of Leeds are queueing to get it, hope they make a fortune and open a branch near here soon.


I have no idea whether its proper BBQ, because I haven't tried it. But there's ''proper BBQ' and there's 'proper BBQ'. You can get 'BBQ ribs' in the Harvester, a lot of people like them. You can get 'Mexican' in Taco Bell, a lot of people like that. It doesn't mean anything. This is a general point, and absolutely not directed at this restaurant.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby aris » 29 Apr 2013, 09:14

Must give Pitt Cue a try - just around the corner from Bodeans. I've been a bit disappointed the past few times i've visited bodeans. Yes, it will never be primo-BBQ - but my kids like it, and it was relatively good value. Their prices have risen, and the portions have shrunk. I'd still go, but i'd like to try something else too.

Another thing I found out - Bodeans don't cook their BBQ on site - they have a central kitchen where they cook everything, and it is ferried to their restaurants.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby keith157 » 29 Apr 2013, 12:37

" If you are going to open to the public you are going to get unjustified criticism, and that's just the way it is"

Hopefully you would also get well meaning criticism. I agree there is no point to asking as rote if everything is okay if they don't want to know but if something was wrong then IMHO you should let them know TACTFULLY. What today could just be an imbalance of flavour could (I said COULD) end up as something far more serious and potentially career threatening for the chef.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby thelawnet » 29 Apr 2013, 13:19

keith157 wrote:" If you are going to open to the public you are going to get unjustified criticism, and that's just the way it is"

Hopefully you would also get well meaning criticism. I agree there is no point to asking as rote if everything is okay if they don't want to know but if something was wrong then IMHO you should let them know TACTFULLY. What today could just be an imbalance of flavour could (I said COULD) end up as something far more serious and potentially career threatening for the chef.


Honestly I think Tripadvisor or similar is the best place for that. They can read it, take note, and I don't have to be a critic for my £70.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby keith157 » 29 Apr 2013, 13:28

The great thing about this is we can amicably agree to differ ;) :D
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby Tiny » 29 Apr 2013, 17:33

Theallnet
My experience is that if what is wrong is discussed in a fair and reasonable way then compromise is usually the end result.

Completely disagree with your stance re trip advisor, I think to tell the folk everything is fine and then slate them on trip advisor is just wrong, if you tell them on the night you offer the opportunity to make good. If you nail hem on trip advisor it is the same as standing outside their resaurant with a sandwich board and megaphone telling the crowd not to eat here.

If you raise an issue and you get a defensive or unreasonable reply then game on they get what they get, but to avoid the conversation and resort to the interweb isnt cricket imhho,

As Keith says we dont have to agree.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby thelawnet » 29 Apr 2013, 17:57

The restaurant has a chance to serve me tasty food. If it doesn't, then that's done really. The food is in front of me, so I'm going to eat it. I don't want to wait while they offer me 20% off the bill or some such, I just want to pay and go.

There is nothing they can do for me that will enhance my evening, so there isn't a compromise to be made.

The megaphone analogy is wrong because if you look on tripadvisor there will be positive and negative reviews for every restaurant, and it's actually pretty hard to tell from tripadvisor if a place is good or not - the place I reviewed most recently has 4* overall, which could mean it's great, or it might not.
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Re: Reds True BBQ Leeds - My thoughts

Postby keith157 » 30 Apr 2013, 04:41

If it's okay with you we will call this a draw everyone has the right to an opinion and to express it in a reasonable manner which we have all done. :D
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