Holy BBQ

Straight after the Festival of Heat and sampling some tasty hot sauces, I stumbled across Reds True BBQ restaurant, another of Shoreditch' little gems. Its a huge restaurant, along Great Eastern Street so there is no way you can miss it.

As soon as you walk in, there's a ginormous massive smoker beside the open kitchen and the Smokey BBQ smell  hits you right in the face and instantly gets your appetite going. I wish I took a picture of it.
The staff are all really cool, welcoming and helpful catering for any requests you may have. Not only that, they do a damn good job at explaining the menu and convincing you that you're making the right choices.

The menu itself is a little daunting but when it comes to BBQ's, it's what separates the men from the boys and there was little chance of me ordering small. But as you guys know by now, my eyes are always bigger than my belly.

There is so much food to choose from and the pictures above isn't even half of it. Apart from the burgers and little plates, you can also choose from (take a deep breath)  ribs, steaks, sandwiches, custom meat combos, BBQ plates, sides and desserts. (and breathe out).

I hadn't had a proper meal all day so naturally I was going go all out on the menu and obviously I couldn't do it all by myself so therefore help was needed, so who better to chow down all this food with me than to have the man himself Alex Reid.

Because I had a pretty big drinking session the night before and it was a Sunday I wanted to take things a little easy so I ordered one of these bad boy marshmallow and strawberry milkshakes. Take a look at this!!.

When it came down to the food there was no holding back. From the small plates, the both of us ordered a few rounds of mac n' cheese balls, some burnt ends and the Ox cheek bone luge.

The Mac N Cheese balls are covered in a nacho crumb and inside these golden nuggets the cheese is gooey and coats the tiny macaroni.
The burnt ends are a treat. The meat is tender, smoked to perfection and the slaw on the side is fresh and crunchy.
The Ox cheek bone marrow is to die for. Fatty, flavoursome and its definitely not for the peeps watching their cholesterol levels. Calories go straight out of the window on this one. And yes that is a shot of bourbon with it and there's a reason for it. Once the bone marrow has all gone you're meant to pour the drink down the luge and into your mouth. I gave it a go and failed. Half of it went down my arm, so in the end I just knocked it back. Bloody hell, It was strong.



After polishing up the small plates, the main event was upon us and this was a massive challenge and it was to no surprise that I couldn't finish it. I mean after all I did have a thick shake to go with all that rich tasty food before hand.

This is what came out of the kitchen......

Yep, that is no illusion, what you're seeing there is proper meat on trays. At the top is a half rack of Memphis - Dry St Louis. Basically tender ribs that fall off the bone coated in a sweet and salty rub and alongside are fries and smooth mash topped with white gravy.

Below that ladies and gentlemen is no ordinary burger, oh no. That is a donut burger! Packed between those sweet glazed donuts is two succulent mouth watering burger patties, melted cheese, smoked peppered bacon, crispy onions and smothered in some dirty sauce. (that's what is called, I'm not saying the sauce was horrible). And if that wasn't enough I got a huge onion ring, fries and bacon wrapped jalapeno. BOOM! Incredible stuff.

This restaurant is great for large parties and this is why.. take a look at this beast.

I bloody loved it. Served on a dustbin lid, that is what you call a meat feast. What you get is the following:-

• BBQ chicken
• Cheese and jalapeno sausage
• Pulled pork
• Beef brisket
• Cornbread
• Slaw
• Fries

Along with all that meat, depending on the number in your party, you each get a shot of that strong bourbon or Iced Tea. If you're brave the bourbon would be a wild choice. However the iced tea is lovely and refreshing.

Oh and one last thing the food isn't complete without the help of these sauces.

For all of you FoodPunks out there if you fancy a bit of BBQ heaven and want to have a great time then look no further than Reds True Barbeque. Its a great hangout. From the staff to the food and drink, I had a great time. I may have failed first time round at not being able to eat all of my burger, but I certainly made up for it by having a good go on that sharing platter.