Classy gents, off the hiatus and onto your dinner plates… or trays in the Pitt Cue Co. a new barbecue place just off Carnaby St. and apparently being reviewed by every paper in the UK at the moment (the Standard, Times, and Guardian at last count). Fair warning, this is one to be enjoyed around gents and ladies you don’t mind getting a bit messy with (ooh er).

Two of the classy gents team arrived at around 6:30pm to queue (no reservations for you son) for the bar, a mandatory anteroom to the dining room.  The wait was around 90 minutes before we got inside but we clearly chose the busiest time (of day and year) to brave the queue. Two female companions chose not to brave the queue, much to their chagrin when we later told them of our concluding thoughts.

Once inside you’ll be taken aback by the décor, seeing as this is classy gents: barren would probably be a compliment. The furniture serves a purpose however and I am led to believe that the budget to move indoors (from the van they used to operate from) was hardly the wealth of Solomon. The drinks menu is simple and the draught beer “Whatever” was fairly decent (there are also cocktails on offer but we stuck to beer to accompany our torrents of meat). You may want to bring a tipple for the queue, especially if you plan on a visit soon.

It’s worth pausing to mention the atmosphere at this point, you are airtight in that bar and (at least at our visit), everyone was so excited to be eating there it was impossible not to make friends wherever you stood (we made the acquaintance of a trio from Germany, Malaysia, and Australia). Your bar tabs (it would be mental to try and get people to pay cash at such close quarters) are represented by toy cows – we got the Texas longhorn, and lorded it over others with lesser breeds. Incidentally, the chalkboard you see on entry has a lists of “beasts” on the menu today so you know exactly what type of pig/cow you’re about to demolish. The specials also feature on here but were sold out by the time we got served at 9 (they were duck heart and ox cheek if I recall correctly).

On to the main event. The menu comprises 5 types of meat (3 ribs, pulled pork, and sausage), I’d recommend adding a half portion of extra meat for a fiver to your main just to try more. The pulled pork was fantastic, incredibly punchy flavour and it went very well with what appeared to be a vinegar based coleslaw featuring gherkins. It really put other attempts in the UK to shame. The sauce that the meal sits in is also worthy of a mention; there is a chunk of bread to mop it up with or get your pork in there. In the meat stakes, the ribs really take the cake… I got the St. Louis ribs and they were a revelation, not usually a one for char on meat I was a full convert by the end. The St. Louis is a dryer seasoning to the other ribs and are cooked for around 12 hours according to the waiter. Obviously the meat falls off  the bone as is the clichéd response to a meal like this – it fucking should after that long, if you cooked a boot for a day with a pack of lard on it’d be tender by the end. Where this stands above the rest is the texture and consistency. Every part of every rib was perfectly cooked, obviously they start with a lot of fat on them to be able to tolerate that much cooking but there’s no evidence of spots with more than any other than in the rack. A really fatty bite would jar with the charred outside but as you may have guessed – it’s not an issue here.

[I generally prefer cuts with as little fat as possible (rump is my cut of choice for steak), I think the flavour is better and the texture more palatable – deride me if you want but after that you can leave this site forever and probably go back to waiting at a Gaucho grill.]

The sides for me probably even eclipsed the meats, the burnt end mash (yes, it comes with gravy and meat on top) is comfortably the best mash I’ve ever had. It absolutely schools Joel Robuchon’s offering round the corner (previous title holder), it tastes of potato not a bucket of cream and butter. It is perfectly smooth, it’s just the right amount and you should go and try it immediately.

The final comment will be left to a man far more qualified than I to judge this eatery… the man I met in the miniscule waiting area for the toilet (singular) with an immaculate beard from South Carolina:

“I’ve been in the UK for 8 years, and Bodean’s is ok but this is the first place I’ve found that understands barbecue”

Price: 54GBP for 2 (inc. beers)