Bodean's (Bar, Restaurant)

Meat your maker.

The Soho branch of Bodean's (there's also one on Clapham High Street) is set on two floors. Whilst the basement floor is a restaurant specialising in smokehouse fare, the bar (which also does food) is on the ground floor.

The bar is nice enough with high stools and communal tables in dark wood, plasma screens showing American sports and a mirror that runs the length of the wall making it look a lot bigger than it actually is.

Prices are really quite decent, fizzy drinks come with an endless refill for just £1.75 (I think they were endless, well, no one said anything when I went up for the fourth time).

As well as an excellent selection of obscure beers for about £2.70 (bar manager Pierre used to work at Belgos), which includes Lapin Kulta a beer brewed by Danish women, there is a cocktail menu of around 30 drinks.

I recommend the totally potent but refreshing Rum Treacle (Myers dark rum, bitters and apple juice), a Mojito was delightfully clean and well composed, but the very best was the Brandy Brulee a divine Brandy, vanilla liqueur and Grand Marnier concoction which was set alight before the addition of cream. Rich and warming it replaces dessert and, quite frankly, the woes of your day.

Between 6-8 and all day Sunday cocktails drop from their reasonable £5.50 to £3.75 which makes them unmissable at this quality.

As well as the sane pricing the real pull here is the awesome grub. Though in all honesty unless you like food that had a face you're unlikely to want to visit Bodean's, where the only vegetables on offer are the side orders of fries, coleslaw or beans. Blokeish portions of spare ribs, beef ribs, baby back ribs, pulled pork (shoulder of the pig which has been slow smoked cooked for 15 hours till it falls off in succulent, juicy chunks much nicer than you're probably imagining), whole chickens and hot dogs make up the whole menu.

A chicken and spare rib dinner with two side orders (£11.25) was enough for the two people (mind you I was feeling pretty full on endless cola by then). Next time I'll be ditching the chicken and getting me a whole rack of those ribs. Tender, tasty and requiring little effort to get off the bone they were amazingly moreish and made you forget that your dinner was being served on a plastic tray (go downstairs for proper crockery). The fries were also awesome with not a single duff, soggy one in our portion.

Bodean's isn't a place you'd stay to drink all night (though the Clapham branch has opened a bar) and there are far too many people eating flesh to make it a lounge destination, but hey, it doesn't pretend to be so.

It is, however, the destination for excellent smokehouse fare, great staff with playful personalities, or an unpretentious pit stop. Yup, Bodean's is where you wanna go if you want to meat and greet....read more