main

Food & DrinkRestaurant reviews

Barbecue ribs in northeast London: Duke’s Brew and Que – Restaurant Review

14 May, 2015 — by Toni Ratcliff0

Better pack your finest adult-bib and toothpicks, because we're going to meat town.

Let’s play a game. I bet I can grab your attention in three words: barbecue, ribs, beer. Did it work? I kneeeew it.

That’s basically the genius behind Duke’s Brew and Que in Haggerston. A traditional Texan style, wood-smoke barbecue joint plonked in the middle of northeast London serving up ribs, burgers, pulled pork and all manner of other delicious meaty, smoky treats.

Oh, and if that wasn’t good enough it’s also the bloomin’ home of Beavertown Brewery as well. So that’s barbecued meats and delicious beers on tap is it? Oh dear. This can only end one way.

Mere minutes around the corner from Haggerston Overground station, in an otherwise seemingly innocuous residential area, sits Duke’s Brew and Que in a revamped 18th century pub. It’s always heaving outside with trendy types smoking cigarettes, quaffing beers and gnawing on rib bones in their skinny jeans. Step through the doors and inside it’s all stripped-back wood, bare brick walls and local craft beers on tap. You sort of innately know this place is going to be good.

All the hits


Dukes Brew & Que: Dukes Greatest Hits

We ordered the Dukes ‘Greatest Hits’ consisting of one 12 ounce beef rib, one pork rib and a clump of pulled pork, served with coleslaw, pickled red onions, BBQ sauce and Texas garlic toast. So there was little chance of us wasting away.

The ‘one beef rib’ is huge and looks as if it has been plucked from a dinosaur before taking a turn in the smoker. (It reminds me a bit of the beginning credits of The Flintstones where Fred’s car tips over when the waitress brings him a giant serving of Brontosaurus ribs. But, y’know, a bit smaller.)

It all comes served together on a metal tray as part of the laid back, hispter vibe. All eyes are drawn to the beef rib, he’s blimming huge for a start. Once you strip it off the bone it has a super beefy taste with a great crusty bark all over the outside.

One end of ours was slightly overdone, but the other was soft and delicious and not dry at all. Dipping this into the accompanying BBQ sauce adds a slight vinegary, Tabasco taste and a little kick of chilli to compliment the overwhelming beefy flavour. I feel like this is the kind of thing Desperate Dan would probably eat for breakfast. And then use then bone as a toothpick afterwards.

Having devoured the beef we turn our attention to the slightly smaller pork rib who is draped there seductively, coated in a glaze of Molasses. Mr pork is soft and juicy, he probably could have done with a whack of seasoning and an extra rub of spices but was otherwise very tasty and I wasn’t complaining too much.

Right next to him sits the lovely soft pulled pork, all squishy and moist, a nice contrast to the crunchy bark on the beef rib. Sweet to start, with a mild chilli punch at the end, the pulled pork also has that overriding fatty taste that coats your mouth and leaves you wanting more.

The pickled red onions add some bite and the coleslaw is fine but with a few little tweaks I feel that these could probably both be great. However, the garlic toast is delicous. It comes as a big wedge of a doorstop, crispy and fried on the outside and soft and pillowy in the middle, absolutely riddled with garlic and parsley. It was amazing. I would have eaten a loaf of it.

B-sides

To accompany our dino-ribs we also ordered a whole bunch of sides too. What? You think the massive tray of meat above was enough? Come now, we’re not savages! This woman demands sides!

Dukes Brew & Que: Mac n Cheese

And everyone knows that when you go out for dinner it is simply impossible to eat anything without the regulation order of Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Or maybe that’s just me?

Either way, the ‘mac’ at Duke’s comes in four different varieties: straight up mac, mac with bacon, mac with pulled pork, or mac with jalapenos. We opted for the mac and cheese with bacon, which was a fun accompaniment  but quite honestly didn’t add too much to the overall experience. But it didn’t matter, because the rest of it was utterly delicious!

The pasta was the bigger tubes of elbow macaroni which somehow made the dish seem a lot lighter; unlike sometimes when you eat macaroni cheese and you feel liked you have swallowed one of those plastic swimming bricks into your stomach, this time I didn’t feel completely disgusting.

The pasta was not overcooked and the super creamy cheese sauce was amazing! I would go so far as to say that this is up there with some of the best mac ‘n’ cheese I have had in London to date.

On top of the carbs and meat I did insist that we have a side salad. But I doubt that Dr Gillian McKeith would be that impressed by the Big Wedge Salad, consisting of a whole half of an iceberg lettuce smothered in ranch dressing and bacon bits. Yet it was actually very refreshing. The lettuce was nice and cold, the smoked bacon bits were good and crispy and the creamy, garlicky ranch dressing smelled so authentic it reminded me of being on holiday in America when I was a kid.

Dukes Brew & Que: Big Wedge Salad

I think this is probably one of the only ways that iceberg lettuce should ever be consumed. To increase our five a day by another half a point we also had the baked beans with smoked pork, which tasted like a real cowboy had cooked them up for you. By that I mean that they weren’t overly sweet and dripping in sauce like we are used to with Heinz. Just well cooked, soft beans with a slight tomatoey coating.

Although, I did find them a tiny bit lacking, and in this instance I think a slight nod to Mr Heinz in the way of a bit more sugar, spice and sauce would actually have improved matters.

But all was not lost! Last but by no means least were the Wings in Barstardo (that’s deep fried chicken wings to you). These babies are also available in three different varieties: hot, hotter and nuclear!

Dukes Brew & Que: Bastardo Chicken Wings

We plumped for hot but could definitely have stepped up another gear without much worry I think. These wings were really good. The meat was soft and fell off the bone, the coating was spicy and hot yet not overpowering with chilli heat, and they had just the right level of tangy vinegary-ness.

I’m going to throw my hat into the ring and say that these are some of the best chicken wings I have had in London too. The blue cheese dip that came alongside them was nice and creamy with flecks of chives. It probably could have handled some more blue cheese in my opinion, but with wings like these I doubt anyone was complaining.

So there we have it. A whole tray of meat goods consumed and nobody died.

Overall I would really recommend Duke’s Brew & Que as a great place to go when you need a serious meat fix and a burger just won’t cut it. Sure on the day that we went the ribs were maybe not 100% on their game, but pretty much everything else made up for it in spades. And there was nothing that would put me off going back again to try every single other thing on the menu. As long as it comes on a tray though. I am eating all my meals in tray form now. Next week – TV dinners.

Still hungry? Find all the good places to eat with our best London restaurants section, including this review of Salvation in Noodles, Dalston.

Date:
Title:
Duke’s Brew and Que, London
Rating:
41star1star1star1stargray

Leave a Reply