Neon lettering in the restaurant window reads ‘FREE SMELLS’, and boy does Queen Street smell good now that Red’s True Barbecue have moved in. Yeah, Fopp was cool and we were all sad to see it move but, for the new residents, rock ‘n’ roll isn’t just a section, it’s the whole ethos.
We’re not great at barbecue in the UK. In fact, we’re bordering on terrible - there’s just not enough consecutive sunny days for us to perfect our skills. The guys behind Red’s, however, know their stuff. They’ve travelled the USA, from Carolina to Texas, eating and drinking in the name of research. Bless ‘em, it must have been tough.
Let’s get stuck in. The ox cheek bone luge (£7.95) epitomises Red’s style: it’s about meat, bourbon and loads of swagger. Firstly, you consume the eight-hour, slow-cooked, shredded ox cheek which sits atop a bone split down the middle. It melts in your mouth. You then scrape out and eat the gelatinous, buttery bone marrow, hold the empty bone casing to your lips, and get your mate to pour the bourbon shot down the ‘luge’ into your mouth.
The burnt ends (£7.95) are little nuggets of thrice cooked beef brisket - super sticky and taste like black treacle. The giant onion rings (£1.95) are bloomin’ huge. Created from the outer layers of spanish onions, they’re the size of Bendigo’s fist.
“Everything tastes better with bacon” is a mantra that applies to the bacon wrapped jalapeno chillies (£4.95). Lee, our waiter, asked if we wanted any more ‘man fuel’. Seemed like a good plan, what with all the chillies, so two more pints of American Saviour arrived.
Choosing a main course was tough with a menu of burgers with donut rings instead of buns and steaks that weigh in at 42 ounces. We made up a combo to share. The beef long ribs (£16.95) were incredible, the meat has a dark, sticky outer layer and was tender to the extreme, cascading off the bone. The USDA Angus beef brisket (£7.50) was the best I’ve ever had, and the chicken wings (£3.90) were full of barbecue flavour.
We finished with two, or maybe three, picklebacks (£2.90). A shot of Jameson’s whiskey chased with a shot of house-made pickle juice. It sounds crazy but this is Red’s - you just gotta trust ‘em. Ash Dilks
11 Queen Street, NG1 2BL. 0115 7117999
truebarbecue.com
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