LDNReview
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Smokestak
Included In
We’re all for new hobbies, but some people go way too far with their latest obsession. For instance, middle-aged men who get into their vintage supercar a bit too much. It starts with a baseball cap off Ebay. “It’s cool! It’s from the same year as the car darling”. Next thing you know they’re wearing bomber jackets with a yellow horse patch to family birthdays, funerals, Christmas. It ends with a settlement over child custody and a tearful AutoTrader listing.
Turn up outside Smokestak and you could get a bit worried that these guys have gone all tragic-car-dad over barbecue. The exterior is pretty much unmarked and characterised by corrugated iron, purposeful rust, and an extremely testing door. We get the feeling the architect’s mood board centred around the word STEAMPUNK crossed out and replaced with SMOKEPUNK and, you have to say it’s a successful realisation of this. Whatever this is. Once you heave open the door you’re in an artfully dirty and dark room. The seats are wooden and the cutlery black. If Grand Design’s Kevin McCloud did a wealthy Scandinavian serial killer spin-off, this would likely win basement of the year.
photo credit: Carol Sachs
Their barbecue aesthetic is certainly on point, but what about the food? Turns out they’re really, really into this barbecue stuff. Their brisket bun - the thing they basically got famous for selling at festivals around the UK - is almost definitely still the best meat between bread you can get in London. The tower of meat comes with a handful of pickled chillies and it’s a storming combo. The bun comes in a regular and large size, meat quantity-wise. We are not regular kind of people and neither are you. We’ve jumped the gun though, because you’ll probably be chewing on some crispy pigtails before you go anywhere brisket related. These little fellas look a bit gnarled and wrong, but they taste so right: crunchy and moist, you shouldn’t be leaving anything on the bone. It’s down to business after this. Smoked meat business. Three slices of pastrami with pickles and mustard are smokey, meaty, vinegary bliss. The slices of brisket with a pile of pickled chilli are all charred edges and melty fat. Our one complaint? Please sirs, can we have some more?
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Smokestak’s obsession with all things smoky doesn’t end at the vibe and the meat though. The jacket potato is transformed from the nostalgic lunch of your 6th form into a crisp, partly blackened, molten cheese covered monster. On the lighter side of things, charred greens are covered with tahini, pomegranate and peanuts - a delicious combo. It’s one thing being able to smoke meats, it’s another being able to smoke greens.
And that’s the thing about Smokestak. They’re really into barbecue and smoking all kinds of foods (and surfaces) in the best possible way. This is Shoreditch’s finest example of how to go OTT on something, really well. It suits popping in for a quick bun and beer at the bar, or booking with a group to get serious with a whole brisket. It’s the sort of place you can use as an example of how to go about an obsession in the right away, even to Ferrari cap wearers.
Food Rundown
Cured Pigs Jowl
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Crispy Ox Cheek
Crispy Pigtail
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Brisket Bun
Pastrami, Sour Cabbage, And Pickles
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Thick-Cut Pork Ribs, Pickled Cucumbers
Beef Brisket
Beef Rib, Pickled Red Chilli
Heritage Tomato, Roasted Pine Nuts
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Salt Baked Beetroot, Goats Cheese, Hazelnuts
Charred Greens, Tahini, Pomegranate, Peanut
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch