Succulent, barbecued ribs are one of my favourite dishes ever. Period! So I've always been on the lookout for a restaurant that specializes in this particular area of culinary heaven. Having scoured the internet with searches like “the best place to have ribs in London”, a name kept repeatly popping up. “The Blues Kitchen”! It was featured in the Top 10 listings of many restaurant guides I came across.
So without hesitation, I booked a table down at Blues Kitchen in Camden last Sunday afternoon to check it out for myself. They have other branches in Shoreditch and Brixton too, but Camden was nearest to me and I absolutely LOVE place too!
The restaurant is situated in a tucked away corner of Camden High Street, actually looking quite unassuming from the outside. One thing you won’t miss though are the numerous segmented windows with wooden green frames. They almost cover the entire frontage to provide maximum daylights in from the outside. Quite a unique and clever design.
Once inside, one of the first things that hits you is the chilled atmosphere. Sporting a true retro blue bar vibe complete with vintage posters everywhere. And the contrasting blue and orange tiled decorations also seem to add yet more of that retro feel flavour to the surroundings. Luxury leather-style booths provides for some inviting and comfortable seating arrangements. Though I was most impressed by the enormous ceiling lights that were made from gramophones! Of all things, lol!
Towards the back section of the venue, there is an area catering for live music. Light, beige coloured old wooden barrels are used as makeshift tables to capture a very authentic looking "American Bar" ambience. The background music were some good old traditional Blues tracks, fitting in perfectly with the decor and general mood of the place. So far, so great!
On a side note, various "live" music evenings and featured club nights are a regular occurrence all week long. Apparently some legendary music icons including Seasick Steve, Gary Clark Jr, Pete Doherty, Vintage Trouble and The Strypes have all played there in the past. How cool is that?
The food served there is an all–American delicious feast consisting of incredible barbecue ribs and juicy, moist burgers. I was astounded how great the food tasted! Highlights on the menu have to be that 16-hour slow smoked beef ribs, the tender Texan sausages and the best buffalo wings this side of town. And for all you vegetarians out there, there is an option to order a “super salad” too, lol.
But the star of the show was without a doubt the BBQ meat. A slow smoke process was used to make the meat more flavoursome and the key part of it is the type of wood that are in use. All the meat here was slow smoked in-house using a blend of hickory, oak, mesquite and fruit woods. Sweet and simply oozing gorgeous goodness! What a first trip here！
You can go for one, two or three meats. The options are as follows:
Burnt Ends - beef brisket glazed with a beer & hickory barbecue sauce, slow smoked for 12 hours
Beef Brisket – with a Texan rub, slow smoked for 10 hours.
Short Beef Rib – slow smoked for 10 hours.
St Louis Pork Rib – slow smoked for 4 hours.
I opted for the two meat combo which was the beef rib and burnt ends. OMG, it was amazing! Meaty heaven!
The Beef Rib was drenched in that tasty sauce, so tender and juicy. Literally melt in your mouth! You could really taste the fusion of all those flavours in the marinade. And I thoroughly enjoyed the burnt ends too. However it was WAY more filling than it looked on the menu and the brisket really gave it the rich and full flavour it deserved. Mouth-watering indulgence!
The meal came with an accompaniment of crisp fries, which you could swap over for some sweet potato or mac and cheese if you so desire.
I do feel the need to stress the portion sizes again though. It would be preferable if you work upa big appetite first before dining here. To really get your money's worth. I hate to waste food but physically could not finish my plate, even with help from my husband! In the end, we were both draped over each other, full to the absolute brim! Forget about desserts on this visit, lol.
My husband is a massive burger lover so he ordered the "Burger of the Month" from the menu, aptly proclaimed as “the three Bs”. It was aged beef patty, along with a slice of blue cheese, BBQ pork ribs and bourbon mayo. Oh yes, and a serving of several enormous onion rings. He said it was very delicious too. Two very satisfied customers!
Finally, there are a selection of craft beers, classic cocktails and bespoke bourbons on the drinks menu. In total around fifty bourbons in a variety of categories. That's a lot of drinking options! But I'd have to take a rain check this time round.
So in summary, everything from the food to the ambience of this place to the friendly staff members, were amazing and right on point. It was good to see the prices offered were decent enough, though the drinks were perhaps on the expensive side. But given the location of the venue being right in the heart of awesome Camden, it all made sense really.
I did not have a chance to stay until the live music that evening but will surely be back to enjoy more of the delights contained within this excellent establishment. I've fallen in love with "Blues Kitchen" and heartily recommend it to anyone who's a serious meat lover out there. It'll certainly be a tough job topping this place.
美味多汁的烧烤肉骨是我最爱的菜肴之一。作为吃货一族的我，总是不停地寻找伦敦最好的烤肉店，呵呵。在网上搜索的时候，“布鲁斯厨房”这个名字总是重复出现，而且在很多餐馆指南里被列为前十名。
网上的好评让我毫不犹豫地在这家“布鲁斯厨房”订了位，打算周日下午来看看。它其实在伦敦有三家连锁店，除了离我家最近的Camden分支以外， 还有位于Shoreditch和Brixton的两家。
布鲁斯厨房位于Camden 主街道的一个拐角处。外观挺平凡的，唯一有特色的是他们靠街面的部分基本上是由大面积的玻璃窗配上绿色的木头框架组成，我想这主要是采光的设计吧，挺聪明的。
室内的天花板很高，有浓厚的复古风格装饰，以布鲁斯音乐为主题同时也有摇滚音乐。墙壁上蓝橙相间的装饰瓷砖形成了鲜明的对比，也增添了不少复古的味道。豪华的皮革座位很舒适，也具现代感。让我印象最深刻的是天花板上用复古留声机做成的灯饰，非常有特色。
餐馆前半部分是用餐区，中间是美式风格的酒吧，而后半部分则是现场音乐表演的地方。旧木桶被改造成酒吧桌，非常有意思，呵呵。这里每周都有现场的乐队表演，据说很多著名的音乐人都在这里表演过哦，如Seasick Steve，Gary Clark Jr，Pete Doherty，Vintage Trouble和The Strypes！
菜单里是典型的美式佳肴，包括美味多汁的烧烤肋骨，分量十足的超级汉堡和酥脆不油腻的炸鸡，都非常受欢迎。 对于素食的朋友， 可以点这里的超级沙拉，据说也不错。
这家餐馆的亮点当然是超级无敌的烧烤肉咯。为了使食物更具独特的香味，他们加入了烟熏的手法，连烧的木头都是有讲究的，要燃烧时能提供极高温度和纯正木香的木料。
经典烧烤肉有以下四种的选择：
1/ 慢火烟熏12小时的烧烤汁牛腩
2/ 慢火烟熏1小时的德克萨斯特色牛腩
3/ 慢火烟熏10小时的小牛肋骨
4/ 慢火烟熏4小时的圣路易斯猪排
大家可以根据自己食量选择单色，双色还是三色烤肉拼盘。我选择了小牛肋骨和酱汁牛腩。
天啊，我从未吃过这么好吃的烟熏牛骨排，浸泡在美味酱汁中的牛排，鲜嫩多汁，即刻溶化在嘴里！牛腩也超级好吃，感觉牛腩酱汁十分入味，口感非常好！这个看起来分量不大，但吃起来却口口是肉，对肉食爱好者，这里绝对是天堂，哈哈。
烧烤肉配搭鲜榨脆薯条，也可以换成炸番薯条或芝士通心粉。
我觉得需要再次强调一下，这里的食物份量很大。我本人很不喜欢浪费食物，但这次也真的力不从心，即便加上我先生的帮忙，还是没能全部吃完。只有下次再品尝这里的甜点咯。
我先生最爱汉堡，他点了這個月主推的 “3 Bs汉堡”。汉堡包里有厚厚一层的牛肉饼，香喷喷的烧烤猪排肉，还有浓郁的蓝纹芝士和几个巨大的炸洋葱圈，先生说好吃得停不下来，呵呵。
这家的饮品菜单上有精选的啤酒，经典鸡尾酒还有50多种不同的波旁威士忌酒！这么多的选择，肯定有一款是你喜欢的。
总而言之，这家餐馆从食物到氛围以及侍应生的服务都不错。食物价格也合理，虽然饮品可能稍微贵了一点儿。 但鉴于所在伦敦最热闹的Camden主街道上，这也合情合理。
唯一遗憾的是我们没能等到晚上的现场音乐表演，不过总是有下一次机会的嘛。如果你喜欢香喷喷的烧烤肉和布鲁斯音乐，一定不要错过这家气氛超好的美式吧餐馆哦！