Bodean’s BBQ

Okay so after hearing fab reviews from other people in my office, I decided to check it out. We do a weekly massive order of food for the office so I used Bodean’s on one of these occasions!
Needless to say, I was not disappointed! The food – even slightly cold unavoidable after being delivered to the office – was great! I had so much food! I ate and ate and ate and ate till I could not eat anymore. It was fantastic and I was so full that I did not need to eat dinner that night.
Fantastic food. Fantastic staff. All-​around great!

Good service, the usual yummy food, cracking margarita! Six in a booth was a bit of a squish given the sheer size of the plates, but we still had fun.

Decent ribs and wings, but everything else let us down a bit.
I decided I was hungry for BBQ this past Saturday and noticed that this Bodean’s had opened up and gotten good reviews. It was busy when we got there around 7pm, the food smelled great, and the décor was your basic kitschy faux Americana, but not over the top. (Although what’s up with the bizarre word salad in the entryway?) Pretty good whiskey and beer selection.
There was an hour wait for a table, but one freed up quickly in the bar area, so we decided to just eat there, which the hostess helpfully facilitated. I went to get drinks, and saw they had a wide array of whiskey cocktails (my favorite!) at reasonable prices, mostly £7−9. So I ordered a Brown Derby… to which the bartender replied, «what?» Somewhat hesitantly, I pointed to it in the menu. She said, abruptly, «I don’t know what that is.» Soooo… a beer it is. Not a great experience there, although at least she let me try the Crazy Mountain brew they had on tap. (Terrible, by the way.)
We ordered hot wings and a burnt ends/​ribs combo with fries and cornbread muffins.
— Wings: 4 stars. Didn’t taste like buffalo wings, much smokier, but they were big, well-​cooked, and decently spicy.
— Ribs: 4 stars. Good sauce, good flavor. Not quite as good as Duke’s, but I’d guess they were cooked pretty low and pretty slow.
— Burnt Ends: 3 stars. Not terrible, but not cooked long enough, as the fat hadn’t rendered, and served kind of lukewarm.
— Fries: 3 stars. The seasoning was weird.
— Coleslaw: wait, what? We didn’t order coleslaw, but it showed up anyway, contaminating everything around it with goopy mayo. Yuck.
— Cornbread muffins: 2 stars. Didn’t show up originally, had to be re-​requested, and not worth the wait at all. Spongey, dense, and flavorless. Tasted like they had just been surfaced from the back of the freezer and nuked.
So overall, we weren’t completely disappointed, but not totally satisfied either. A fairly «meh» 3 stars on balance. Lots of other BBQ places to try, so we probably won’t be back any time soon, but if we were, we’d get the ribs.

We needed a Saturday spot that satisfied the following:
*playing the Premier League Game.
*a place to eat lunch that wasn’t a gross pub.
*somewhere that would be mildly accepting of children.
This is not an easy feat, my friends. Not at all. And when this Bodean’s popped up on City Road recently, I didn’t give it much thought. I’m not big on BBQ, though it was nice to have something in a formerly empty storefront, so there’s that.
Then my husband surmised it would be the gameday trifecta we were looking for, and he was right! He called ahead to see if they’d play the match for him (it was not a big US sports day), we knew it was new and they have a kids menu online, so that bodes well for the fact that we wouldn’t be spat on for bringing a child in. Bonus, off we went.
And it was great. First, the place is shiny and brand new, spacious, clean and well-​equipped with sturdy furniture, large TVs, a big bar, etc. Second, the staff is fantastic. Every person we came in contact with was helpful, friendly and knowledgable. Score!
The food is pretty good too! I opted for the grilled swordfish with pan friend okra, which was nice but surely not their specialty BBQ. (although points for trying!). The real winner was the combo platter my husband got with ribs, pulled pork, slaw and fries. YUM. Huge, and a pretty good value, too!
And the icing on the cake? Kids eat free from 12pm-​5pm, so that scrumptious bowl of mac ‘n cheese (which was a very generous portion) that I had planned on paying for, was actually free. (of course, with paying adult, but still!).
If you’re after some booze, they’ve got that to the hilt as well — join their loyalty card program and you could be privy to a free shot or drink on certain days of the week.
All in all, I think we’ll be back. It’s not a spot I would generally flock to, but it was a great experience and fits the bill perfectly for the football game days when we have a toddler that needs to eat. Goal!

There’s a new Bodeans on the block. On New Year’s Day we decided to make the long pilgrimage (10 minutes) down to get some lunch. It did not disappoint. We got the pulled pork plate with creamed corn and the rack of ribs. Bodeans always hits the spot in terms of meatitude. It’s not incredible but it fills the empty hole in your heart longing for barbecue.
The restaurant is a good size and you should be able to grab a booth if you want one or a table. The screens were showing hockey when we were there but it kept freezing so that was not amazing.
My only criticism was the key lime pie. It was lime cheesecake not key lime anything. Don’t be playing me, I know my key lime pie.

This review is for Bodean’s Thanksgiving special. In London it is not that easy to celebrate Turkey Day, and if you don’t book early, you often miss out on the once in a year chance to stuff yourself with the good food that this holiday is all about. I actually went into Bodean’s on the day and they were kind enough to give me a reservation, score! The staff here are really nice and very helpful. Another plus is the cost. Compared to other Thanksgiving venues in London, Bodean’s was reasonable and the portions were very generous.
I started with a chicken quesadilla starter which is not really traditional but surprisingly was actually my favourite dish. With the salsa, guacamole and sour cream it was perfect and quite filling. When my turkey platter arrived I could hardly make a dent in it and I had to take my pumpkin pie home as takeaway. The turkey came in slices and also as a huge Flintstones-​esque leg. The slices were juicy and nicer in my opinion although my friend really liked the dark meat of the leg better, which was even more smoky tasting than the slices. All the meat tastes smoky and barbecued, the way Bodean’s does and I think BBQ isn’t my thing but my friend really loved it. I liked the corn stuffing and grilled vegetables a lot, and I wish the gravy was stronger so it would add more to the mashed potatoes.
Overall it was a generous and good meal and with such nice service I would recommend it!

Might be a good restaurant, but their delivery system is a mess. I placed my order online and scheduled a delivery time of one hour later. When the food still hadn’t turned up 15 minutes after the scheduled delivery time, I repeatedly tried to call, but the phones were completely down. After 25 minutes of trying, I finally called the Tower Hill location and asked them to transfer me internally, which worked. I spoke to two different employees; the first couldn’t even locate my order, the second told me they had two bikes break down at the same time… but both of their stories kept changing (I was on the phone for over 15 minutes trying to sort out the status of my order). There was also a language barrier with both employees. They were polite and tried to be helpful, but it was obvious they were very flustered. Finally, the second person told me they put my order in a taxi. When I finally received it — TWO HOURS AFTER ORDERING — the food was good, but cold. I might give the restaurant a shot, but I’ll never order delivery from here again.