Bodean's (American)
Above: Bill Knott enjoyed 'excellent quesadilla' and 'beautiful smoky chicken' at Bodean's
Some years ago, I spent a few days in Louisville, Kentucky, losing my shirt on the Derby and generally whooping it up in the home of bourbon and bluegrass. Even as a devoted carnivore, however, I actually started to crave a few vegetables. Man cannot live on pulled pork alone.
Listening to my request for something more leafy than beefy, the waitress eyed me strangely. ‘We got collard greens’ she told me. These turned out to be some fibrous kind of spinach which had been cooked for several days and augmented with lumps of fatty smoked bacon. The other vegetable option, she told me, was macaroni cheese. I must confess a sneaking admiration for a culture that treats macaroni as a vegetable.
Bodean’s, the American barbecue restaurant on Westbourne Grove, has the same philosophy as my Kentucky waitress. Vegetarians, while not actively discouraged, will find little to tempt them: vegetable enchiladas or a corn-on-the-cob. Even the BBQ beans contain meat.
Ah, meat. That’s why people go here: lots of people, actually, happily munching racks of ribs in Bodean’s smart leather booths, or drinking excellent beer and taking in a ballgame on one of the many plasma screens.
I took my American/Brazilian friend Tony, who (not surprisingly, given his background) has strong views on meat, and the art of the barbecue in particular. He was generally impressed. Neither of us felt hungry for several days afterwards.
We started with the mixed platter for two, which could feed a family of four: actually, we started with a couple of pints of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on draught, a legendary American beer which merits a pilgrimage to Bodean’s on its own.
The suds washed down ‘fire-kissed shrimps’ – particularly toothsome king prawns – some so-so crab cakes, excellent quesadillas, slow-cooked chicken wings (the smoky chicken beautifully cooked, with a pink tinge which should not discourage you) and a couple of dips. Our waitress (from the Deep South: Australia, to be precise) looked at us with a mixture of shock and admiration as we ploughed into main courses of baby back ribs, pulled pork, half a chicken and smoked sausage. With coleslaw, fries, pickles, cornbread muffins, beans, and onion rings, naturally. We didn’t have room for a side salad.
Everything was good: stand-outs were the sweetly smoky ribs, the coarsely-chopped, succulent smoked sausage, and the sweetly crumbly, freshly-baked muffins. The cheesecake, served with a tart compôte of red berries, was jolly good, too. Vegetables, we decided, have their place: it just isn’t at Bodean’s. Bill Knott
Lunch or dinner for two, with beer, around £50
Bodean’s, 57 Westbourne Grove W2 4UA
020 7727 9503