If you go to Bodean’s on Poland Street in Soho, London’s premiere BBQ restaurant*, try to go on a Monday or Wednesday. Serendipity sent me there last night, a Monday, when the BBQ Burnt Ends are the special on the menu. Admittedly the name burnt ends is not instantly attractive, especially as I am a man who thinks well done meat is the paradimatical case of an oxymoron. However in field of excellently smoked, cooked and seasoned meat last night, the burnt ends stood out as a triumph. Half a rack of ribs were suculent, the pulled pork shredded with glee and the half chicken juicy and spicy. But the burnt ends…
Burnt ends being literally burnt bits of beef brisket. You know when you do a beef stew, and some bits poke out of the liquid and go all hard and yet seriously tasty. This was a dish made solely of such bits of meat, shredded in a thick, gloopy sauce. And a lot of it too. With a nice selection of US beers (Anchor Steam!) and some nice ice-cream after it was a lovely Monday night.
We were surprised though that this superlative dish could only be sourced on a Monday and Wednesday. Our extremely helpful waitress explained to us the complicated curing and cooking technique that turns up the burnt ends, and we let her get away with it. Clearly it is actually a way of bolstering their clientelle on the traditionally quiet days of the week. And for me, it will probably work. But so much meat…
*Not only by virtue of it being a very small field