Having visited Bodeans in London’s Soho I was keen to try a more authentic American BBQ experience and on the recommendation of NYC Food Guy thought that RUB BBQ would no doubt be the people to help.
RUB standing for ‘Righteous Urban Barbeque’ implying that to eat here is morally correct and therefore a must. Perusing the menu was a bit of a minefield with dishes like ‘The King of King’s,’ ‘Puttin’-on-the-Dog,’ ‘B.L.F.G.T.’ and ‘The Elvis Crusher’ appearing with little explanation as to the actual content. I considered going for a sandwich but in the end we selected ‘The Baron’ a meat platter to share. We did ask the waitress if this was wise, she said we had made a good choice as you get a bit of everything and 2 large sides, we chose fries and onion strings.
The onion strings were a marvel, crunchy and oniony without being too fatty and the chips too, which were thicker than the average fries with some potato skin left on them. Each table is provided with 2 bottles of sauce when the food arrives, a barbeque sauce and a spicy barbeque sauce, which was not particularly spicy but both sweet and smoky so it did the job.
'The Baron’ itself was an awe-inspiring sight. The table was barely big enough.
Some onlookers bid us good luck when they saw what we had ordered. I began with the ribs (top middle of the picture) and worked my way around clockwise, sampling each of the offerings, turkey, beef, ham, pulled pork (centre), sausage (which was surprisingly very spicy), pastrami (far left) and lastly the chicken. I was pleased to see the addition of some crinkle cut gherkins having delighted in the pastrami with pickles combo at Katz’s earlier in the trip. The base of white bread was a bit odd though I thought.
I had unsweetened ice tea to wash it down and Thomas had Dr Pepper, the drinks are regularly re-filled which is a nice touch. After a couple of rounds of the plate and a good couple of handfuls of each of the sides I began to feel full. But (like the dreaded all you can eat buffet scenario) with such an array before you, it’s hard to know when to stop. So we continued, for around 10 minutes longer than certainly I should have and as a result, for the rest of the day there was no escaping the taste of the meat and the bbq sauce.
When we were finally defeated, ‘The Baron’ remaining reasonably intact – we barely made a dent, the waitress asked if we would like boxes in which to take the rest home. We declined and as a result of this meat feast I vowed to not eat meat for at least a week upon returning to London! My favourite of the meats was the ham, Thomas’ was the pulled pork but we definitely overestimated ourselves and were a feeble match for ‘The Baron.’
NB. My pledge of vegetarianism lasted all of 24 hours. Oops.
RUB BBQ
208 West 23rd St, NY
5.5/10
2 comments:
:D The waitresses there are insane! I went there too when I was in New York last September. The waitress told us the Baron would be ok for 3! Ha! We almost died!
I hear that sliced white bread is traditionally served with barbecue. Sometimes saltine crackers.
Haha! Bless them, I wanted to eat more, I really did! When I asked our waitress said she'd seen 4 guys manage the whole thing but they struggled.
I guess the bread does make sense, it just looked a little funny, like a bed for the meat!
Thanks for the comment!
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