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Pitt Cue Co, Soho, Emperors New Clothes

One of my oldest friend’s Emir popped in to my office yesterday to say hello. Back in the 80’s Emir, my brother and I were the trio to know around Edgware Rd and Bayswater, well if you were under 10 that is. Emir may have taught me how to master my bike and manic miner on the Comodore 64 but he was also central to an important part of my culinary upbringing. His parents took me out for my very first McDonalds, I remember it well it was from the McDonalds on Edgware road and they then drove us into Hyde Park where we sat on the grass by the barracks and ate a cheeseburger. An addiction to junk food was born, so in that youthful spirit I suggested to Emir we pop out for a quick lunch at “Pitt Cue”. Emir lives in Switzerland so I was trying to explain to him what has changed in the London restaurant scene. The super star multi Michelin restaurants are out and instead the fashion is for smaller places, concentrating on a limited menu with no booking so creating a sense of excitement.

I had tried to get into Pitt Cue a couple of times before but been deterred by the lengthy queue. Yesterday being early lunchtime we walked and got the last couple of stools along the wall in the bar. To be honest this wasn’t the most comfortable option as there is really not a huge amount of room. “Bodeans” have stool seating but you get a lot more room around you. I said to Emir forget the paired down surroundings, places like this are all about the food. The waiter explained a bit about the menu and I went for pork ribs with a side of beans and Emir had beef ribs with coleslaw. We waited a little while for our food so enjoyed an Oki-ish house draught beer. The food arrived and I was a little let down I was expecting some tasty tangy little baby back ribs and instead I had 3 big fore ribs. They were tasty enough mainly of garlic but it wasn’t what I had in mind. They also weren’t cooked that evenly and the beans weren’t quite on a par with the “Bodeans” ones. Emir fared better his big beef ribs were perfectly cooked and extremely tasty, he also loved the coleslaw.

We didn’t stay for dessert as we were quite full and it’s not really a place to linger. The bill came to £40 but that worked out at a quid a minute based on the length of our visit. If I’m honest this place has a touch of the emperor’s new clothes about it. It doesn’t look special inside and sat on a small stool against a narrow bar you certainly don’t feel special. This is possibly tempered by feeling smug for bagging a spot in this hot new place. However in my case I was expecting a lot more from the food and really it didn’t deliver. Maybe I should have gone for beef ribs like Emir but in a place with only a few dishes on the menu it should all be spot on. I may pop back again for the beef ribs but it’s no destination place for me. The memory of that first cheeseburger is in no danger of being topped!

Thursday, August 16, 2012
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6

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