A trip to see Shepherds Bush to see Embrace, the band Coldplay could have been, preceded by a couple of beers and some food at Brewdog Shepherds Bush, what could go wrong? Well the beer and music were good the food is another matter. I had actually eaten there before, the night of the infamous Wonderstuff Christmas gig with Big Matt and Gordon. I had headed down ‘fresh' from our work Christmas Do. It's fair to say I'd had a few at lunchtime so I needed some food to soak it all up before diving back in to festivities. I ordered a pulled pork bap and it was pretty good. Plenty of meat quite heavy on the tangy sauce but it did the trick and much fun was had by all. Yesterday I returned with the chaps thankfully stone cold sober so I could form a more considered opinion of Brewdog and its wares.
As you have perhaps seen I have a love hate relationship with Shepherds Bush. I've had plenty of good nights out here but the area as a whole leaves a lot to be desired. Despite it being home to London's biggest poshest shopping centre and close to some of the nicest bits of London it remains a bit unloved and shabby. The local pubs for instance range from dull to downright dodgy (I witnessed my only ever full on bar brawl in the late unlamented Bushranger). Brewdog is therefore a welcome addition to the area. It is open and airy with that big bar feel but still maintaining plenty of seating for the older punter. The big draw here is the Brewdog beer and once you get past inanity of their crass PR campaigns they actually brew pretty good craft beer. I don't like the very strong stuff but their mid range 4-5% stuff is very good. Now the food this time was another matter. Gordon went for some pulled pork on chips which he enjoyed. Big Matt and I went for the big Texan burger and a side of hot wings. They were awful!
For £10 we got a burger with some questionable coleslaw, a below par pickle and weirdly a big pot of barbecue sauce. This was the worst burger I have eaten in about 5 years. I should have known it was bad when I bit in to a cold onion ring on top. Under that was a very sorry piece of lettuce and some garish cheese melted onto an insipid burger. It might have tasted OK if the fairly stale bun hadn't been burnt. I was hoping for better with the chicken wings £6. What I got was flabby burnt on the outside undercooked on the inside wings. Really unpleasant! Now normally I just have the great British passive aggressive reaction of complaining to my friends and posting a snarky comment on twitter but this time I found a pair and complained (the next day online!). Fairs fair Brewdog and Texas Joes who do the food for them both came back offering me refunds and a drink next time. In my view this shows good customer service and a willingness to be better. I want to go back to Brewdog and I want to try their food again so I'm hoping they have made an improvement! Let's hope they make an Embrace like come back!
Friday, May 30, 2014
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5