Pit Smoked Barbeque

Prior to visiting London I'd shared on social media the reason behind my visit (to watch a favourite sport of mine at Wembley), and one food company had replied to tell me that they would be serving outside Wembley stadium and inviting me to visit them. 

Pit Smoked Barbeque was their name and after looking on their website (linked at the end of this memoir) and reading about their custom made smoking pit I was intrigued.

Pit Smoked Barbeque

There were a number of stalls available to choose from outside Wembley, but as Pit Smoked Barbeque had been in touch and after reading about their equipment I thought I'd choose them. 

Pit Smoked Barbeque Outside Wembley

They had a small menu of just three options from their van, all served on a brioche roll:

1. 18 Hour slow cooked pulled pork with BBQ sauce (£7.00)
2. Smoked XXL hotdog (£6.00)
3. Ultimate combo - a combination of both of the above (£8.00)

Menu

A simple menu for event catering, but as all items sounded like they'd satisfy another meat craving I went for the combined option! 

It's worth noting at this point that I didn't make them aware of who I was, or introduce my self prior to ordering to remind them that they'd contacted me prior to this. I just ordered like anyone else. 

So, on to the food.

I fully expected the usual arrangement of a frankfurter on a dry bun, then for it to be topped with pulled pork and optional coleslaw, before being doused in BBQ sauce. I was therefore surprised when the 'slaw went on the bun first, then the pulled pork, then finally the sausage and a thin line of BBQ sauce. Different way of doing it.

The bun was a fresh bun to start, not like the stale things that catering trailers usually sell you at big events. The coleslaw wasn't all all salad cream or mayonnaise either, but instead more just crunchy cabbage and carrot. So far so good. 

The pulled pork then. Now pulled pork from trailers usually isn't prepared that fresh and ends up being in a hot plate for a while and going dry. As their website states, they bring a BBQ pit with them and it smells great but they have the cooked foods on hot plates ready to serve, which is where this pork came from. As previous pulled pork has been when served like this, it was a little dry. It had a decent barbecue taste to it though which couldn't be avoided. They didn't scrimp on the pulled pork either. The 'slaw and pulled pork filled the bread bun. There wasn't any room for the sausage.

So the sausage became a balancing act on top of the pulled pork and that was covered in a 

quick dashing of BBQ sauce. The sausage was well cooked and well seasoned and a good diameter with generous length (steady!). The smoked barbecue taste was again a positive with the sausage as much as it was for the pulled pork. The skin was a little tough for my preference, which I can only liken to that of a frankfurter. 

The smoked BBQ sauce added extra smoky flavour to the meal as well as helping bring some moisture to the meal. 

Ultimate Combo meal

The problem with the meal was that without having a table to sit down and eat at, keeping the sausage on top of the bread and pulled pork was a difficult balancing act. It all tasted great though. 

Conclusion

Pit Smoked Barbeque often cater for large events including Reading Festival, Wembley events, barbecue events in Manchester, and many other events around the country. So although you may not be able to just visit them on request, you might come across them at a festival or event. 

If you do I highly recommend their food compared to the usual bare minimum catering food that's often available. 

The barbecue flavours they offer from their smoking pit are great. If anything they offer you too much barbecue, that or they need to find larger bread buns (my preferred solution over serving less).  It may have been better if the food came straight from their pit to the bread but I ordered at a quieter time and imagine when it's busy the sausages and pork wont have been on a hot plate so long so would probably be a bit juicier. 

If you see them at an event and you're not sure which catering van to choose from then you're in safe hands with Pit Smoked Barbeque. Hopefully they can introduce a bit more to their menus as time goes on.

http://pitsmokedbbq.co.uk/

Meat Rating: 6/10

Money for Meat: Paid in Full

Dirty Burger

With so much planned during my time in London I wasn't able to fit in all the burgers I wanted. In an attempt to, I found out that Dirty Burger were open bright and early at 9am and could be found in various locations around London (Whitechaple, Vauxhall, Shoreditch, & Kentish Town. They also have a store in Chicago!). A little out of the way for my day but closest to where I was staying I opted to visit the Kentish Town store, so I woke up early and made the trip on the tube up there to see if they'd offer me a burger at 9am. What better way to start the day?

I knew this place was a bit more hidden than some other restaurants, and without the steel bin on the corner of a side street I'd have probably walked past it. 

Bin sign

Head towards the bin and around the corner and you see, leaning onto the back of another restaurant, hidden away under the fire escape is a small corrugated metal building. Through the fire escape bars you can just about see the "Dirty Burger" sign. It's different I'll give it that. 

It's in there somewhere

Different

As you can imagine, at 9am on a Sunday morning in a little London town, a burger restaurant isn't too busy so I didn't have to wait or anything. I'd tweeted them about a week before to ask if they served burgers first thing in the morning to no reply so just thought I'd head down there and risk it. 

Entering the little building there's a high level wooden table around the perimeter and a centre breakfast bar type table in the middle of the room. To the left is the kitchen built into the back of the other restaurant. 

"Rustic" interior

"Rustic" interior

No real need for artificial light I suppose. May be the little bit of heating though

The staff were friendly for this time on a Sunday morning (can't imagine I'd be that friendly at work at that time on a Sunday). I asked if they served burgers but as soon as I looked up at the menu it became clear the answer would be no, not until 11am. A little disappointing that they didn't reply on social media to answer this for me, but I was there now so I'd sample their breakfast menu instead. Simple enough menu, either a sausage and egg or a bacon and egg sandwich including bottomless tea or coffee for £4. 

The Menu

There are fresh doughnuts to the side of the window into the kitchen too if you have a sweet tooth for breakfast. I settled for the sausage and egg sandwich though. 

Fresh made doughnuts

I'd barely opened a complimentary paper before they called me back over for my breakfast sandwich. It looked a bit empty on a tray on it's own but it towered high enough in it's wrapping. 

Wrapped breakfast

Opening the wrapping let out a great smell of sausage and egg. If I was disappointed with having to settle for breakfast before I was quickly coming around to the idea now. 

Sausage & Egg Sandwich (£4.00)

Between the small brioche bun looked like a simple fried egg atop a sausage patty. It wasn't until I took a bite that I realised there was more to this that met the eye. A little lick of BBQ sauce seemed to have been smeered onto the bottom bun and the egg had been peppered for flavour. 

Peppered egg

The sausage patty was a little thin but good quality and well cooked. No gristle or obvious fatty parts as can be the case with sausages. The sausage meat was well seasoned with herbs and mustard seeds. Gave it a really great taste! The cracked pepper on the egg also really helped this little bun pack a morning punch! 

Half gone 

Runny Egg on well Seasoned Sausage Patty

The combination of the barbecue sauce and the runny egg yolk meant that this wasn't too easy to eat without slopping down yourself. However hard I tried! 

It was all worth it though. 

I soon realised what the sink was located in the eating area for, as my hands were a real mess after eating this. 

Wash up point

Conclusion

After initially being disappointed at not being able to grab the burger I'd hoped for I was pleasantly surprised with a great breakfast sandwich, which although may not look much for a meal, tied me over until lunch time. For a mere £4 it was very impressive and I'd definitely consider going out of my way again for this breakfast as it beats most other fast food breakfasts I've had before. In fact I'd prefer it over most greasy spoons! 

The venue is a little difficult to find and I don't imagine it's too great to spend much time in there in the cold depths of winter when it's wet, cold and windy outside. It's probably a bit draughty. 

My only criticism for Dirty Burger is their lack of social media communication. It would have been good to know I wasn't going to be able to get a burger, there again, if I hadn't tried I wouldn't have sampled such a great breakfast, so fries and potatoes I suppose! 

Meat Rating: 8/10

Money for Meat: Paid in Full