Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa

For Adam's birthday this year I perused my list of restaurant 'must-go-to's' in my phone and stumbled across Barbecoa, Jamie Oliver's Barbecue Steak House. This meat joint is located at One New Change overlooking the lovely St Paul's Cathedral. Luckily enough I was able to get a booking on the Friday night only at the time of 6.45pm and was kindly reminded when booking that we must vacate this after a couple of hours.

Having stated when booking that it was Adam's birthday in the hope that we would get a good table with a view we were disappointingly lead to a table in the middle of a few other couples and pretty much with no view at all. We were then asked if it was a special occasion and I repeated we had booked for Adam's birthday in which they then offered for us to have a drink at the bar whilst they tried to find us a table overlooking the Cathedral... sweet we didn't mind waiting at all! To our surprise a table was found within moments so we didn't have time for a drink but were placed at a table for two with a lovely view of St Paul's blissfully illuminated on the wet, grey London evening (well Adam did I was very kind and gave him the view for his birthday).

Once seated we were greeted by our happy smiley waiter for the evening who was very impressed with our large order for the two of us. I had done a bit of research and gorged over the menu prior to the evening. I had read good things about the baby back ribs so amongst those we ordered a smoked duck salad, and the calamari, followed by the rump steak with charred aubergine, and pulled pork with slaw, and then settled on a dessert to share of a chocolate sundae with pistachio ice cream.

Smoked Duck Salad

Baby Back Ribs

Adam settled on a bottle of French red, and then another, which ended up costing us the same price as the food totalled up! The starters came out in good time, and our waiter was full of good banter, not over the top but just friendly enough to have a laugh with. The baby back ribs definitely lived up to their expectations, and were probably the highlight of the meal. If I were to go back I would order a main of those puppies. The 'crispy' calamari with avocado wasn't so crispy and lacked some flavour however the smoked duck salad was a nice fresh accompaniment to the rather heavy-duty meal filled with pomegranates, mixed herby leaves and segments of blood orange.

Rump Steak with Aubergine

By the time our mains came out I was almost regretting my rump steak choice. I went with the rump option after recently completing my 'Cook the Perfect Steak' course at L'Atelier des Chefs where the chef there advised us that the muscle that does most of the work usually has the most flavour which is why most chefs would choose a rump over a fillet any day. So I took the chefs advice and went with the rump. Rather disappointing choice I have to say, it was dry and I wasn't advised to begin with that I would need a sauce to go with it. So after devouring a couple of fairly unflavoured dry mouthfuls I enquired about some Bearnaise. This was brought out swiftly but it still didn't give the beef the oomph it required. Adam kindly offered me some of his pulled pork and my goodness these were the most succulent and juicy mouthfuls I had tasted. The pork just oozed flavour that exploded in your mouth, combined with the slaw this really was ticking all the boxes. Accompanied by sides of duck fat chips - tick, ash-cooked sweet potatoes - bit disappointing in flavour and creamed spinach - the third runner up for the best item on the meal. This creamed spinach gratin was perfectly cooked, with just the right amount of  cream so it wasn't runny and finished off with grilled breadcrumbs and cheese = delish!!

Pulled Pork with Slaw and Waffles

Duck Fat Chips, Creamed Spinach and Sweet Potato sides

And I bet you are thinking 'I don't know how we could any more in'... well yes, yes we did!
We shared a pistachio nut chocolate ice-cream sundae that was brought out on a board with the words Happy Birthday scrawled across in chocolate sauce. A neat additive to the evening especially as Adam kindly let me swap seats with him over dessert so I could take in the view of the Cathedral.

 Barbecoa describes itself as 'a cathedral to fire and food'' which pretty much nails the theme of the place, with the meaty menu and situated right next to the beautiful St Paul's Cathedral.  Overall our night was fun, we weren't kicked off our table after two hours, we had great banter with our waiter and delicious wine with a delicious view. The food was a bit hit and miss but with a good few key items on the menu, the creamed spinach, pulled pork and baby back ribs. We ate to our hearts content and to be honest it was a little too much - I was literally in pain on the tube ride home and little did I know my stomach would no longer be able to cope with an overdose of red meat after this! But I would go again even if it is just for an extra large serving of the ribs and the view!