We needed a Saturday spot that satisfied the following: *playing the Premier League Game. *a place to eat lunch that wasn't a gross pub. *somewhere that would be mildly accepting of children. This is not an easy feat, my friends. Not at all. And when this Bodean's popped up on City Road recently, I didn't give it much thought. I'm not big on BBQ, though it was nice to have something in a formerly empty storefront, so there's that. Then my husband surmised it would be the gameday trifecta we were looking for, and he was right! He called ahead to see if they'd play the match for him (it was not a big US sports day), we knew it was new and they have a kids menu online, so that bodes well for the fact that we wouldn't be spat on for bringing a child in. Bonus, off we went. And it was great. First, the place is shiny and brand new, spacious, clean and well-equipped with sturdy furniture, large TVs, a big bar, etc. Second, the staff is fantastic. Every person we came in contact with was helpful, friendly and knowledgable. Score! The food is pretty good too! I opted for the grilled swordfish with pan friend okra, which was nice but surely not their specialty BBQ. (although points for trying!). The real winner was the combo platter my husband got with ribs, pulled pork, slaw and fries. YUM. Huge, and a pretty good value, too! And the icing on the cake? Kids eat free from 12pm-5pm, so that scrumptious bowl of mac 'n cheese (which was a very generous portion) that I had planned on paying for, was actually free. (of course, with paying adult, but still!). If you're after some booze, they've got that to the hilt as well -- join their loyalty card program and you could be privy to a free shot or drink on certain days of the week. All in all, I think we'll be back. It's not a spot I would generally flock to, but it was a great experience and fits the bill perfectly for the football game days when we have a toddler that needs to eat. Goal! read more

Bodeans BBQ - Old St - Grilled swordfish - Barbeque Near Me - London, XGL

Decent ribs and wings, but everything else let us down a bit. I decided I was hungry for BBQ this past Saturday and noticed that this Bodean's had opened up and gotten good reviews. It was busy when we got there around 7pm, the food smelled great, and the decor was your basic kitschy faux Americana, but not over the top. (Although what's up with the bizarre word salad in the entryway?) Pretty good whiskey and beer selection. There was an hour wait for a table, but one freed up quickly in the bar area, so we decided to just eat there, which the hostess helpfully facilitated. I went to get drinks, and saw they had a wide array of whiskey cocktails (my favorite!) at reasonable prices, mostly £7-9. So I ordered a Brown Derby... to which the bartender replied, "what?" Somewhat hesitantly, I pointed to it in the menu. She said, abruptly, "I don't know what that is." Soooo... a beer it is. Not a great experience there, although at least she let me try the Crazy Mountain brew they had on tap. (Terrible, by the way.) We ordered hot wings and a burnt ends/ribs combo with fries and cornbread muffins. - Wings: 4 stars. Didn't taste like buffalo wings, much smokier, but they were big, well-cooked, and decently spicy. - Ribs: 4 stars. Good sauce, good flavor. Not quite as good as Duke's, but I'd guess they were cooked pretty low and pretty slow. - Burnt Ends: 3 stars. Not terrible, but not cooked long enough, as the fat hadn't rendered, and served kind of lukewarm. - Fries: 3 stars. The seasoning was weird. - Coleslaw: wait, what? We didn't order coleslaw, but it showed up anyway, contaminating everything around it with goopy mayo. Yuck. - Cornbread muffins: 2 stars. Didn't show up originally, had to be re-requested, and not worth the wait at all. Spongey, dense, and flavorless. Tasted like they had just been surfaced from the back of the freezer and nuked. So overall, we weren't completely disappointed, but not totally satisfied either. A fairly "meh" 3 stars on balance. Lots of other BBQ places to try, so we probably won't be back any time soon, but if we were, we'd get the ribs. read more

Okay so after hearing fab reviews from other people in my office, I decided to check it out. We do a weekly massive order of food for the office so I used Bodean's on one of these occasions! Needless to say, I was not disappointed! The food--even slightly cold unavoidable after being delivered to the office--was great! I had so much food! I ate and ate and ate and ate till I could not eat anymore. It was fantastic and I was so full that I did not need to eat dinner that night. Fantastic food. Fantastic staff. All-around great! read more

This review is for Bodean's Thanksgiving special. In London it is not that easy to celebrate Turkey Day, and if you don't book early, you often miss out on the once in a year chance to stuff yourself with the good food that this holiday is all about. I actually went into Bodean's on the day and they were kind enough to give me a reservation, score! The staff here are really nice and very helpful. Another plus is the cost. Compared to other Thanksgiving venues in London, Bodean's was reasonable and the portions were very generous. I started with a chicken quesadilla starter which is not really traditional but surprisingly was actually my favourite dish. With the salsa, guacamole and sour cream it was perfect and quite filling. When my turkey platter arrived I could hardly make a dent in it and I had to take my pumpkin pie home as takeaway. The turkey came in slices and also as a huge Flintstones-esque leg. The slices were juicy and nicer in my opinion although my friend really liked the dark meat of the leg better, which was even more smoky tasting than the slices. All the meat tastes smoky and barbecued, the way Bodean's does and I think BBQ isn't my thing but my friend really loved it. I liked the corn stuffing and grilled vegetables a lot, and I wish the gravy was stronger so it would add more to the mashed potatoes. Overall it was a generous and good meal and with such nice service I would recommend it! read more

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There's a new Bodeans on the block. On New Year's Day we decided to make the long pilgrimage (10 minutes) down to get some lunch. It did not disappoint. We got the pulled pork plate with creamed corn and the rack of ribs. Bodeans always hits the spot in terms of meatitude. It's not incredible but it fills the empty hole in your heart longing for barbecue. The restaurant is a good size and you should be able to grab a booth if you want one or a table. The screens were showing hockey when we were there but it kept freezing so that was not amazing. My only criticism was the key lime pie. It was lime cheesecake not key lime anything. Don't be playing me, I know my key lime pie. read more

FOOD REVIEW ONLY New to London / New to Yelp / NOT NEW TO BBQ (American) MY SCALE 5 - the dish was noteworthy above many others, you'd come back for it 4 - good, well done, you enjoy it, it's prepared as the dish is intended 3 - meh, nothing wrong with it, but it leaves something to be desired 2 - bad, below overage, something clearly needs improvement 1 - you can't eat it, tastes wrong, cooked improperly, or unsanitary TAKE AWAY (ordered when I arrived, ate within 5 mins) Mac and Cheese - 4 - rich, creamy, and flavorful Chips/Fries - 4 - cooked/salted really well, all of them Cole Slaw - ? - make your own decision, I'm not a cole slaw person Pulled Pork Sandwhich - 2 - plain and dry Corn Bread muffins - 2 - super dry and overcooked, no amount of honey or mac and cheese could save these things, believe me I tried everything read more

We came in from St. Louis for an event and some fun. The first night we were in town we were hungry for some familiar food and I stumbled on to this place. We pride ourselves on being barbecue aficionados. We were pleasantly surprised to find some of the best barbecue outside of St. Louis, Missouri, USA. We had the pulled pork and it had an excellent flavor. The addition of delicious sweet potato fries shows these guys are knowledgeable about food trends. The wait staff was friendly and the ambiance was just like that of any barbecue joint in the midwest. We're coming back again before going back home and making this a regular stop any time we're in town. read more

Good service, the usual yummy food, cracking margarita! Six in a booth was a bit of a squish given the sheer size of the plates, but we still had fun. read more

Pretty good BBQ, especially for England. I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a decent lunch/dinner. Plus if you want a good place to watch a game I'd recommend it as well. read more

I left UK in 2015 and when I left I was a huge fan of Bodean's specially their Soho branch. So this time when my friend suggested it for lunch despite visiting from US, I felt happy about the choice to refresh my memory with the great Bodean's pulled pork and service. Well, it didn't stand for my memories at least: we were sat immediately but it took a while for someone to attend our table. We went for express lunch menu which was OK and was delivered fast but nothing amazing as I was expecting. Perhaps I exaggerated (in my mind) how great this place is. Still a decent choice for a meal read more

So have only ordered from Bodeans via Deliveroo but thought I'd write a little review on the food anyway. It was undercooked. Couldn't eat half of it as it was almost completely raw inside. The little we had was nice though but I won't be ordering from them again. read more

Tasty, massive portions, good service, always been super satisfied- boss hog platter is definitely a hangover buster.

As to my wife and I BBQ culinary credentials, we are Kansas City BBQ Society certified judges as well as compete in over 20 BBQ contests per year since 2005. We ranked 30th in brisket and 89th overall out of 6200 teams that competed in KCBS competitions in 2012 as well as scoring 2nd place at the Jack Daniels World BBQ Invitational in Lynchburg Tennessee. I wasn't sure quite what to expect for BBQ here in London. My wife and I stopped in after Wellingtons had stopped serving food for the night. Many BBQ restaurants just bake their ribs chicken etc in the oven and then slather it with BBQ sauce that heavily relies on liquid smoke. The meat at Bodeans is served dry with sauce on the side. The meat was nicely seasoned and definitely smoked and not baked. I asked the server what wood was used, and he checked with the kitchen: oak. While the pulled pork was somewhat dry, the spare ribs and burnt ends were really good and the chicken thighs were very moist. The chips were fine and the Cole slaw that came with the "Bodean's Platter" was just ok. But your not coming here for the sides. We pulled the meat with our fingers and dipped in sauce, and were quite pleasantly surprised with the food. Would I return? Yes! read more

Incredibly mediocre, overpriced BBQ in London. Don't waste your time or money. There are heaps of BBQ places in shoreditch that have much better food and are half the price. read more

Food is okay, but avoid this place if you wanna watch US sports!!! They advertise saying they show NBA, MLB, NFL etc. We wanted to watch the Packers' NFL playoffs game, which started at 8 and would end around 11.30pm. We even called before, asking if they'll show it, which they confirmed; they also had posters up at the venue, saying they'll show it (see photo). Half way through the game they called last order and started closing the bar, saying "sorry, we close at 10.30pm on Sundays". Eventually they kicked us out before the game was over. Ridiculous for a place that's pretending to be some sort of a sports bar. read more

Might be a good restaurant, but their delivery system is a mess. I placed my order online and scheduled a delivery time of one hour later. When the food still hadn't turned up 15 minutes after the scheduled delivery time, I repeatedly tried to call, but the phones were completely down. After 25 minutes of trying, I finally called the Tower Hill location and asked them to transfer me internally, which worked. I spoke to two different employees ; the first couldn't even locate my order, the second told me they had two bikes break down at the same time... but both of their stories kept changing (I was on the phone for over 15 minutes trying to sort out the status of my order). There was also a language barrier with both employees. They were polite and tried to be helpful, but it was obvious they were very flustered. Finally, the second person told me they put my order in a taxi. When I finally received it - TWO HOURS AFTER ORDERING - the food was good, but cold. I might give the restaurant a shot, but I'll never order delivery from here again. read more