Bodean's BBQ Restaurant, 10 Poland St, Soho, London, W1F 8PZ

A spate of sunny bank holidays left us unprepared for the final one of the early summer, where weather was variable at best and we were feeling indecisive. The original plan was for a late brunch at Soho’s Breakfast Club. Alas, I arrived to find queues outside of the door. The combined wrath of the Transport and Hangover Gods, resulted in a later meet-up than planned, and a greater need for food.

Luckily, our saviour was Bodean’s. The heady smell of barbeque and neon signs of pigs drew my attention, and a little bit of loitering got us a table outside (along with a highly enthusiastic recommendation from the diners vacating the table). A good selection of bbq and chilli sauces were joined on the table with pre-emptive rolls of kitchen paper – a good sign of food good enough to guzzle with bare hands!

 Bodean’s now has four outlets in London and specialiises in food from it’s ‘oak burning smoke pit’- particularly ribs, chicken, pulled pork or ‘burnt ends’ (beef brisket in a barbeque sauce). Styled in the way of an American diner with a large restaurant area downstairs, our streetside outdoor location was perfect in the London humidity.

It seemed that the main decision to be made was to be made between the hot deli sandwiches or the ‘burnt ends’ trays of meat and chips. (Whilst other options of ribs, hotdogs and burgers were present, these seemed to be the most popular options). The sandwiches with the best name was the ‘Boston Butt’ (“the sandwich that made Bodean’s famous” – pork and coleslaw), but my decision was the pulled pork sandwich (a large, given that my stomach was rumbling and it was a mere 50p extra.

The seductively named ‘Original Sin’ Premium New York Hard Cider was the girls’ drink of choice (not that ‘hard’ for cider – a paltry 5.5%), whilst D was impressed with the real ales on offer and enjoyed the Sierra Nevada Porter (dark, rich and treacley). Ginger beer and Root Beer also featured on the menu, however A warned against the latter and its ‘mouthwash’ like properties.

Thankfully we didn’t have a long wait, and our hugely generous portions were very welcome by this point. The sheer amount of meat in the sandwich was almost daunting, but the softness of the bread and the melt in mouth nature of the pork, slathered in the chilli and barbeque sauce I added went down a treat. Crispy chips and creamy coleslaw added to the undeniably unhealthy, but extremely tasty meal.

The heat of the day turned to heavy rain, and sheltering under the restaurant’s awnings as we finished our meals, the heat from our stomachs kept us happy and satisfied. The gargantuan portions and sheer tasty meatiness in a part of London usually overrun with tourists, made us feel that we had certainly found the best location possible on this bank holiday. It was a short walk to The Pillars of Hercules for a cup of tea (to aid digestion), a drink or two and an afternoon of card game playing. A perfect way to while away a rainy bank holiday Monday afternoon.