Restaurant Review: Barbecoa, City of London

Amazing pickled vegetables

My aunt's visit to London provided the perfect excuse to take an extended lunch from work and check out one of the restaurants around St Paul's. Barbecoa and Bread Street both stood out as top choices. After a quick peruse of the menus I plumped for Barbecoa, largely on the basis that it seemed more affordable!

Self styled as a BBQ restaurant, the menu is very heavily meat focused. It's probably not the sort of place to take a vegetarian.

Jamie Oliver is never one to under sell his food and you can sense his hand in the name of some dishes. The amazing pickled vegetables (£4) is one of them. The small dish of cauliflower, carrots and chillies had a refreshing, slightly sharp, tang and crunch.

Pulled pork shoulder, waffle and BBQ sauce

As a main course I chose the pulled work shoulder, waffle, BBQ sauce and coleslaw (£17). It was a generous serving of the tender pork. I wasn't sure what to expect from the waffles, but they were pleasingly light and savoury.

The BBQ sauce was quite sweet, which I began to find a little overwhelming as I got further through the pork. The accompanying coleslaw provided some refreshing crunch, but it couldn't quite cut through the BBQ sauce.

Coleslaw

My aunt chose the pit beef with smokey baked beans (£16). Two chunks of beef came covered in a dark glossy sauce. The beef was amazingly tender and fell apart with the slight nudge of a fork.

I was given a generous piece of beef to try that was very enjoyable. I didn't find the dark glossy sauce too sweet from my limited try.

Pitt beef with smokey baked beans

I enjoyed our lunch at Barbacoa. The service was efficient without being rushed (useful if you are trying to visit during your lunch break) and there is a great view of St Paul's cathedral. The main courses were deceptively large and and we both left very satisfied.

Located on Level 1, One New Change
20 New Change Passage
London
EC4M 9AG