Dukes Brew & Cue Review

Our quest for the best ribs in London continued this week with Dukes Brew and Que in Haggerston. Which luckily for us was just a mosey down Kingsland Road on ‘tut bus’.

Let’s just say Dukes is a little bit famous. Their beef rib features in Time Outs ‘100 best foods in London’, and they are (I found out to my joy) the original Beavertown Brewery (Gamma Ray is my faaavvveee!). The chaps had a lot to live up to!

My housemate and I were both a bit starving, and more than a little hangry (oh no, just me then?). Plus this was the first REAL wintery day this year *sigh*, so it was a welcome relief when we entered into a warm, homely, pub like restaurant and I could lay down my ‘Wee Willy Winky’ style dinosaur hat.

The food menu? Meaty. The drinks? hoppy. Absolutely perfect for a cold autumn eve.

So we ordered…..everything it would seem! The meat platter (beef and pork ribs, teamed with pulled pork and bbq sauce), wings, Mac & cheese, chilli fries and deep fried pickles.

I insisted my friend try the Beavertown Gamma Ray. The waiter was awesome, and let us try a few, however I knew my fave!

It was, how can I put it……bliss. My friend and I basically didn’t talk as we ate ourselves into oblivion. The wings were mildly marmite-y, which was really rather lovely. The ribs fell apart, my chum loved the beef, whereas the glazed meaty pork boys won me over. Both were crispy on he outside, and softly juicy on he inside. We did try a ‘lady and the tramp’ style of eating, however it pretty much just ended up in a juicy BBQ sauce mess.

The surprise winner for me was the bacon Mac and cheese, which I may, or may not, have taken home in a doggy bag and eaten he next day for lunch. Oi, no judging please!

My bud pretty much ate a bowl of deep fried pickles to himself. I think that says it all!

The chilli fries were tangy and cheesy, however not a speck on the rest of the food which was absolutely corking. Pudding was offered, but I think meat had slotted its way into every inch of my tummy, and even inhabited my dessert stomach (which is usually separate from my main course one!).

The staff were amazing. Attentive to every table, letting us try the beer and giving suggestions, they were the icing on a very meaty cake.

To top the whole evening off we found a rather inappropriate/totally appropriate for us sign just down the road. We had rather a lot of fun with that one…..

We will be back to Dukes, and will be recommending them wherever we go. Did they live up to their name? A resounding yes.