Spitfire Barbecue in Bristol food review scores 5 out of 5
Posted on: 2014-10-15
Our rating:
A warm-welcoming, vibrant, shirt-popping, unmissable monolith to meatiness! The menu is so choc-a-bloc with an appetizing cornucopia of meaty pleasures, it's a real head-scratcher deciding what to order.
Frequenting a restaurant that predominantly serves barbecue food on a cold, dark and drizzly October evening might not, at first, seem the wisest of moves. After all, barbecues are the sole dominion of sunny summer days and balmy evenings, right?
Well, no actually, because if ever there was an establishment to prove that ribs, steaks and burgers are perfectly suited to the more seasonal inclement weather, it's Bristol's Spitfire Barbecue on Hannover Quay, situated just past Lloyds Amphitheatre.
From the minute I walked in, the unmistakeable, enticing smell of woodsmoke tantalized my nostrils, and owner Billy Steyn has recreated the authentic South African diner-style experience. The site was previously occupied by Jacks and struggled to do well because of its out-of-the-way location, but with the comfortable, down-to-earth ambience and quality of the food on offer here, there won't be any problem attracting the punters come rain or shine.
Spitfire exploits the concept of the current Dude Food craze which, along with similarly themed Grillstock and Gas & Co, has gone stratospheric for diners who want to chomp down on generously portioned meaty unctiousness.
The decor itself is a fun, accessible aesthetic of a South African diner ornamental staples: piles of chopped logs either side of the open kitchen where you can see the chefs busily toiling away, a corrugated metal bar front, neon signs, rusty petrol cans on the shelves, exposed filament bulbs, reclaimed metal chairs and orange banquettes. There's also an al fresco dining area outside on the quayside which was unsurprisingly popular during the summer.
Spitfire serves food all day, from noon until 11pm daily to the fantastically-priced £6.95 lunch deal comprising of main course and drink, and there's a list-as-long-as-your-arm selection of craft ales, ciders, cocktails and wines.
True to its name, when it comes to the food, the most mouth-watering prospect is the selection of barbecue dishes, all of which are cooked on the wood-burning grill, include ribs, hog rolls, whole fish, steaks, spicy wings and spit-roast chicken.
For starters I went for the homemade meatballs on a stick (£5.60), grilled on the barbecue and smothered with their own Chakalaka sauce. The meatballs were big, tender orbs and perfectly cooked to retain all the meatiness without being too dry, and the accompanying tomato salsa and salad was arrestingly spicy with a nicely fiery kick.
My brother opted for the calamari (£6.45), comprising of three baby squid drizzled with lemon garlic and served on a bed of mixed leaves. I'm not a fan of calamari so kindly declined the offer to nibble on one of the sundry tentacles dangling ominously from my brother's fork, but a mouthful later and he was transported into his own personal heaven, confidently summing the dish up as "beautifully cooked, tender and fresh which, combined with the sharpness of the salad, was really refreshing".
For mains I had the pulled chicken sandwich and skin-on chips (£12.50). The chicken was perfectly cooked and deliciously moist and the sandwich - a sensationally soft, almost sweet brioche rather than the advertised ciabatta - was jam-packed, bordering on the obscene, only posing the mild dilemma of how I was going to bite into it without having half its contents pebble-dashed across my face. (I didn't care - I took one gigantic, dirty bite and just masticated over the blissful, marvellously meaty moment.)
My brother went for the pulled pork sandwich and skin-on chips (£7.85), which had been smoked slow and low for 14 hours and drizzled with a barbecue sauce. Like mine, it was an almost indecently generous portion: gargantuan, satisfying and undeniably delicious.
After giving my stomach a good ten minutes to digest and recover from the awesomely full-on food onslaught, I risked permanently splitting my stomach lining by ordering the Hot Banana (£4.95) for dessert. Ostensibly it was a banana split - banana sprinkled with chocolate and cooked on the grill, with the added, unexpected twist of being flecked with crunchy mint pieces and actual mint leaves. As the current crop of celebrity chefs would unequivocally insist, it was a contemporary twist on an old classic - and utterly, sumptuously, indulgently delicious.
The only problem with Spitfire is that the food is so good and the menu is so choc-a-bloc with an appetizing cornucopia of meaty pleasures, it's a real head-scratcher deciding what to order. By the time we left, the venue was packing out with hungry patrons taking refuge from the damp and chilly night for some proper, hearty tucker, and at one point the chefs were barely visible through the billowing fog of barbecue smoke.
And the fact the waiter - impeccably attentive and convivial throughout the evening - kept walking past us armed with plates of colossal ribs and lip-smackingly awesome-looking burgers made me come to the inescapable conclusion that one trip to the Spitfire just isn't enough.
So my next peregrination to this venue will see me tucking into the ribs. Or the burger. Or the Ribeye steak. Or the spit-roast chicken. Or I might just look at the menu and say "OK". To paraphrase the strapline of a popular tube-ensconced crisp: Once you pop, you just can't stop.
A warm-welcoming, vibrant, shirt-popping, unmissable monolith to meatiness.
5/5
Reviewed and photos by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol on Tuesday 15 October 2014
Spitfire Barbecue
1 Hannover Quay, Bristol, BS1 5JE
Tel: 0117 925 4585
Web: www.facebook.com/Spitfirebarbecue
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SpitfireBBQ
Spitfire Barbecue
The Full Rack of Ribs at Spitfire Barbecue in Bristol!
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
