Review: Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa, St Pauls

Doggy bag with the Sticky Toffee Pudding photobombing

I've been wanting to come to Barbecoa since I laid my eyes on the butchers bit downstairs years ago when I first moved to the East-ish end of London. It's not often you see big carcasses of meat being hung in Central London.

But upstairs is the main restaurant area, dark and noisy, the friendly staff take your coats for the cloakroom, and as you walk up the stairs you realise why there is dim lighting, the brightness and beauty of St Paul's through the big windows shines through into the restaurant. It was so white against the dark sky and dark, wooden decor. Almost every seat in the house gets you a view of the cathedral so don't worry about that front. I was handily seated right in front of the bar.

There were three of us, and we were pretty famished so we dove straight in with mains. I went for the spare ribs done three-ways, what arrived was meat bigger than my head. It was amazing. My Diner Friend Number 1 (DFN1) went for the beef rib, and the rib itself was the biggest thing I'd ever come across, DFN2 went for the pulled pork which was wolfed down.

I think the menu has changed since the online version and so my memory is a bit hazy on which three-ways my ribs came, but each one was distinctly different but complimentary to each others flavours. It was a meaty bit of heaven on a plate. The meat just fell off the bone easily, and with all that meat it didn't feel too heavy. You know it's good meat.

I couldn't finish it so I had a doggy bag to take home - I can confirm it still tasted just as delicious the next day.

We shared chips and broccoli (of course). I'm not usually a fan of buttery broccoli but it really added to the greens.

Of course, we then went for dessert, I didn't need it, but you can't not help yourself when you get choices like a Snickersphere, White Chocolate Cheesecake and Sticky Toffee Pudding.

I went for the cheesecake, just because I love cheesecake. Not usually a fan of macarons but I thoroughly enjoyed eating it. So fresh and light, and not overly sweet.

The White Chocolate Cheesecake and said Macaron

Snickersphere!

One thing was that I didn't quite enjoy my wine. My favourite wine is the Argentinian Malbec but this one was not as good as I had hoped, but that certainly does not put me off.

I would like to come here again to try the steaks but it is more on the pricey side. It was a £55 split between the three of us, which all things considered, is not bad actually but I'm not sure I could afford to do this every week. The views of St Paul's though is priceless.

Jamie Oliver does it again - another win.

RATING: 4 out of 5