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What can you tell us about The Blues Kitchen?
The team behind it are The Columbo Group, who these days also run, among other venues, The Jazz Cafe and the excellent Kentish Town pub The Parakeet. The Blues Kitchen itself is part restaurant, part bar mixing together an American soul food menu of wings, ribs, burgers and more. That's all backed up by cocktails, rare bourbon and live blues music every night.
The first Blues Kitchen opened just over 15 years ago in Camden (followed by openings in Shoreditch and Brixton and there's even a Manchester one now).
And which one did you take in?
We went to the Shoreditch Blues Kitchen, which you'll find on Curtain Road, very handy for both Old Street and Shoreditch High Street stations. At the time of writing you might notice some scaffolding outside, but that's only on the outside - the bar and restaurant both remain in action and as busy as ever.
Where you'll be eating your Southern BBQ
What can we expect inside?
Upstairs, it almost divides in half between the restaurant space to the left (with plenty of booth seating, see above) and the main bar to the right, which also features the stage. If you're eating, definitely try to grab one of the booths although there are some big group tables if you're going en masse. And if you're just there for a drink, the space to be is one of the seats in front of the stage (but we'll come back to that).
Onto the food...
There's a big focus on Southern BBQ food here, but that's not all they do. You will see BBQ ribs, chicken & gravy and blackened salmon all making an appearance on the menu. However, the food does stray beyond that (see below) and generally, it all remains pretty good value for Shoreditch.
Here's a taste of what we had on our visit:
Buffalo chicken wings - this is a small portion for £9.75 or there's a larger one for £14.50. The Blues Kitchen are justifiably proud of their wings and these are a must-have.
Ox cheek nuggets, full with tender falling-apart beef (£9.25)
A really great St Louis pork rib with BBQ sauce, kewpie slaw, pickles (£17.25 including the fries)
Crispy chicken sandwich with hot honey, kewpie slaw and pickles (£14.50) - the hot honey seems to get everywhere, but it works really well in this burger.
And if we're after something a little less heavy?
There are lighter dishes on the menu too, including smacked cucumber and watermelon (£8.50) and a chopped salad. We'd also heartily recommend the following:
The Taco Bowl, here with green goddess sauce, basmati, iceberg, hispi, beans and shrimp (£17.50). This would definitely feeed more than one and is a great dish if you're after something different.
Tuna tostada (£8.70 for two) - another easy-to-recommend light snack
And dessert?
Options here include the lighter Oreo cookies with toffee sauce (£7.25) but if you want to share something, this is perfect:
Skillet baked choc chip cookie, vanilla ice cream (£7.50)
What about drinks?
There's plenty available on draft if you're after beer (including Lucky Saint if you're swerving alcohol) and the wine list starts at a very decent £30 a bottle (for a Spanish Syrah or Macabeo), but we'd say the main event is the cocktail list. Everything's between £11.50 and £12.50 and while we'd also recommend their burnt pear old-fashioned or a passionfruit zombie, we think you should go for the below first:
Lychee Martini (Tanqueray Gin, Lychee, Lime, £12.50) and the Japanese whisky sour (Suntory Toki Whisky, Sherry, Lemon, Lime Leaf, £12.50)
There are plenty of no-alcohol options on the cocktail front too,
And what about that live entertainment?
The live music is the big USP, whether you're eating or there primarily to watch the bands in action. Even if you're in the dining area, you'll easily be able to hear the music, but ideally you'll want to grab a space here:
The tables in front of the stage are the place to be.
From here, there was notably great and friendly bar service both during and in between sets and then there's the band.
The music here ranges between soul, funk and blues and there are live sets every night (as well as weekend club nights and gigs downstairs). We stayed for two sets fronted by the excellent Love Itoya which capped off a hugely enjoyable night out in Shoreditch. Even if you're not eating in the restaurant, it's worth popping in to check out the music (bands start around 9pm).
Anything else?
We've only touched on the ground floor of the venue - it's also pretty huge downstairs. There you'll find more private spaces to hire as well as two karaoke rooms. We also loved the look of a full-size Airstream caravan that's parked on the ground floor which can be hired for drinks parties and snacks.
Overall thoughts
We're not quite sure why on earth it's taken us so long to get around to visiting the Blues Kitchen. In a city where everything seems to be getting more and more expensive, this is a place that serves up a great night out that won't break the bank. The staff are universally lovely, the food's good and the cocktails more than do the trick. When you add excellent live music sets into the equation then it's a no-brainer for a properly fun London evening on the town. If you haven't been here either, you need to fix that.
More about Blues Kitchen
Where is it? Shoreditch - 134-146 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3AR (Also in Camden and Brixton)
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @theblueskitchen.
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