Restaurant Review: Porkys, Boxpark, Shoreditch

With a name like Porkys, diners won’t be left in much doubt what’s in store.

Whether you opt of luscious slow cooked meaty ribs in a homemade barbeque sauce or lashings of smoky tender shredded pork, pig features heavily on the menu here – and lots of it.

Dished up on white tin plates much like what real cowboys might use around a camp fire, this place is homage to the rich flavours of the Memphis barbeque, as discovered by its founders Joy and Simon Brigg on their road trips around America.

Following the success of their Camden and Bankside venues, the couple have now launched the concept at Boxpark, in an enclosed container which makes for a more cosy dining experience than eating outdoors like some of its other venues, with the winter drawing in.

The mug of house beef chilli is served up in a white tin cup and at £4.25 its very reasonably priced, just like the rest of the food, especially when you take the massive portions into account.

The pulled pork is cooked for 16 hours over hickory smokers imported from Oklahoma, and comes with quite a hot sweet chilli and house pickles which finish it off nicely.

The house cocktails are worth a tipple, my favourite was the creamy but refreshing apple vodka with cinnamon, but they also do a smoky twist on the classic Bloody Mary, and a sharp but deliciously sweet Cowboys and Cobblers.

Every week the restaurant challenges punters to an eating challenge, Man v. Ribs, inspired by the American TV show ‘Man v. Food’.

Anyone who can pig out and finish off the challenge’ portion of ribs and tips and seasoned fries, priced at £18, wins a Porky’s t-shirt, meal voucher and a mention on the leaderboard.

If you’re feeling hungry and love a good barbeque, Porkys is the place to be.