Gallachers Smoke House Review

November 11, 2015 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Gallachers Smoke House Review

Vegetarians look away now. You’re not going to like this weeks, it's a full on meat fest! But hey look on the bright side, not a single vegetable was harmed at all! American BBQ restaurants seem to be taking over the world, they’re everywhere. Surely the bang on trend places to eat at the moment. With most boasting in house charcoal ovens and smokers imported from deepest darkest Texas, some large enough to cook a whole cow! Now diners can feast on the true taste of good ol’ American BBQ a little closer to home. However, I say American, but get this, did you know theres actually a ‘World BBQ Association’? They run the annual world BBQ championships, and who do you think won the title in 2015? Not the Americans, or even the Aussies, two nations synonymous with BBQ’s. No, A BBQ team called ‘British Bulldog BBQ’; yep a team from our very own shores! So there you go, us Brits know our BBQ. Just Google ‘world BBQ championship 2015’, it makes interesting reading!! This competition is broken down in to categories such as, chicken, fish, brisket etc and the winners of each listed. Not only did we win the overall title, the good old Brits won the pork rib category, oh man, my absolute favourite, I could eat bucket loads of ribs!

The humble pig is a blessing when it comes to BBQ, where would we be without slow roasted ribs; I just love slow cooked ribs! Juicy meat falling away from the bone, and it’s now proved we BBQ the best!! It really is a porkylicious gourmet treat, up there with the best of them. But what about pulled pork…OMG! Whoever first thought of this needs a knighthood. By itself, in a burger or a sandwich, life doesn’t get much better. Vegetarians, if you are still with us at this point I commend you, could I possibly stand a chance of tempting you back to the dark side? No? Ok, that's fine, but I warn you, this meat orgy is just going to get worse. Carnivores however, sit back, loosen up your belt, and join me in this triple X rated, meat fest extravaganza; this ain't for the faint hearted!

This weekend we were due to have dinner with Lou’s sister and her husband; I’m pretty sure I have mentioned these guys in previous reviews, Lorraine and Karim. Both are avid foodies, and lovers of all things BBQ. So, there’s only one place to go I reckon. A place where other like minded carnivores can safely congregate, and demolish mountains of perfectly cooked BBQ, without fear of this gluttony offending your fellow diners. Because, here you are almost encouraged to explore your inner ‘Adam Richman’ (That Man vs Food guy). This place has got to be the BBQ Mecca of Essex! Where else, but GALLACHERS SMOKE HOUSE! Lou and I hadn't ventured here before, but apparently it is good, very good. My expectations had been raised to the max.

Friday night was upon us, time to throw on the elasticated eating trousers….sorry, I thought everyone owned a pair of elasticated eating trousers? Alright, maybe it's just me, but they are well worth the investment if you are anticipating an eating frenzy such as this. Gallachers is located on London Road in Leigh, and it's a pretty cool looking joint. Straight away I was drawn to the bar, I just love a good bar in a restaurant, and Gallachers have a great one. I could just sit there, sip on a craft ale, and they do have some pretty good craft ale on offer, grab some chicken wings or a burger, job done!! But, it’s Friday night, time for a good chow down to celebrate the weekend!!

The menu? Meat, meat, meat and guess what, more meat!! Slow and low is the order of the day, ribs, pulled pork, chicken wings, I'm in heaven!! Vegetarians, listen up!!! Yep, this is a meat fest, but what intrigued me was the suggestion of vegetarian fayre on the menu, surely they would struggle to satisfy the veggies amongst us?? So I enquired. Well, it sounded good. Nut Wellington, homemade bean burgers, and bean chilli, not too bad at all. But, I don't visit somewhere such as Gallachers to eat vegetarian, after all, I'm a self-confessed carnivore, meat all the way for me tonight!!

We could have chosen from burgers, steaks, chicken or ribs, but one dish just stood out from the rest; the ultimate combo sharer. I just love dishes such as these, a plate full of meat to share, perfect! To start, bread crumbed prawns, chilli poppers and cheese and bacon potato skins, together with garlic mayo. A wonderful way to kick off this feast! The chilli poppers where basically bread crumbed chilli’s with cheese. I was pretty impressed. Oops, just realised! I haven't mentioned anything about drink! It's all about beer here! Beavertown, Brooklyn, Kona, all very nice, I just love a craft beer, nothing else compliments a plate of meat better!

The main course arrived, jeez! I got the meat sweats just looking at this! Ribs, chicken, more ribs, smoked sausages pulled pork, I think you get the picture!! Not forgetting the homemade slaw, and beans on the side. The beans where awesome, smoky, rich and meaty, yep meaty! Lovely meaty homemade cowboy beans!! We just had to try some of Gallachers homemade ‘crazy hot’ beef chilli! I like spice, and I was expecting a kick ass hot chilli. It was hot, but not kick ass hot. Not a problem though, it was sent back and returned, BLOODY HOT!!! Great!! It really was the star of the show! But let's not forget about the rest. Ribs, chicken, smoked sausage, and glorious pulled pork with some ‘Crazy Hot’ sauce on the side, I had died and gone to carnivore’s heaven!! It all made for some damn fine eating!

Pudding? Forget it! I am not even going to apologise this week for the lack of pudding, I was beginning to resemble Monty Pythons ‘Mr Creosote’. If you are not familiar with Mr Creosote just Google it, then you’ll sympathise!! But saying that, the puds sounded just as indulgent as the mains. Chocolate brownies, Mississippi mess, very nice, but not today thank you! Well, £75 per couple, for a meat fest to end all meat fests, and some pretty nice craft beer? Not too bad at all I thought, oh, and some great service too, top marks!

I made a big point at the beginning of this review, about how we all seem to have this love affair with American BBQ joints and burgers. But who can blame us? Its simply bloody good food. But, we need to stop referring to them as American BBQ restaurants. As I said earlier, us Brits won the world BBQ championships no less, that’s quite an achievement don’t you think? So, stick that up your pork butt and smoke it Uncle Sam! Us Brits know our stuff, and we are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to BBQ. Clearly this is demonstrated at Gallachers. So guys, for the true taste of British BBQ chuck on you’re eating trousers and get yourself to down there, arrive hungry, as you will leave full, I can guarantee that. Long live British BBQ!!

To book a table at this meat challenging restaurant, please visit http://www.leigh-on-sea.com/gallachers-smokehouse-bar-and-grill.html