What's the draw
You've tried Smokestak's brand of US-influenced, slow-cooked pork and beef at Street Feast events – now, it's finally moved into a full-time home in Shoreditch, expanding its menu to include cocktails, starters, desserts and even fish and veg, too. Yep, you read that right.
What to drink
Head to the downstairs bar for a whisky cocktail – we loved an old fashioned infused with lip-smacking peach. You could stick to these all night, or there's a wine list that focuses on wines from the US and South America.
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What to eat
If you're over the whole US-style smokehouse thing, don't be put off – this is categorically not a restaurant that's here to make up the numbers. The menu doesn't try to reinvent the wheel – slow-cooked beef is coated in sweet and tangy marinade; lightly cured and hot-smoked salmon is served with hung yoghurt with dill and horseradish; beetroot comes with goat's curd and hazelnuts. A couple of its street-food-stall stalwarts make the cut, too (including that brisket bun with pickled chilli). Grab the pigtails – deep-fried, crunchy parcels of fat from the tail, coated in honey – for a starter, and the sticky toffee pudding afterwards if you can manage it. The food's not as out-there as the steampunk decor, but it all just makes sense, and tastes just right. We're living in a post-Smokestak world now, and US BBQ joints in the capital have a new benchmark.
35 Sclater Street, E1 6LB; smokestak.co.uk
