Dick's smokehouse — Restaurant in Bromsgrove

This is based on our third visit to Dick’s Smokehouse.

With barbecue/smokehouse marketplace gaining popularity fast (and with Hickories / Orleans competing hard for the Solihull/Shirley market), Dick’s Smokehouse is a welcome venue in the increasingly popular Aston Fields part of Bromsgrove.

This small and intimate venue is a real gem and you can tell that the team who run this place are really passionate about the type, quality and the way they serve their food.

All of their food is lovingly prepared and presented and the flavours really pack a punch. You definitely want to arrive hungry as whilst the portion sizes may not seem out of the ordinary, you will easily find yourself struggling to finish your plate. Thankfully they offer a “doggy bag” service so you will not end up wasting any of that smoked goodness.

The chicken wings get a special mention as they have always been mega crispy with just the right amount of sauce to add real flavour without making the chicken skin soggy. The Pork Belly is also a real treat from the starters menu.

Onto the mains and most new visitors will go for the platter for two as it allows you to try a bit of everything so you don’t feel you are missing out. The Mac ‘n’ Cheese should be ordered as a side if you are not going for the platter as it is absolutely faultless. The ribs are as you would expect….melt in the mouth !!

If you haven’t visited this place before and you love this style of food then you should definitely give this place a try. Be warned that as this is such a small venue, you definitely need to reserve ahead and you may well need to pay a £10 per head deposit to protect such a small business from “No shows”.

So….why have I have dropped a star on the food….Well I am just being uber critical after a third visit.

1. The meaty pit beans were a little runny this time (less meat / beans and a little too much sauce). We didn’t have this on the first two visits so a blip as these are usually great.
2. On the platter for two, it would be helpful if the kitchen sliced the two burgers to allow for easier sharing. Trying to do this at the table is never easy due to the nature of the shredded meat.
3. Having visited this place three times now, the menu has not really changed too much in that time and puts us off returning too regularly. Don’t get me wrong, the menu is perfectly formed and every dish, incredibly tasty…..but it would be nice to see them offer a few weekly or monthly specials / dish variations on the menu, which would hopefully encourage regulars to return even more often.

Wonderful place…operated by a...

A disappointing first visit having gone on recommendation by my partner who has been before, and reading many excellent reviews.

As it was a last minute decision, we felt very lucky to have secured a cancellation at 8pm. Although despite planning to visit within 3 hours time, the restaurant still requested a deposit. I accept this is commonplace now. If I’d have known I wouldn’t be eating anything until 9.05pm, we would have gone elsewhere. There are many excellent eateries in Aston Fields/Bromsgrove.

The waiting staff, were friendly and attentive. They encouraged us to order drinks straight away and outlined a 10 minute delay on taking our food order. The reason given was that a table had placed an unexpectedly large order. This seemed reasonable. However, not then going to indicate the length of time to expect our food, was unacceptable. Being seated in a position to see the service area/hotplate, and the rest of the restaurant, it didn’t seem any one table ordered an extraordinary amount of food. Pointedly, as a restaurant serving American BBQ & down-home sides, ordering additional sides to your main meal, is encouraged. Waitresses certainly attempted to upsell.

I was past hangry by the time the food arrived, otherwise I’d typically have taken a photograph. The food was delicious, hot and presented well. Having ordered the luxury burger, I was disappointed the distinct lack/no truffle flavour in the truffle mayo. It didn’t taste any different to the side of mayo (and ketchup) we had with our fries. These were also unpleasant/cheap versions of the condiments. The brioche bun, burger patty and fries were excellent.

I do wonder if our experience was typical of a weekend service, where their demand is higher and the restaurant can’t keep up. Perhaps there were other factors. My partner who’d previously visited mid-week, said he hadn’t experienced any such issues. Overall, transparency would have been appreciated. We certainly went the only ones kept waiting over an hour for our food after...

Booked this place for my dad's 40th birthday meal because of the brilliant reviews. Dicks smokehouse did not disappoint!! From the get go the staff were so attentive and kind, always checking in on us and making sure we were stocked up with drinks. My mom has some dietary restrictions specifically to dairy and the lady that served us was so good at explaining the rolls were dairy free and made sure she felt comfortable ordering anything off the menu. I personally had the ribs and WOW I have never eaten ribs like it. Perfectly charred on the outside and flavourful the bbq sauce that was served with the ribs was so good, I would buy a whole bottle of it. We also as a table shared the mac and cheese and that was also really good. Couldn't fault the food. I had a cocktail which was also really good. For dessert they bought out my dads birthday cake and they did a great job with the candles and singing and making my dad feel special. The atmosphere was so warm and cosy and intimate the place only has a few tables so you felt very well looked after. Overall I now recommend this place to everyone who wants a good night out and my fiance and I can't wait to be back for date...