Uncle Hon's BBQ — Restaurant in London

As a longtime Austinite who now lives in London, my husband and I were ecstatic to learn that someone was doing BBQ in London, and had studied at one of our favorite Austin BBQ joints. We went to Uncle Hon's on a Sunday with a group of friends from all over, most having their first taste of Texas BBQ.

Hon's is a solid example of Texas BBQ. In fact, you could argue that it's much more interesting than what you'd find in Texas, because Hon introduces flavors from his native Hong Kong in the dishes -- like the Szechuan rub on the beef rib, or rice as the starchy carb instead of white bread. This would never happen in Texas; they're purists about the flavor of the meat itself and tend to shun innovation (sometimes too quickly). For these former Austinites, we welcomed and really loved Hon's additions. He still grounds his dishes in Texas pitmaster tradition, though -- the meats were juicy, and smoked through.

The clear winner of the day was the melt-in-your-mouth pork belly. I'm not sure I've had belly so perfectly softened before. A close second was the beef rib, tender to the touch and again, encrusted in some peppercorn heat. Hon's most pleasant surprise was the brisket. We had read ahead of time that we shouldn't expect Texas brisket, as the cattle there are corn fed or corn finished, and UK beef is always grass fed (so, less fat). Honestly, though, we loved Hon's brisket. Sure, you don't get as thick of a fat cap as in Texas, but it was still brilliant. Tender, flavorful, a great adaptation.

I had also read some reviews that folks thought the sausage was too slaty, but I disagree. BBQ sausage tends to be pretty dang salty, and I could have even done with more. I do wish the casing had a bit more snap to it, but that's just in comparison to others I've had. I actually think it could be interesting if Hon offered a sausage that had some more of the Asian fusion flavors -- just another way to bring something new to the plate. Lastly, the pork ribs were just okay in my opinion -- I think they could be thicker with more meat on the bone. The ones we had kind of left you wanting more.

All in all, we're so glad we found Hon's. If you haven't had Texas BBQ, this is the perfect place in London to try it out. If you already love Texas BBQ, this will both satisfy your craving and show you the value in being open to new variations on the cuisine.

Logistical note: Definitely get there early if you're going on a Sunday. We arrived with a group of 10 people around 12:20pm, and we got the last platters / the last of most of the menu I think. (My deepest apologies to folks behind us...

Really strong concept, not so good execution - I wanted to love this so bad. Acidity is a fundamental part of Texas bbq and it is used in Texas bbq to tickle ur palette when it is combined with sweetness and cutting through smoke. Although the meats are served with pickles (that are not very acidic to begin with), I think there is a lack of acidity in all of the meats. The mac and cheese was really good though some of the best if not the best I’ve had in London. It had a great smokiness that complimented the Gouda exceptionally well. My favorite meat was probably the pork rib even though the ox cheek def had a really interesting (good) texture. I was not a big fan of how the pork belly was cooked (might be a me thing) and how dry it was (def not a me thing) - the sweet glaze was good but the fact that it wasn’t lacquered on didn’t do it or the pork belly any justice. The pulled lamb was moist but most of the lamb flavor/smoke is lost due to the overwhelming flavor of the (untoasted) cumin, which works pretty well in chengdu style lamb, but not so well here. All in all it wasn’t a terrible meal even though I was pretty underwhelmed by all of the meats (my reason for traveling from Camden).

Also this is not a real restaurant. Front of house is a disaster here, I had to wait to be seated because the “reservation manager” had to take a shot. He took the shot and literally walked away then one of the servers who watched the whole thing came over with a super contrite facial expression and seated me. There is super loud music in the dining room, not sure if that’s just a Saturday thing - the tunes were actually pretty good which made it bearable but there is nothing like trying to eat an £80 a head meal while watching hipsters from hackney and yuppies from Essex teach themselves how to dance at 35 years old to the tune of Lebanese disco house from the 80s blasting at 3000 decibels.

Definitely a unique experience, definitely wouldn’t recommend it to any of my homies visiting...

5 stars are more often inflationary by nature, but in the case of Uncle Hon's in Hackney Wick, they are not. We arrived at the tail end of the afternoon service, but missed the last orders. The hosts at the desk advised us wisely: "queue up early for the next orders which will be taken in one hour."

We went back and queued up 45 minutes later, and were not disappointed (plenty of good craft breweries around the corner, so we were well occupied while waiting!). We were first in line, which in and of itself is always a great feeling!

We went for the full monty on our order: the beef cheeks were sliced just right and very tender and tasty, the pork belly was equally tasty and sticky, the rib we shared (there were three of us) fell off the bone, the sausages were meaty, smoky and not at all fatty, and the slaw and bits on the side complimented the meats perfectly. Don't skip the stir fried rice, if it's on the menu. But don't worry if you just get the spiced rice on the side: it was excellent too!

Uncle Hon spent time with all the clients, and was sincerely interested in everybody's feedback on the food and the service, pacing the queue as people waited to order and chatting with his guests. I think he is going to do really well there, and foresee bigger things for his restauranteuring future.

Know well that they had to turn down at least 100 clients that day. This, in itself, speaks way more than I can for how good Uncle Hon's is.

We'll be back...