The Globe, Brighton - epic BBQ with a side of Brake Bros disappointment
The Globe is a superficially-unpromising back street boozer just off the Brighton seafront. It is also the cut-down second outpost of BBQ Shack, a two-joint mini chain of Texas-y barbecue pubs that have been getting deeply promising reviews.We figured we'd try it on Sunday.
The tl;dr version:
£6 - 8 for a main. Great meat, great BBQ sauce, terrible sides. Cool decor, uninspired beer. Go for lunch, not dinner. No website.
In detail:
Jay Rayner has covered the original branch, World's End, somewhat over rhapsodically in the Guardian, and a quick Google reveals a more sedate write-up on the Sussex Review.On balance, we should have gone to World's End, but the food at The Globe was still thoroughly enjoyable. The difference appears to be a shitty beer selection, and a slimmed-down menu - there were no Armadillo Eggs, for instance. Just a simple selection of BBQ sandwiches and a promising range of burgers.I opted for the Oak Smoked Beef Brisket sandwich, Kit for the Classic Pulled Pork.The brisket was beautifully tender, and the slow smoking had permeated it thoroughly. It wasn't heavily sauced, but wasn't actually dry either. This was good brisket. Unfortunately, the bread it turned up in, and the chips and onion rings on the side were a pronounced let-down. Let's just call it cheap Chorleywood fuckery, and move on hoping it wasn't actually a supermarket own brand.Perhaps they were just running low; the roll for the pulled pork looked much better. Annoyingly, I forgot to get pictures. The pork itself was well marinated, rich, and succulent. Neither it nor the brisket were a patch on Bodean's, but they were definitely well-executed. And so was the mustard potato salad on the side - nothing wrong with that.No, the chips and onion rings are where it all fell apart. Onion rings are one of my favourite things, and they're so good in some BBQ places that these made my heart sink. Both the rings and the chips were of the desultory mass-production, bought-frozen variety that characterize institutional canteens and lackluster food pubs. This is a shame, because The Globe really isn't one of those.It has a nifty retro ambiance, with just the right levels of deliberately run-down Americana lathered over ironic flock wallpaper, and one of those elaborately ineffective row-of-paddles ceiling fans. And that's without considering the quality of the meat these chips were sitting next to. The entire rest of The Globe's offering deserves better, and whilst it didn't ruin the meal, I am still whining about it two days and three paragraphs later.Not everything on the side was grim, mind you. The BBQ sauce looked and tasted homemade, and was spicy and slightly sweet without any vinagery edge. This was a well-made straight-up sauce with no mucking about, and I used the best part of a pint of it to make the chips tolerable. I'd say it compares favourably to Bodean's smoked hickory BBQ sauce, but wouldn't stand up to their chipotle offering.It's not a big place, so if it functions at all as a drinking hole, I wouldn't go for dinner as it would likely be too crowded. But despite the chips, I'd have no qualms about returning for lunch. The burgers look worth exploring, as does the smoked chicken & chorizo roll.On balance, though, I think next time I'll take the fractionally longer walk and head for World's End.