Smokey Beast famed locally for their take on Authentic Smoked slow cooked BBQ meat can now be found down at Hopkinson by Nottingham Train station. If they sound familiar then you may recall them from their spot over in Sandiacre which they recently vacated to set up shop down here on Station Street

What should you expect? Well essentially a whole load of Smokehouse style BBQ menu including beef brisket, half chickens, sausage links, ribs and pulled pork together with classic sides such as coleslaw, pickles, gherkins and fries, as well as a lot of love from the kitchen added to every order

They have a trailer out the back where all the cooking and smoking action is taking place and you can order to takeout and/or eat in or outside the Antique centre which is handy as they serve beers and drinks that you may well fancy to go with your BBQ meats

You can find the menu attached to each table where you can also click on the Q code to order and view it in full detail although you get picture on the table menu (love a laminate😍🤣)

I loved all the descriptions on their menu, it made it all sound like so much fun and made every dish sound so tempting. I mean who could resist an offer of “10 Hours of Jacob’s Smoke Signals Climbing the Ladder of Fun’ ? yeh sure we did but ‘juicy beef ribs with crispy salty skin lounging on a bed of golden fries’ sounds like a date I want be on plate wise!

In the end we picked out the Brisket –“18 HOURS OF BRISKET BLISS” because I love that cut of meat and also I had seen a lovely picture of the dish courtesy of Jeremy’s Food Tour on Instagram

Also we ordered the half chicken – “SMOKIN HALF CHICKEN” as I hardly ever order that from a BBQ joint and I was curious to try it out

If I am honest I wanted it all and was so tempted to order the SMOKEHOUSE TESTER or should that be Taster? which was described as

“18 hours of smoky beef brisket that melts in your mouth, pulled pork swimming in BBQ sauce, juicy chicken niblets, Welsh dragon sausage that’ll make you roar, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, crispy pickles, homemade pickled red onions, creamy coleslaw, and seasoned fries that are basically a party on your plate.“

Maybe next time, but for now lets take a gander at what we did order and eat!

18 HOURS OF BRISKET BLISS

The Brisket plate or “18 HOURS OF BRISKET BLISS!” as they call it here was listed on the menu as ‘Smoky brisket dancing with crispy, seasoned fries, a splash of our signature coleslaw, homemade red onion pickles, and delightful gherkin slices!‘

It is a shame that you cannot see it all in my photograph but I was too eager to dive in to eat it that I forget to ‘move it all around’ but hey it is all about the eating not the viewing 🙂

So you get a lot of slices of brisket meat on the tray, all very tasty and falling apart as you forked it up. Underneath is a big pile of seasoned fries which were excellent especially after they had absorbed the juices and meat gravy

The traditional accompaniments of the coleslaw, pickled pink onions, and gherkin are classic offerings and I really enjoyed their version of coleslaw. I should like the gherkins but I usually don’t eat them which is my bad as I know that they are a great side

Overall Meat and Fries are totally banging, I love brisket and I love meat soaked fries

SMOKIN HALF CHICKEN

The second dish we had ordered was the “SMOKIN HALF CHICKEN!” which was described as ‘Smoky half chicken lounging on a bed of crispy fries, pickle red onions, and tangy gherkin slices—dinner just leveled up!’

Once again I had omitted to remove that tray of gherkins (did we really need three of them?) so you could see the pickled red onions and fries that lay below. I don’t think that it really matters as this dish is essentially all about the chicken and the chips.

I love half a chicken any time of the day and in any style but I rarely have it from the smoker. I do find that it can be hard to keep it moist. I really liked the flavour that the smoking had imparted to the chicken especially to the crispy skin. The best bits (as always) were the dark meat in the thigh and drumstick.

The fries that had absorbed some of that gravy were good, but as we were comparing them to the seasoned fries from the brisket dish I admit that we were both fighting over the brisket fries.

If it was me I would do them all the same but I am not in charge for a good reason and sometimes a plainer fry is the right call and I get that! 🧐🤣

I would order more of this chicken for sure just for that tasty crispy skin if for no other reason!

BEER BATTERED CHICKEN WINGS

As well as the dishes we ordered we were treated to a side of the Beer Battered Smoked Chicken wings in a sticky BBQ sauce not something I would normally order but a dish I was happy enough to be trying.

The portion size is generous with six of the wings in the box, each looking like they had been working out!

They had a very crunchy coating, more crunch than meat but that was fine, I liked the crispy outside! The sticky sauce was exceptionally messy but a lot of fun, I definitely missed and needed a lot of napkins!

Instead I relied on the trusty method of sucking all the sauce off my fingers and hands while asking my dining companion how much sauce I had on my face (a lot apparently) 😍

I thoroughly enjoyed checking out Smokey Beast at Hopkinson in Nottingham the flavours of both the chicken and the brisket dishes we ate were excellent and would happily order both again.

Portion wise both dishes were substantial meals for one and although we shared them we struggled to finish it all. It would have been good to be able to order just the meats and then the sides as well but maybe that isn’t going to fill you up properly and maybe the sides really are part of the experience. I didn’t eat any of the huge pickled gherkins and hardly any of the pickled onions but I am just a BBQ meat fiend😂

I would like to try more of their offerings and I am very tempted to return to take on the sampler dish but I also fancy some of the sausage and some of the pulled pork too.

After we had eaten I had a lovely chat with Petra, the star in the kitchen, who had been hustling away in the container out the back with little respite and even though they were busy she was happy to take the time to check in with people, and I was happy to learn more about the menu and the food.

I felt a little guilty for poking my nose into the kitchen earlier adding more hassle to the day asking about my food but she was a true professional and had taken it in her stride!

I love learning more about the stories behind places like this and when I feel the love for the food and see the enthusiasm that they have for the craft I am always encouraged to return

Smokey Beast are currently located at Hopkinson Vintage, Antique and Arts Centre who are located at 21 Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3A near to Nottingham Train Station

Open Mon – Thu 10am-7pm, Fri /Sat 10am-9pm and Sun 11am-7pm

Check Smokey Beast out on Instagram and Facebook