Red Dog Saloon

went with a friend for lunch, greeted by friendly staff. we opted for spicy chicken wings which were epic!, lovley crispy skin, nice soft chicken on inside, then we had the whole rack of ribs, fantastic loads of meat and well presented on a wooden platter., we could only manage three quaters of them between us, great onion rings and macaroni cheese. A real good nose bag. burgers looked good aswell, will defo go back, 2 people with wine 2 beers water was £80, excellent value, plenty of yanks in here so must be good as i know they love there meat, will try the “devastator” burger when i go back in a try “man vs food” fashion!

This is a restaurant which has turned up out of nowhere and made a big impact in Hoxton Square. The food is authentic American barbecue, with the drinks and decour to match.

I had the buffalo wings to start (probably the best I've ever had) before moving on to the barbecue beef short rib which has to be tried to be believed; falling off the bone as you pick it up. My wife had a pulled pork sandwich which was still a sizeable meal and at a very competitive price. With a real passion and emphasis on the food, the other aspects of the restaurant cannot quite match up. The staff are very friendly but seem quite inexperinced and perhaps haven't learnt as much as they could have about the food on offer. The decour is a little cheesy and on quieter nights the atmosphere can be a bit dry. Overall though, excellent food, good value for money and friendly staff. I will definitely be coming back!

I'm confident that in a few weeks my overall rating would be a 9 – but the RDS is just getting going… considering which, the results are very encouraging for the future. To my mind, the youthful and refreshingly unassuming and friendly people I encountered in this Hoxton comfort food “saloon” are already working well together and producing some impressive food in the Southern US style. I really enjoyed my starter of fiery steamed prawns, the firmness of the prawn to the bite evidenced that this was fresh and not the “flacid” consistency that makes me fear for my health. This was followed by the most wonderful short ribs, no kidding. They were tender, full of flavour and unctuous as well as appropriate in size (ie not mean – this is supposed to be American food!). I guess the fact we were drinking wine (good but for a Chilean sauvignon blanc, not cheap) shows our age – given the location and style, the 'target" demographic must be the stylish young hedonists that inhabit this part of the City fringe – and I hope that in due course there will be a cocktail list as well available to complement the beers etc.

My wife thought her salad was just great, crispy, tasty and again not mean. She also thoroughly enjoyed her burger and fries – so for a new place, this shows an encouraging ability to please. I'm sure we'll be back shortly – the place is already buzzing and the value for money is very fair and that too is an incentive.

Oh, and by the way, the American made ice cream is potentially addictive.