Restaurant review: Hang Fire Southern Kitchen

We visited Hang Fire Southern Kitchen for the first time on Friday evening. I'd booked it back in March as a birthday present for Neil, so we'd had more than enough time to get excited about it.

I was absolutely STARVING by the time we got to Barry. I had a tiny lunch to make sure I left enough room for copious amounts of meat in the evening, and my appetite was definitely at its peak. 

When we arrived at 6pm, we were shown to our table by the restaurant owner herself. She told us a bit about the history of the restaurant and explained that her partner was downstairs cooking all the food. The interior was completely different to what I expected, in a good way. It felt airy, authentic and relaxing. It was fairly quiet in the restaurant at that point but it soon filled up as the evening went on. 

I'd already looked at the menu about fifty times in the week leading up to our reservation, but I was still debating between a few different things. I eventually decided to go for the 'choose two BBQ meats' option and chose the spare ribs and the Texas sausage. I don't order ribs very often as I don't like eating meat off the bone, but loads of people had raved about the ribs at Hang Fire so I thought I'd regret it if I didn't try them. I also ordered a side of pastrami hash because I wanted to try as many things as possible (and I was starving). 

Yum yum yum! My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when all this was put down in front of me. The seasoning on the ribs was absolutely delicious and the meat fell effortlessly off the bone. The sausage had the most beautiful smoky flavour, and I loved the accompanying homemade barbecue and mustard sauces. The pastrami hash with the crispy onion bits piled on top was also amazing and I could have eaten it all night. I didn't take many photos because I was so hungry and eager to devour everything straight away, but photos could never do the food justice in any case!  

Neil ordered the brisket and burnt ends with the mac'n'cheese on the side, and he was also really impressed. I left a quarter of a rib and some of my pastrami hash behind because I was so full at the end, and I felt genuinely gutted that I couldn't quite manage it all. I was also disappointed that I didn't have room to sample one of their desserts! 

Our main meals, sides and pints of diet Coke came to £55 in total. I thought this was very reasonable considering the great quality and the massive portion sizes. Everyone who served us was friendly and efficient, and they all clearly loved working in such a unique restaurant. 

Have you ever been to Hang Fire Southern Kitchen? We'll definitely be back!