Nothing gets my juices going like a good barbecue restaurant, so when I came across Hotbox on Instagram I was drooling. When I found out they also do a bottomless brunch menu, that runs during the week I was in love. As luck would have it my Sister was coming to visit me in the Big Smoke before going to see the Spice Girls with her BFF. Since she likes to eat and drink even more than I do, I knew that Hotbox was the perfect spot for a boozy brunch.
Hotbox is located in Shoreditch just opposite one of the entrances to Spitalfields market. The restaurant itself is quite large and has a real American barbecue shack kind of vibe going on. There is a massive bar in one corner, and elements such as the shipping container kitchen, and wooden picnic style tables give it that East London cool kinda vibe. They even have an art gallery-cum-cocktail bar in the basement. If that is not Shoreditch Chic, then I don’t know what is.
Probably the best bit about this brunch is that they do an all you can drink option every day of the week (except Mondays when they are closed). The Liquid Brunch (£25) includes bottomless cocktails for two hours. There is a nice mix of drinks including Mimosas, Bloody Marys (and versions made with gin and bourbon), Michaladas, and a cocktail made with gin, elderflower, and soda. We had tremendous fun working our way through the menu. We all agreed that the Smokey BBQ Bourbon Mary was our favourite, and that the Mimosas were nice but could have been a little less heavy on the juice. While the Gin and Elderflower cocktail was the perfect drink to finish on as it was light and refreshing. One thing to note is that you can’t order your next drink until you finish your previous one, so there won’t be any double fisting. I assume this is to prevent us Boozy Brits from getting carried away, as I never came across this rule in Asia!
Although we were very taken with the all you can drink aspect of this brunch we were also their to eat. The dish that jumped right out to me was the Pork Belly Benedict (£9). The glazed barbecue pork belly was topped with two perfectly poached eggs, and a spicy hollandaise. My god was this good, it was everything one looks for in an indulgent egg dish. The pork belly was coated in the most lovely barbecue sauce and was melt in the mouth. While the eggs oozed their delicious yellow yolks all over the toasted muffins. It was poetry on a plate.
The other item on the menu that I was exceedingly excited to try was the Bandit Burger (£12). The dry aged beef burger is topped with smoked short rib, jalapeno, cheese, chimichurri, and chipotle mayo. My god is this one sexy burger, and it tastes almost a good as it looks. The beef and short rib was an explosion of meaty goodness, and only got better when paired with the cheese and jalapeno. I only wish that it had come with a side of fries.
Lastly we ordered the Waffle Chicken (£9.50). Our fluffy waffle was topped with a boneless piece of southern fried chicken, truffle salt, and maple syrup. This looked the simplest on the plate but it ended up being one of the tastiest dishes. I love a sweet and savoury combo so this fried chicken paired with the sweet maple syrup and waffle was a delight to my taste buds. And the addition of the truffle salt was pure genius, as it really kicked it up a notch and made it a pleasure for all the senses.
Overall I think we had a fabulous brunch. We managed to sink at least five drinks each, making good use of our bottomless package. The food was was absolutely fantastic too. I’ll certainly be going back again soon to try some of their other items. If you like booze, brunch, and barbecue this place is not to be missed.
HotBox is located at 46-48 Commercial St, Spitalfields, London E1 6LT. The nearest tube stop is Aldgate East. For more information you can call them on 020-7247 -817 or check out their website. They are open 11.30-2.30pm and 6-10.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 11.30-3.00pm on Sundays.