Since coming back from Asia I have made it my mission to start seeking out all the best Asian food in the city. Thankfully word of my quest seems to have spread and the invitations have been flooding in. Bin Bin Q Barbecue is located a short walk from Euston station on Drummond street, an area that seems to be becoming very popular for Chinese cuisine. The restaurant itself isn’t all that fancy, though to be honest it fits in well with all my other experience of Chinese BBQ, this is not a bougie style of dining.
I’d had a long day so was very keen to have a drink. Thankfully they did have alcohol on the menu. I ordered my Chubby Hubby a glass of Pinot Noir (£8) and myself a Moscow Mule (£11). While the wine was fine, the Moscow Mule as you can see was rather overpriced. It was a two ingredient drink charged as a cocktail because they know they can get away it, although I did have my suspicions this would be the case when I ordered it. I’d stick to Tsingtao beer or the wine if I was you.
Whilst the drinks were somewhat lackluster I was there for the food. The star attraction is of course the Meat Skewers which can be purchased for £1.30 each or you can get 10 for £11, obviously we opted for the latter. There is quite the array of different meats, seafood, and veggies available on the skewer menu however we opted for the Lamb, Sirloin, and King Prawns.
Let’s start with the lamb as it’s generally the most popular. I live for a Chinese lamb skewer so had high expectations for these and they did not disappoint. Unlike most restaurants I have been to in the past you don’t not cook them yourself, instead they are cooked in the kitchen. The spices were also cooked with the lamb, instead of having a little pot that you add separately, which led me to wonder if I have been eating them wrong all this time? Either way the lamb was delicious. The beef ones were fairly similar, although I’d give the edge to the lamb just because it’s a little fattier so they are slightly juicier. Lastly I have to talk about the prawns. These were much bigger than any shrimp I got in Seoul which made it much more pleasurable to eat and far more worth the effort of de-shelling.
We were advised to try the Lamb Rib (£3.90) and it’s advice I am very glad I took. This was melt in the mouth heaven. The skin of the fat was uber crispy, while the layer of fat below just dissolved into the tongue like a monsoon of pleasure. It was very reminiscent of bone marrow. The lamb meat itself was also so tender that it fell off the bone. My only regret about this dish was not getting two! Whilst barbecue is all about the meat, we figured we needed to get at least one vegetable dish, so ordered the Aubergine (£3.80). I am always a fan of the Chinese versions of this dish, I don’t know what they do to it, but they make it one of the yummiest veggies in the world. Every bite of the soft smokey flesh was pure unadulterated heaven.
One charming thing about the restaurant is that they have a supermarket attached to the restaurant. They have a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean groceries dried, fresh and frozen food. I like to think of it as the equivalent for the Foreign Food mart back in Itaewon. If your local supermarkets don’t have your favourite Asian foods then this is a great spot to try and locate them. They stocked quite a few of the Korean soft drinks that I thought would be difficult to track down in London.
Overall I enjoyed my food, the lamb dishes were exceptionally tasty. This was always one of my favourite foods to eat back in Korea so I am glad that this style of barbecue is becoming more popular in London. If you have never been for Chinese barbecue before then make the trip up to Euston and give it a try.
Bin Bin is located at 161-163 Drummond St, London NW1 2PB . The nearest tube station is Euston. For more information you can call them on 020 7388 7948 or check out their website.