i have yet to hear a bad word against this place. as the name suggests, the menu is all about the meat. they slow cook all their meats and once they run out on a particular day, that’s it – you’ve missed the boat!
it’s a small and casual place based on wellington quay in dublin. this isn’t an area i’d have been too familiar with until recently when i went to the liquor rooms which is just a few doors up. the interior at the front of bison is like a small pub, dark and cosy. you can choose to eat your food here or else go through to the back where you’ll have the choice of sitting on one of the saddles – luckily for my backside that area was full when we visited so we sat in the bar area.
it’s a quirkey place and for some reason i really loved the trough style sink in the ladies!
the menu is plain and simple. for €13.95 you can chose your meat and pick 2 sides to go with it. the meat choices are half a chicken, pulled pork, sausage,brisketor pork ribs. if you’re extra hungry you can get the combo plate for €16.95 and get two meats along with your two sides. choice of sides are coleslaw, burnt end beans, potato salad, onion rings with garlic mayo or french fries with chipotle mayo.
as per usual, we were hungry and wanted a good taste of everything to share. we got a combo ofbrisketand pulled pork and then the half chicken. for sides we got chips, onion rings, burnt end beans and coleslaw. we placed the order at the bar, got some drinks and sat and waited for our mountain of food. it killed us watching everyone else getting their food and smelling the amazing meat while we waited – but it was 100% worth the wait.
our trays arrived piled with food. i don’t actually think i’ve ever seen so much meat on one table! we got stuck in right away and barely spoke for a few minutes. the meat was unbelievable. without a doubt my favourite was the pulled pork – it was so smokey and soft and i just wanted to scoff it all on poor e! i’d never tastedbrisketbefore and was equally impressed… the chicken came third – i couldn’t fault it but i eat so much chicken at home that the other two meats were more special.
the sides were just as good. i’m not the biggest onion ring fan so i left most of those to e but all the rest were great. the coleslaw was chunkier than normal and had bits of apple throughout and the chipotle mayo that came with the chips was addictive.
for once in my life i drove so e could have a few drinks. bison is well known for the whiskey sours and other hardcore cocktails so he had a few of the bison kick… at €5 each they were a total bargain.
i can’t remember exactly what was in them apart from tequila and ginger – i had a little taste and they were damn good!
we could barely move after our feed so there wasn’t a hope in hell of dessert – however the table beside us got a heap of the peach cobblers and they milled through them so they must’ve been good! the total bill for all that food, a soft drink, a beer and two cocktails was just €50 – that’s serious value for money in dublin city. with more of these bbq places popping up around town there is some competition for bison but i’d have zero doubts that they’ll hold their own serving food like that!