Bó Drake: East Meets West

6 Greek St, W1 4DE

“OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet”

Wise words from Mr Rudyard Kipling, however if only he could have stuck around long enough to dine at Bó Drake – he would have been eating more than his words!

Bó Drake aims to combine sweet and pickled influences from East Asia alongside slow cooked BBQ methods from the Americas and Europe, et voilà East meets West!

You can find Bó Drake amongst the hustle and bustle that is Soho, with its plethora of restaurants it does make choosing a restaurant that much more difficult – especially when we find it hard to make a decision at the best of times.

Luckily the decision to eat at Bó Drake was made for us, as part of our monthly Secret Supper Club, so we started proceedings as we meant to go on with a round of cocktails.

GINGER SMASH – Tequila, Aperol, Fresh Cucumber, Ginger

BO DRAKE’S GARDEN – Gin, Elderflower, Cucumber, Apple Juice

PASSION ROYAL – Rum Infused vanilla, Passion Fruit Pureé, Cucumber Foam

All reasonably priced at £8…

The menu was short, so we ordered almost everything.

Crispy Squid: Hoy Sin Sauce, Ginger and Lime Aioli

Banging.

Dry Aged Rib Eye served with an Asparagus and Miso Butter!

Perfectly Pink… with no hint of chewiness.

Bo Saam – Hunks of Smoked Pulled Pork which you load up in lettuce nests, topped with spicy saamjang, Kimchi (a traditional Korean side dish) plus some spring onion oil. 

These lettuce parcels were different to anything we’d ever tasted before…spicy saamjang sauce vs the sour kimchi plus the smokey pork, just wow!

Kimchi was not for everyone…

Mixed Baby Tomato Salad – doesn’t sound like the most exciting dish but with addition of Yuzu, Coriander and Basil dressing, Tofu plus topped with some toasted rice, this plate was instantly transformed into a great Korean take on a classic tomato dish. 

The panfried Cauliflower and Broccoli dish on a Shiitake puree was another hum-dinger of a dish which on paper doesn’t sound like much!

The Korean Lamb Cutlets…difficult to share as they were so god-damn good!

We were EXTREMELY disappointed when we were informed that they had run out of their Bao buns…with the opening of Bao (review to follow) just down the road we had seen the long queue of people waiting and smugly trotted past thinking we were going to get our hands on those pillow-like buns without waiting in line…Bó Drake have recently started opening for lunch so maybe they hadn’t realised how many Bao’s to make for both lunch and dinner service…

This was a big negative for us the fact they ran out! Booooo.

Their Tuna Taco’s *almost* made up for the lack of Bao buns… this was a special so not a regular on their menu, so make sure to get it on your order if you see it on the blackboard!

Some deliciously fresh ceviche…another choice from their Specials.

The dinner was finished with another round of cocktails (eeeek) plus some more wine whilst waiting for our cab! Excellent end to a great restaurant choice.

The Burp Blog’s Verdict: Three out of Five Forks (the let down of no Bao’s plus the fact we were sat right next to the door did drop Bó Drake a fork…)

Price: ££ (Approx. £60 inc. wine, cocktails and service)

Top Tip: Check out The Vault next door for a pre-dinner drink!