Bodean's - Cocktails in the City

Barbeque
Citywide

All good things must come to an end, and it looks like the summer is over for another year. Fear not though, this doesn't mean giving up all things barbeque. It just means transposing yourself from your back garden to one of London's many BBQ smokehouses.

One of our favourites is Bodean's, an originator of the recent comfort eating 'dude food' craze. With branches in Fulham, Clapham, Soho and Tower Hill you're never too far away from one, and their mix of hearty portions, potent cocktails and televised sports, not to mention awesome food, makes it somewhere we return to again and again.

Bodean's is one of many restaurants taking part in the Cocktails in the City event coming up on Thursday 26 September. Each participating venue has teamed up with a spirits manufacturer to create exclusive cocktails for the event which are also being served in the Clapham, Soho and Tower Hill restaurants for a limited period. Bodean's has collaborated with white grain spirit manufacturer Bootlegger to create three exciting new drinks and we made it our mission to try them all on our recent visit.

We started with the Smoking Tommy Gun, a martini made with Bootlegger and smoked Chase vodka, seasoned with BBQ spices on the rim of glass and garnished with a prawn - a real prawn cocktail! This is the perfect accompaniment to barbecued food. The smokiness of the drink complimented the equally smoky meat and it really packs punch. The Smoking Tommy Gun contains no real mixer, so it is definitely not to be underestimated.

The Capone's Collins is a longer, fruitier cocktail, preferred by the females in our group. Once again using Bootlegger as the base, it is topped up with passion fruit syrup, soda and ice, a sweet concoction that slips down easily. We also made room for the Bootlegger Bellini; agave syrup and mango purée added to Bootlegger before being topped up with Kona Hawaiian pale ale (one of our favourite craft beers served at Hawaiian burger joint, Kua 'Aina). The sweetness from the mango offsets the bitterness of the pale ale making a very tasty combination.

Naturally, we couldn't come here without eating too, and our cocktails were accompanied by barbecued chicken and cheese quesadillas, followed by jerk chicken and rice. Until this visit, we didn't even realise Bodean's sold jerk chicken. Usually our attention gets no further than the pulled pork and burnt ends on the menu. Trying something new paid dividends though as we were treated to a fantastic version of the classic Caribbean dish, with the chicken off the bone and sauce just on the right side of hot. It takes a lot to keep us from ribs and pork, but we certainly weren't disappointed.

Tickets for Cocktails in the City are available now from cocktailsinthecity.co.uk, priced from £20 to £50. Bodeans are also providing food for the event, so be sure to line your stomach well and get involved with as many cocktails as possible.

Limited edition cocktails - £7.50 each