A hip place to pig-out

With a recent nomination for a Tio Pepe restaurant award under its belt, Bodean's is making quite a name for itself feeding the hoards of hungry American tourists and battle-weary shoppers a few streets away from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.

As the 15-rack roasting pit and neon pig sign hanging in the window subtly hint, this Americana-style smoke house makes no bones about its love of all things meaty and the more carnivorous clientele, the better.

The restaurant's founder is Andre Blais, the brother of Denis Blais who helped to establish the Belgian-themed Belgo chain, and he has gone all-out for the retro American look.

Upstairs is a fast food/take-out area with chequered stained-glass windows, half-net curtains and row upon row of tall swivel stools. Downstairs is decked-out in similar style - high-backed black benches, antler lamp stands, carved animals lining the walls - but, with no windows, this area has been wisely designated a no smoking zone to avoid having to re-define the term 'smoke pit'.

With country music in our ears, we prepared to chow down on the 'teasers' menu. The surprisingly dainty crab meat cakes sadly had little taste, despite the addition of southern spices but we had better luck with our second choice - a plate of chargrilled juicy gamba shrimps, which didn't disappoint.

As the main courses were rolled out, we began to wish we'd skipped the starters — it's well known that big is beautiful when it comes to American food and Bodean's certainly follows this mantra. The spicy crayfish jumbalaya was heaped high on a mound of rice and came with three large wedges of sweet corn bread, while the Jamaican jerk chicken was nicely tender and browned and balanced on top of a mountain of fries, grilled aubergine and mushrooms and tasty homemade coleslaw.

A brief pause was needed to digest the mammoth meal, during which the likes of Planters Punch and Cowboy Martinis on the cocktail menu provided an enjoyable distraction, but as the music changed to Blues, we took a deep breath and braced ourselves for dessert.

The water-baked cheesecake comes direct from New York and it is worth the airfare - creamy, but not excessively rich and topped with a generous tangy berry coulis. But it was the huge mound of apple pie that was the star of the night, with its big chunks of warm apple and sweet sauce topped with moreish pastry and complimented by a dollop of nutmeg ice cream.

All-in-all, the food at Bodean's might not set your taste buds on fire but it will certainly hit the spot without hitting your wallet and there are plenty of offers to be had if you dine at the right time, including the express lunch service, where your food is free if you don't receive it within 15 minutes of ordering it, and the 'Pig Out For A Tenner' offer.

Just make sure someone is on hand to roll you home at the end of the meal.