Chicago Rib Shack

An hour and a half before dinner and I am sitting at the Slug & Lettuce, nursing a mug of hot, fruity, ginseng tea, trying to resist the urge to dig into the oversized sharing platter in front of me. I try to focus on the conversation at hand as my friend wolfs down his dinner Willpower, I tell myself - it would all be worth the wait.

Chicago Rib Shack
145 Knightsbridge,
Knightsbridge,
London,
SW1X 7PA

I am beyond hungry by the time I arrive at the Rib Shack and every minute spent waiting for the rest of the party to arrive feels like an eternity. A bright, neon pink "Exhipigtion" featuring a full-length display of minature pigs greets me as I walk in and I immediately feel as if I have been transported to the television stereotype of an American joint.

Milkshakes and smoothies to keep us happy while they work their magic on those ribs. Choices range from the malty, chocolatey classics like the Oreo milkshake to lighter, fruitier alternatives like this banana-based smoothie that Sapna is enjoying.

The Rib Shack Sampler - a combination of baby back, St. Louis and beef ribs, perfect for when you absolutely cannot decide on which type to order. I settled on a half rack of baby back ribs - served with corn on the cob and coleslaw, the ribs were the type you'd want to savour slowly, taking time to lick the juices off your fingers.

The Big 'C' - tender pulled pork wrapped in smoked bacon on mashed sweet potato with a spicy BBQ sauce. This came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. The generous portion of creamy mashed sweet potato was the perfect complement to the tender, (sinfully indulgent) flavourful pulled pork and smoked bacon.

Organic Buffalo Chicken Wings - chicken wings marinated and coated with spicy hot sauce (there is also a choice of sweet BBQ sauce) and served with blue cheese sauce and celery.

The Onion Loaf - deep fried battered onion rings. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, both in terms of size and flavour. The loaf was more than enough for our hungry party of 7 and the battered onion bits tasted a lot less like your conventional Burger King onion rings and more like the Malaysian version of deep fried onions.

We ordered a host of sides, far far too much in fact. We definitely underestimated the portion sizes. Some noteworthy sides include the sweet potato wedges and smoked butter mash. I would recommend that you stay away from the cream spinach which was disappointingly bland and had a less than pleasant texture. We were told that it's worth keeping a little section of your stomach empty for dessert but this time around, despite being very, very tempted by the thought of something warm and chocolatey to end the meal, we were absolutely stuffed. You know how they say that there's always room for dessert? They lied.

Ribs - good. Portions - huge. The 50% off offer on Mondays? - now, that's the best part. You can take advantage of some pretty good offers if you book ahead: 50% off on Mondays, 33% off on Tuesdays and 25% off on Wednesdays. I'd say that you'd definitely get your money's worth with the special offers but perhaps not too much without them.

Bone Appetite! Kuhan, all bibbed up and ready to go.