BRISKET & FRIENDS

Brisket & Friends is a small BBQ joint in an industrial park near Liljeholmen.  About a 10 minute walk from the nearest T-Bana, Midsommarkransen, unless you try to follow the Citymapper route that is (Don’t!  One of the paths no longer exists!) but otherwise it is very well located amidst an array of transport options.  Once you are walking down the right street it is easy to spot the large sign to get you the rest of the way.

From the outside it is very basic looking, although I am to believe in the warmer months they have outside seating which would be delightful!  Inside it is very small with only two long tables which are communal seating.  The wall on the right-hand side hosts the menu and you then go to the counter to order picking up any sides or drinks you would like on the way.  The wall on the left is decorated with framed BBQ related pictures from across America.  Without those pictures, it would certainly look like a pop-up restaurant that could disappear any day.

We arrived towards the end of the lunch rush, so the place was jam-packed.  Luckily, this did mean that by the time we had ordered some people vacated and we had a place to sit.  I guess the other option would have been getting it to take away, but with nowhere to sit nearby, I am glad it didn’t come to that.

With the location of the menu making it hard to read without being in the way of everyone else, it did put a bit of pressure on choosing quickly what we wanted to eat, so I would recommend having a look on their website beforehand to get an idea of what you might want.  And if you don’t speak Swedish this is definitely going to be a wise decision.   All options look really good, so it is a pretty tough choice. 

In the end we went with a selection – brisket, pulled beef, pork belly (fläsksida), chicken wings plus a couple of sides and a chilli aioli dip.  The meat is charged by weight and is priced per ‘hg’ (100g), so you tell the cashier what you would like and how much and this is then weighed in front of you.  Although this process makes a lot of sense as it is giving the customer control of what they order, I would not like to arrive in the middle of the lunch rush as I dread to think how long you would have to wait.  Thankfully for us, this was not the case!  The meat was soft and tasty, although nowhere near as smoky as I imagined or would have liked.  The sauces that came with the meats were pretty tasty (although my dining guest was not so much of a fan) with the standout being the spicy sauce on the wings.  The sides were ok and the chilli aioli was great, although pretty unnecessary as the meats were perfectly fine without. 

Price wise I think they are on to something good.  Having spent 350kr for two guests on a meat-heavy lunch we both left feeling satisfied and said we would return – if we were in the area.  Overall, the food didn’t quite hit the mark and I wouldn’t make the journey again.  This is not to say I wouldn’t recommend the place, I sure would!  If you are ever in the area it is worth checking out.  It is rated very highly online and even has some awards under its belt, so they are clearly doing something right.  But for me personally, it didn’t have the smoky punch to make it truly great BBQ.

Location: Upplagsvägen near Midsommarkransen station in Västberga

To see more places to eat in central Stockholm click here.