Bodean's (Clapham)

Absolutely love this place!!!!! Been going here for a while and it has just got so much better recently. Great offer Monday to Wed too - Best meat in town!
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Rob
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 05, 2009

I regretted my first and last dinner in bodeans soho. I am not complaining about the chefs who cook or the waiters who serve. The portions are smaller, the food is precooked and then microwaved. I'll never ever come back, I would prefer Mediterranean restaurants
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emma johnson
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, January 22, 2009

Afraid have to admit that I agree with a lot of the comments below. Used to absolutely love this place – as the portions were good and the special deal nights were frequent. BUT – as with most other comments, also believe it has declined.

The Steak night deal has gone; the portions are A LOT smaller; the burnt ends are really dry now; the cuts of meat seem to be of poorer quality (less meat on them); and they do tend to get the bills wrong pretty often.

BUT – I still rate them better than most other rib places I have been to. I will still go – I just wish they would bring back the quality to how it was before.
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Duncan
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Thursday, November 20, 2008

I've been going to Bodean's since it opened - mainly the one in Soho but we were in the Clapam area and hungry so popped in. Huge disappointment

The range of beers has gone very poor. No more Sleamans Honey Brown or Gambrinus - just a range of uninteresting generic bottled beer or almost £6 (!) for a pint of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

The portions have gone smaller. We both ordered a half rack of baby back ribs dinner which comes with Slaw & Fries. Hardly any slaw and the chips had obviously been sat round for a while. My portion of ribs was so small I had to complain - so a few more were brought out.

Became obvious during eating them that we'd been given Beef ribs (which were dry and pretty flavourless) but by this point we decided to eat them as we didn't have time to get them changed.

Got the bill and that wasn't correct either. To be fair the manageress sorted that and knocked 25% off the bill but it's a real shame it had to come to that.

I used to really like Bodean's and I hope this was a one off. Will probably give Soho a 2nd chance but I'll be avoiding this branch like the plague
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Gethin - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Sunday, November 16, 2008

Compared to the Soho branch, this one is dire.

Originally planned to get take-out during a rushed lunch break due to a severe meat craving, and heard there was a Bodean's in Clapham. Had planned to take up the 50% offer shown on the website only to get there to be told it is for eat-in only; despite there being no notice of this on their site which infuriated me! The manager wasn't too keen to offer me a compromise which was odd considering there were 4 waiting staff and not a single customer. Determined not to break my £5 lunch limit (self discipline sucks) I went elsewhere but was determined to go again and see if it was as good as the Soho shop.

eventually went a week later and wish I hadn't - the meat was served cold, with barely any meat on the ribs, the burnt ends (which are usually deliciously tender brisket) were just greasy, charred blocks of fat, and the coleslaw was fresh but appeared to be in some sort of honey sauce which was revolting.

Spend an extra 15 minutes on the tube and go to Soho!
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Zico
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

I was so disappointed the last time I went to Bodeans. I had previously been there several times and had excellent meals but have noticed that the food has started to go downhill quite recently. They have been expanding restaurants very fast and now have decided to do away with their spirits and cocktail menu in all of their restaurants, except for Soho, in order to make the service quicker., they have also increased their prices whilst decreasing the menu.

The food was cold and dry, the burnt ends were tough and just fat, and not the usual tender ends they serve. The manager had obviously heard my complaints about the lack of spirits and cocktails fairly regularly as he had a prepared speech about the need to bring "parity" to all of the restaurants - its always a bad sign when they start talking about "homogenization". They also said that they weren't making that much money which was bizarre as our bill was reduced by over two thirds what we would have normally spent.

We were obviously not the only ones to be disappointed as a restaurnat that is usually heaving was half-empty on a Sunday. The waitress could tell how disgusted we all were so didn't even bother to ask us how the meal was - she just brought us the over-priced bill and walked off.

What was once a unique restaurant has now just become a "fast-food chain restaurant" and has lost the quality it once had. Sorry, Bodeans, but my friends and I will not be frequenting your restaurant again.
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Vicky, Wandsworth
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, February 03, 2008

Bodean's bbq is probably the worst place i have been . Meat obviously precooked and probably microwaved at last minute. Deep fried veg instead of grilled and a soup clearly made with heinz chicken cream cans... Service wise nothing to complain about.
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chris
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Fantastic! Went to Bodean's a few months ago and it was simply delicious. I'm actually from Texas, so this style of barbecue is just like home! The sausage was still very 'English', but I suppose they can't help that. Our service was a bit slow, but nothing unusual for this country. I can't wait to go back to try the brisket, which is what I'm dyyyyyyying to try.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 03, 2007

I've been to Bodeans a few times now. In a small group, on a not-so-busy night, I've had a good time. But unfortunately this was not my most recent experience. A recent birthday dinner for 12 was a pretty disastrous affair. We had to order from a set menu of only a handful of items "to make it easier for the kitchen". Several of our orders were then delivered wrongly, and the overall quality was poor - frozen chicken wings etc, yuck. The staff were quite obviously disinterested and without exaggeration seemed to be verging on incompetent. We had to make a fuss to get dessert and coffee because the waitress "forgot". Two of our party were running late and we had to insist that their places were left at the the table until they arrived, otherwise we would have lost them. From reading the other reviews, it seems mine is not an isolated experience. We did not leave a tip, and I will not be returning. Not great.
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Phil
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, April 02, 2007

Four of us went to dinner...

we managed one round of free drinks (starters were late), two free deserts (mains were late), we didnt pay for one main meal nor one portion of corn on the cob (food was cold then reheated leaving the nibbled spare rib on the plate!) plus 50% of the bill to encourage us to come back... all in all it was much entertainment (staff were embarressed but in good humour) and at £8 a head a bargain. Although won't be going back!
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turtle
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 14, 2007