Introduction

At right, one of the brilliant Blistering Barbecues chefs prepares my lunch. Lucky me, right? But lucky you, too, if you’re in London: Blistering Barbecues is now doing takeaways.

Blistering Barbecues Goes Takeaway

Unbelievable, but when I paid a visit to Blistering Barbecues HQ on Monday, I saw it with my own eyes – and ate it with my eager mouth. The catering company’s office is located in a unit at the Spaces Business Centre in Battersea, southwest London. In another unit at the same centre, the vast amount of props and equipment they use to put on amazing events (like the one I attended in November) is all stored. That unit also features an impressive kitchen, and Blistering is now serving up takeaway lunches to anyone in the area who fancies popping in on a weekday.

Location & Setup

I knew that Blistering’s food is outstanding, and the throng that gathered outside Café 17 – so named because it is located in Unit 17 of the Spaces Business Centre – seemed to agree. They lined up for piping hot cups of roast vegetable soup with grilled homemade bread and butter, lamb tagine with couscous, salad, and roasted red peppers (at left), and for lunch, I opted to have good old lasagne, which was the best I have had in Britain. (For some reason, Brits don’t do lasagne particularly well, loading it with way too much bechamel.) For dessert, we had rich, dense, perfectly gummy brownies.

Dessert & Final Impressions

As we hunched over our plates, hoovering up every last crumb and smear of sauce, I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of envy and pity for the people who work close enough to Café 17 to pop in every day. Some days, I just don’t have time for a proper lunch and sit at my desk with a bowl of Super Noodles. How one would do that, knowing full well that wholesome, delicious food was being served up mere feet away – with each dish coming in well under £5 – is beyond me. “You must work out like a fiend,” I remarked to one particularly healthy-looking member of the Blistering team.

Recommendation

If you’re in Battersea or Chelsea or anywhere within driving distance of Café 17, you’ve just got to go there. (But call first, since they’re not open every single weekday. And no, they don’t deliver.) Tell them I sent you. And pick me up some of those brownies while you’re there.