TTN Visits: Hotbox, Spitalfields

Good Food. Good Vibes. Good Music and London. A few things that I really do love and are sure to set me in a good mood. Combining all 4? Well, serious happiness making magic occurs and thats exactly what happened when I paid Hot Box a visit at the weekend.

After building up a serious reputation for their smoked spicy meat offerings at popular street food events the crew a Hot Box have settled on the beautiful Spitalfields, London to set up permanent residency and I could not be happier.

Prior to my first visit, I sent the team an email to enquire how they cater for those that need to eat Gluten Free and was pleasantly surprised when the Head Chef emailed me back relatively quickly with a pretty informative email. Gluten Free like me? You will be pleased to hear that all the meat on the menu (including Sausages) is Gluten Free, they have sourced a Gluten free Bun for their burger that's on the menu and a good selection of the sides are also available to eat.

We arrived at 6pm, as you cant reserve for tables under 6, to avoid any potential disappointment and had our names taken by a very friendly FOH who advised we take a seat at the downstairs bar '46 and Mercy' whilst we waited for the kitchen to be fired up.

46 & Mercy was the perfect pre-feast location. The music was perfect, the surroundings really funky and the cocktails were pretty tasty too! However, our pre-dinner cocktail didnt last long as our stomachs were eager to be fed. The moment we returned to the front desk, the FOH instructed the waitress to escort us to a table using our first names without even needing to check the bookings pad- a really nice personal touch.

Inside the restaurant, the smell from the kitchen made me super glad that i had already checked out the menu online so it reduced the time it took for me to place my order. We didnt wait long...

20oz Beef Short Rib

Hot Box Meat Platter

Sweet Potato Fries (cooked in the same oil as gluten) and Chilli Kale

Beetroot and Roquefort Salad (minus the Croutons to make it Gluten Free)

yeah, we didn't expect the portions to be so generous either! Now, the Down Low...


That Short Rib was so melt-in-the-mouth that it stunned us both into silence. I'm not even exaggerating. Even typing this is making my mouth water. It will be ordered again.

The Meat Selection.... where oh where to begin? The Chicken Thigh was beyond juicy and so flavoursome. The Pulled Pork, unbelievably tender. The Pork Rib? Perfect with a good dribble of the BBQ sauce on top. The Hot Link Sausage? Yep, you know im going to say it was good. Then there is that cheeky slice of Beef Short Rib which i already knew would blow my mind. If you are keen to try a little of everything, Order this.

So what about the sides, I hear you cry! The Sweet Potato fries were perfectly crisp on the outside (not greasy) yet soft and sweet in the middle. The Kale with Chilli came in a rather deep small bowl but my oh my, it was a seriously flavourful way to eat those green leaves! But, the side that blew me away was the Roquefort and Beetroot salad... earthy Yellow and Purple Beetroot, super thin slices of crisp Apple and chunks of super creamy Roquefort cheese. What a flavour combo.I didnt actually like Roquefort until this salad, and i'll be sure to try it again whenever its next on the menu.

The whole meal (2 mains with 3 sides), including a Beer but not including Pre-dinner cocktails came to £74. Pricey? Yes a little. Unfair Pricing? No. We were stuffed. I couldn't even finish my meat platter and the bowl of Kale was left halfway full after the meat and 2 other large portioned sides. The service was brilliant, the quality of the food was spot on. I can't wait to go again!

If you fancy seeing more about Hot Box then the website is here.

Lots of Love

xxx TTN xxx