Hidden on a Caerphilly industrial estate alongside a taxi company, double glazing installer and air conditioning business isn’t perhaps the first place you’d expect to find a smoke house that’s selling some of the best BBQ in south Wales.
But it’s here that the Bab Haus HQ Smoke Shop is based.
Owned by chef Leyli Homayoonfar, who was named one of the 100 most influential women in hospitality in the UK in 2021, Leyli’s already built a big reputation for the colourful Mexican BBQ which she sells from her Bab Haus Mex street food stall at the Goodsheds in Barry.
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More recently, Leyli has started selling smoked meats and sides to take away from her Caerphilly site on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday daytime. At the Smoke Shop, there’s a bigger emphasis on low and slow US-style barbecue with dishes, including baby back ribs, smoked buffalo wings, mac and cheese and pit beans.
Whilst it’s strongly advised to pre-order via email or Instagram direct message, we took a punt and arrived as soon as the Smoke Shop opened its doors at 12pm on a Sunday. Having strolled around the nearby Caerphilly Castle and River Rhymney we’d worked up a sufficient appetite for an early meat feast.
Bab Haus HQ is an unassuming space with a small ordering counter built on a trio of oil drums, a couple of tables and stools for eating in and shelves laden with huge jars of pickles and chilli sauces. The latter provide a strong hint of the big flavoured food which is on offer.
Thankfully, we were the first to arrive and so were able to have our pick from the more limited Sunday menu before anything sold out. After a 20-minute wait, we received a brown paper bag filled with meat and returned to our car to inhale the goods.
It’s fair to say that everything was epic. And part of the explanation is the fact that Leyli sources her meat from the highly-regarded Gower-based butchers, Meat Matters. With a legion of fans, from Michelin-starred chefs to professional rugby players, their meat is known to sell out in minutes.
Welsh native breed featherblade brisket (£10) was seriously beefy, fall-apart tender and blushing pink around the edges from its 12-hour smoking over hickory and oak. Stuffed into a light and sweet demi-brioche bun with delicately fiery pickled chillies and a smear of barbecue and chipotle mayo sauces, this was a top tier brisket bun.
An accompanying pot of thick spiced beef dip was moreish as heck. In fact, I'd have happily drank it straight from the pot.
A bacon cheeseburger (£11.50) was a brilliantly executed classic without any headline grabbing gimmicks. An intense flavoured ex-dairy beef patty with a crisp crust and juicy interior was crammed into a seeded demi-brioche bun with thick slices of bacon, dill-fragranced pickles (with a little chilli warmth), white onion, ketchup and mustard. They’re all classic burger toppings for a reason.
Pork belly burnt ends (£10) were little nuggets of joy - crisp barked, soft of fat and tender with a lovely lick of smoke they were cracking on their own. A drizzle of slightly sweet and warming barbecue sauce, smoky chipotle mayo and the zing of pickles, took them to the next level.
If we weren’t full enough already then a portion of loaded cheese and chorizo skins (£6) sealed the deal. Golden-skinned jacket potato halves were topped with a slick of melted cheese studded with crispy sausage whilst pink pickled onions and jalapeños balanced out some of the richness.
We had an absolutely cracking barbecue feast from the Bab Haus HQ Smoke Shop. If you’re looking for first class low and slow style barbecue in south Wales then I’d highly recommend a trip to Caerphilly.
The details:
Address: Unit 12 Greenway Workshops, Bedwas Industrial Estate, CF83 8HW
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