Let’s be clear. This isn’t the kind of barbecue you cook at home. Our menu is from the traditions of good old American barbecue from way down in the South. There, they lovingly slow-cook the meat over a real wood fire. Why? For the smoke. The smoke from the burning wood is the essential ingredient. It infuses the meat with its tone and flavour to create the rich, deep and distinctive smoky taste that makes their, and our, barbecue food so authentically sumptuous. Sauce is optional, smoke isn’t.
We got into the restaurant business to get off the corporate ladder. On a soul-searching trip to New Orleans we fell so deeply in love with the barbecue experience that we decided right there and then we were going to bottle it and bring it back to Wales. We got home, quit our jobs and sunk everything into a place on Swansea’s Wind Street. As quick as that, The Smoke Haus was born. It wasn’t easy, but from that day to this it’s been great fun.
It started with a trip to New Orleans, a love affair with proper barbecue, and a place on Swansea's Wind Street. From there it's grown into the Cardiff Haus you know today. Low and slow, big portions, no shortcuts. Along the way we've collected a lot of good nights, great food and a few stories. Here's a few of them.