FIRE&FOOD Restaurant Recommendation: Raph’s BBQ

A spontaneous restaurant visit can often reveal more about a trendy spot than any planned reservation. That is exactly what happened to us on a Wednesday evening in Cologne, when we turned up unannounced at Raph’s BBQ Diner.

The first impression: full, lively, and clearly very popular. But does the hyped-up BBQ restaurant live up to the social media promise? An evening of high expectations, solid BBQ classics, and minor drawbacks.

Hype, flavor, and a critical look at the brisket
Wednesday, 7:00 PM, unannounced restaurant review at Raph’s BBQ Diner in Cologne. Almost all seats are taken, the rest are reserved. The loud call for attention on social media seems to work well for Raph’s. He himself is unfortunately not present today, but friendly staff still managed to find a table for us. It doesn't take long before we can place our orders. Everything a BBQ pit in the USA has to offer can be found here, from ribs to coleslaw to brisket; the selection is truly worthy of a BBQ restaurant. The massive pulled pork burger wins us over immediately, even though the meat lacks a smoky flavor. It was likely not prepared in a smoker, but smoke and its intensity are, as is well known, a matter of individual taste. The burnt ends arrive at the table nestled in a delicious sauce, and the portion of fries is truly generous. The brisket, on the other hand, does not convince us; it presumably comes from a German cow and therefore cannot hold its own against a typical US brisket—neither in terms of meat quality nor preparation method. Which is not to say that the meat wasn't tasty. It's just that an original brisket tastes different—and, furthermore, is simply impossible to make using a German beef brisket.
Although the location in an old tennis hall seems odd, the shabby style somehow fits a BBQ restaurant quite well. Here, they are attempting to push the boundaries of traditional gastronomy with BBQ. And by the looks of it, with respectable success.

Raph’s BBQ Diner
Rath-Mengenicher-Weg 3
50859 Cologne
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Raph’s BBQ Deli
Am Weidenbach 37
50676 Cologne
www.raphs-bbq.de

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