Big Easy Barbeque & Crabshack, Chelsea, London

Used to work in Chelsea and this place is quite well known for its burgers, lobster and value for money so decided to check it out with a group of us.
Wasnt disappointed, it was very busy and has a real buzz inside of everyone looking to enjoy their evening.
Service is casual and fits in nicely with the restaurant, food was great and value for money great too.
Had a band playing in the downstairs bit when we were there to add to the atmosphere.
Overall it was a great place for a few drinks and some food after work.
probably wouldnt go for a quiet date though!.

Big Easy, Chelsea, was a nice relax venue, which has a live band downstairs in the evenings. The all-you-can-eat shrimp was very tasty and good value for money. However, the full rack of baby back ribs was very dry – it was as if it had been already cooked and just reheated on the BBQ to order which unsurprisingly would have dried it out; not impressed. Overall, had a good time, nice food, pleasant service; and will return to try the Lobster feast.

Amazing place for steak and lobster!! The atmosphere is loud and bustling. Really fun place to be on a weeknight in town - or weekend I could imagine. Always very busy and booking is a good idea, although I have been lucky the last times I went, as 2 people are much easier to seat than a big party. Live music some nights as well, which is cool. One place that I would say is a nice extra to the normal quiet and proper kings road restaurants.

Big, Easy, Chelsea. No, this isn't the booby prize of the posh, slightly fat girl with yo-yo knickers on a Friday night at 10-to-2. But a crab shack on Kings Road that offers authentic American cuisine (but then so does Burger King).
I may sound slightly bitter and cynical but then so would you if you had just shared the most intimate of experiences with Kelly Brook only to be told by her the next day that the gates were now closed. The all you can eat fajitas (when offering shrimp) are possibly one of the greatest things known to man - after the Dyson Airblade that is. The steak is a char-grilled caramel affair on the outside and lipstick pink and plump when cut. The chicken dances with flavour like a Mexican flamenco and the shrimps are the size of tennis balls, in a sticky, sweet-chilli dip that creates (as the hairy bikers would put it) a flavour-bomb of goliath proportions. I felt like Henry VIII on his Birthday; minus the wives, of course. Sweating with excitement I ate until my eyes bulged and my belly swelled up like I had had a heavy night popping too much Silica gel.
My next brush with ‘Easy Chelsea’ however was not as fun. She seemed a bit offish, uninterested and unconcerned about providing such a memorable experience again. I played it save by initiating the all you can eat jobby, I thought. This time however, when my plate had been revealed I could not see any trace of the delicate flesh I so desired and lusted after. Goodbye Mr Shrimp.
Sweating, I asked the waitress why this Chelsea lass was being so coy and not surrendering to my carnal appetite? “The Shrimp is no longer part of the dealio” she replied, nonchalantly pursing her lips like a duck’s bottom that had become wrinkled from the afternoon Sun.
Now this is where Iphones come in handy. Cleverly – I fingered the website for this easy chick and up popped her vitals – All you can eat fajitas; Steak, Shrimp and Chicken. There she was showing her ‘tic-tacs’ in all their glory. I showed this to the waitress and then the Manager and after much debate I got my one last dying wish. For Shrimps. All three of them. And that was that. I didn’t want to rock the boat, I guess, and try with my little puppies (my eyes that is) to obtain more of my fishy friends. Mr Shrimp received the royal pardon and did not end-up smothered in molten hot sweet-chilli sauce with a sharp metal rod shoved where the sun don’t shine, showing everyone his breakfast.
I was stuck with the chick-chick and the boeuf. I mean in any other restaurant I would have been satiated and I may have even campaigned to give the head chef a knighthood. But not the ‘easy! Imagine going to a Thai massage parlour and been made to leave before the ‘happy ending’. You would feel short changed and renounce the establishment for years to, er come. And unfortunately that’s how Easy Chelsea left me reeling. If only she could get her act together and start offering the ‘full service’ again she would be worth another go. Until that time I’ll be trying something other than just a shrimp tease.

Took some American friends here last night to celebrate 4th July and boy was I glad we booked. Arrived at 7.45 for an 8pm booking and still had to wait until about 8.20 to be seated. Noted that people arriving to eat without a booking were looking at a two hour wait.

Despite the fact that we were surrounded by plates of half eaten ribs (the 6.30pm rib eating competition had just finished) when we arrived and that we had to stand in a fairly cramped area near the bar for our table to be ready, it was definitely worth the wait.

Everyone was very happy with the width and breadth of choice on the menu, which included American classic after American classic. It was hard to choose from the plethora of steaks, burgers, ribs, BBQ'd prawns, lobster, crab etc.

And even though we didn't end up eating until 9pm, we were kept entertained by the house band and pleasant (if but fairly slow) water/waitress service.

After dating an American for 2 years and having eaten food from the US on both sides of the pond I can safely say that the Big Easy is by far the most authentic American dining experience I've come across in London.

I can definitely recommend a night out at the Big Easy, if only for the food and entertainment alone. However, don't come here expecting a quick in and out meal. I'd definitely set aside a fair portion of your day and stomach. :)

Big Easy is the sort of place you'll either love or hate. Based on the full house of our Monday night visit, lots of folks seem to love it very much. With its “biggest and the best” AYCE Americana approach to face stuffing (one of the dessert dishes is a basket of four Krispy Kreme doughnuts with hot chocolate fondue), Big Easy leans heavily on the “more is more” philosophy when it comes to serving its patrons.

There's some decent food on the menu – I like the “voodoo” chicken wings and think their daily lobster special (is it still on?) is good value for money. If you like your grub served in a mildly raucous (eg too loud for quality convo) “crabshack” atmosphere, Big Easy is the place for you.

More about that lobster special:
http://londonist.com/2010/05/review_daily_lobster_festiva...

Very Disappointed.

I decided to take my Fiancé for Steak and Lobster for her birthday and had booked a table for 8pm. We arrived early and waited a few minutes to be seated. We decided to Order some Oysters and Voodoo Chicken for starters and ordered the Special Offer of Steak and Lobster.
The restaurant was very busy so we were happy waiting a while for our starters. After 40 minutes we noticed that something was wrong as everyone who was seated after us had already received their food and we were still waiting. I asked a waitress if she could check where our food was and after 5 minutes was told that the order had gone missing ( Later we were told that a new waitress had taken our food to the wrong table ) and that they would try and rush the order through again.

After another 15 minutes our starters came although the Voodoo Chicken had turned into Voodoo Shrimp that had to be sent back and we waited for the Chicken. Finally we had the starters and as we were finishing the main meals were served. The food was nice as I had expected.

We looked at the desert menu and decided to be really brave and try and order The Melted Chocolate Pudding but were advised that they did not have any so I asked for the bill. Although they had not added service to our bill I did send it back and the waitress removed our drinks (Aprox 10% of the bill). I don't usually complain but on this occasion I really thought they only deserved to get 10% not 90% of the bill.
I must stress that I have been to The Big Easy on numerous occasions and have never had any issues before. I had previously mentioned to my friends & family how amazing the food and service was there. Possibly the issues on the night were due to new staff but I still believe that even after speaking with the manager they could have dealt with the situation better.

As it was my fiancé's first time there and the last experience I would expect it to be a while for us to return.

A good place for an evening out with a group of friends.

Friendly service and lively atmosphere over a casual grilled American dinner. The seafood is quite good, not so much the burgers (you would expect better from a typical American place), but quite pricey for what it is.

It is a fun night out.

If you like American style dining, then this is Fantastic food! Go for the massive sea-food heavy platter to share - highly recommended.

Been about for a bit, but still as good as ever. Great place if you're feeling that American grill thing.

Usually a lively atmosphere in the evenings, and the staff are always lovely too.

Just came back from the Big Easy and I am in a word - confused. The service was friendly, the decor great, there was a live band that were actually awesome and I had a megadeal which got me hot wings, chips, 'slaw, a burger and a frozen margarita for a tenner - amazing.

However… there was something a little off. For a place full of rich, beautiful people it was surprisingly laid-back, but the meals were slow to arrive, the food a little sloppy (apart from my friend’s all-you-can-eat-shrimp which was tender and flavoursome) and some of the food was a bit cold.

I think my grumbling is a bit mean as it was a pretty fun night… I just wish the burgers had been a bit more awesome. Will almost certainly head back nonetheless…

The Big Easy is one of those places that seems to have graced London’s King’s Road forever. I’ve played swapatop here and spilled barbecue sauce down my front and slurped on far too many frozen margaritas, not necessarily all at the same time. Recently it was my task to book somewhere fun for a reunion of pals, so we went to the Big Easy. I have to say that the margaritas were great while I was waiting (2 4 1 happy hour) but because all my friends were late (shame on them) we ended up being hurried along once too often during the evening because of the restaurant’s 2 hour table turnaround policy. Because of this stupid (!) policy they nearly lost out on our dessert custom and I will definitely not be going back in a hurry unless it’s on a Monday night when the staff are likely to be less pushed to move people on.
The wine was average (shoulda stuck to the margaritas)and the food was served in generous portions, as always, but it just didn’t taste as great as I remembered it. The onion rings were a bit more Burger King than Big Easy although the stuffed jalapeno peppers were still pretty good, but the deep fried jumpo prawns tasted as if they’d been sitting around for a while and refried at the last minute.
I went for the Crabshack Combo as my main and although the mussels, prawns and claws were good, the potatoes were diappointingly mediocre and the garlic white wine sauce seemed to lack any indication that its two main ingredients - garlic and white wine - had been in any way involved in its creation. Somehow managed to squeeze in some cheesecake, but because the waitress couldn’t decide if we could keep our table a little bit longer or not, we almost missed out on dessert altogether and when we were permitted to proceed with ordering the last part of our meal, we were told to eat up in 15 minutes, so I’m afraid that ruined it for me.
We liked the margaritas, the atmosphere, the live music and the stuffed jalapenos. We didn’t like the booking system, being rushed through our meal or the refried deep fried taste of some of the food. Come on, Big Easy, you can do better! I give you 3 stars for nostalgia’s sake and the hope that you can get back to the standards you used to uphold.

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get round to reviewing this place…

The Big Easy has to be one of the funniest places in London! Live bands, upbeat & friend waiters and there’s usually a birthday party or two going on.

The food comes is large American-Style portions…all of it delicious!

I love it hear an am always recommending my friends to come.

a cheap lunch. Fries and burgers and ribs so don’t expect anything too classy. It’s not quite the full on “grill” quality of food that I’d have loved to have seen but if you’re in a USA junk food mood it will just about do.

Want a good old taste of Louisiana? a good platter bigger than your table of succulent ribs and quantities that would make you smile unless you’ve been living in the south of the US? Well big easy that is! Named after the famous town of New Orleans, it managed to keep it’s atmosphere while being on the King’s road.

I like to go there when I feel nostalgic of Texas!

The big easy is great for a group, but pretty awful for a couple. I have found that when with a few people, sat downstairs, sharing platters and listing to live music, it is a great fun evening. I have also been there with my girlfriend and it turns into an irritable, noisy, food fest of not great value. Better steak is available elsewhere.

Sorry Big Easy but I was not impressed. While there was a certain kitsch value to the decor and the bibs that you are given to wear like something out of a hollywood movie, the food is not great for the Chelsea style pricing. Portion sizes are just ridiculously huge and really just seem to encourage gluttony and quantity over quality.

Really great weekday lunch deals are available here. It’s only £7.95 for 2 course meal! i have tried the Steamed Mussels and the Voodoo Wings for Starter! Both were huge portions and absolutely delicious! And for the mains, I have tried Baby Back Ribs, Steak Fajitas!!! Again, great dishes and gigantic portions!!! For big eaters out there… this is really value for money!!!
oh… as for the setting…. nice old American style!

I’ve never had a bad night or regretted going to the Big Easy. It’s traditional American fare, it has a shack style wooden interior with rustic charm, and a wide ranging menu with great fish (lobster, crab etc.), meat (steak, burgers) and fajitas. Might be a bit of a struggle for vegetarians, but the atmosphere is wonderful, with live music every evening which is downstairs, and good service and cocktails. They also do a regular happy hour, which is worth calling ahead to double check the times. Also, would recommend booking as it’s often difficult to get tables, especially for big groups, on the night. Has a small bar upstairs which is good for waiting though!

really good steaks here! they normally do lobster or steak deals that are such good value! The atmosphere is buzzing, it sounds like they have a live band playing (not actually sure but they might have!). Cocktails are good too, defo worth a visit!