Barbecue maestros The Smoked Thistle open new premises in Dundee.

After success in Fife with their tasty American-style barbecued food pop-up, The Smoked Thistle has a new outlet in Dundee

One of the newest additions to Dundee’s food scene, The Smoked Thistle, thought they could quietly sneak in under the radar, but such was their reputation that was never going to be the case.

When Rob Duncan and Blair Armstrong-Payne planned a quiet opening for The Smoked Thistle after moving into new premises in Dundee, potential customers thought otherwise.

Opening at Balunie Drive in Dundee on Thursday March 11, they were completely blown away by the response as they sold out – and then continued to do so over the following weekend.

“It turned out to be not so much of a soft opening, it was quite busy,” revealed Rob, who said they did more than 100 orders on their first night.

“The main idea was to keep it a little bit quiet for the first week to make sure we were set up as we moved from our van into premises. We have a lot more space which is easier on the one hand, but you need to get used to it. However, it didn’t really turn out like that.”

The move into premises in Dundee follows on from a successful food truck enterprise in Fife which saw them visiting towns throughout the kingdom selling their smoked meats and burgers.

“We had a food truck that was initially operating throughout Fife. We travelled around, we did Newburgh, Auchtermuchty, Dunfermline and Buckhaven for a number of weeks. We had the same menu with burgers, ribs and brisket,” added Rob.

“Initially, we were just going to find a unit to help with the pre-work for doing the van, as there is only so much you can do in that sort of confined space.

“We were selling out so quickly and demand was so high that we physically didn’t have space to be able to offer any more produce.

“But we found the property on Balunie Drive available and decided to go for that.

“Then it was just a natural decision to open it as a base to do collections and deliveries from.”

And people in Dundee have really taken The Smoked Thistle to their hearts following the opening a few weeks ago.

Rob continued: “Our Facebook page went from 3,000 likes to nearly 7,000, and it has been growing day on day.

“We sold out on the Saturday, as there were no more collections slots available. Friday we sold out really quickly, too.

“This week, we are hoping to be able to offer a wee bit more capacity, but I think we are probably at our maximum capacity for the premises as well.

“It has been amazing. The response we have had and the feedback we have had on the food has been absolutely fantastic.”

The new premises have required some investment with a state-of-the-art commercial smoker just one of the new additions.

Feedback from the opening weekend was great, and The Smoked Thistle is one of only a few businesses in the country making smoked meats from the United States, although, where possible, the meat is sourced from Scotland and locally if it can be.

“There isn’t anything else around doing authentic American smoked food. It’s very hard to find and it is an acquired taste,” continued Rob.

“We have a lot of people who have never really tried proper smoked food before and that for us is a massive opportunity.

“People seem to love the authentic barbecue smokiness of the meat and the tenderness of our brisket which is cooked for no less than 12 hours, but usually 13 or 14 hours depending on the size of it.

“Our ribs cook time alone is maybe six hours and you have a lot of prep that goes into it.

“That is reflected in the flavour and the quality of the meat we use as well, which is all locally sourced through our butcher in Perth, DG Lindsay.”

Now settling into Balunie Drive, there are plans possibly for a second venue and, more importantly, getting mobile with their food truck in Fife again.

“The plan is to recruit some staff, train them and get the van back out in Fife, potentially at a static location or travelling around. Then, once we have settled down with that, we’ll be looking at another location fairly soon, I would think,” said Rob.

We have a lot of people who have never really tried proper smoked food before and that for us is a massive opportunity