London’s barbecue fiends will be trekking to Farringdon this month to see the biggest wood-fired grill in town at South African-inspired Hammer and Tongs.

A braai more than three metres long burning sickle bush hardwood imported from Namibia and South Africa will bring the flavours of the South African outdoors to this corner of indoor London from Monday December 5.

Skewers of meat, fish and vegetables, steaks and cuts of meat, “potjie” one-pot outdoor dishes and pot-baked bread will all be cooked on the braai, flavoured by herbs and spices rarely seen outside Africa. It is these savoury herbs, with such names as confetti bush, garlic buchu and balderjan, that provide the key difference between braai and much sweeter American-style barbecue, according to Etienne Pansegrauw, the South African owner of Hammer and Tongs.

The bar will serve a selection of matching cocktails, headed by the Veldt Smash.