Showing posts with label barbecue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barbecue. Show all posts

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Rhode Tripping: A Food and Drink-filled Day in Providence, RI

At the end of last year, I took a day press trip down to Providence, Rhode Island to explore some of the eating and drinking scene down there.

Our first stop was The Guild, which is actually in Pawtucket, RI. The Guild is a partner brewery comprised of a few New England member breweries that brew their beers there. The members include a big one that we were there to visit: Narragansett.

Gansett, as it's lovingly known, has a long history. It was founded in 1890 and Jacob Wirth was one of the six founders. It was once the best selling beer in New England but after changing hands the brewery was closed in 1981. In 2005 the brand was brought back by a team in Rhode Island who also hired former Gansett brewer Bill Anderson to recreate the original recipes.

We tried the Bancroft ale, Three Red Fez, It's About Time IPA, and the Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout.
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The Bancroft had notes of pines. The Fez was a lager with noble German hops and had floral notes and a little touch of caramel. The IPA is a traditional style IPA with new school hops and it is malt forward.

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The Guild

The most interesting thing we tried that day for me was the Lovecraft Whiskey. The whiskey is the result of distilling the I Am Providence Imperial Red Ale and it was distilled by the Sons of Liberty distillery in South Kingstown, RI.
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Monday, November 24, 2014

Brisket, Biscuits, and Honey Butter at Sweet Cheeks Q (Boston, MA)

In the Fenway/Kenmore neighborhood of Boston is Sweet Cheeks Q, a barbecue joint from Top Chef finalist, Tiffani Faison. It's noted to be the most expensive bbq place in Boston, but possibly also the best.

You can order meats by the pound or get a tray with 1, 2, or 3 meats (the last one is called the Fat Cheeks Tray) that comes with two sides.

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Above anything else, though, you have to - absolutely must - get the biscuits with honey butter.
Biscuit
If you eat nothing else at this place, the biscuits need to be the one thing you do try. They are warm, buttery, flaky biscuits that are heavenly with that honey butter. Oh, that honey butter ... No one will blame you if you just come here and eat a bucket of biscuits.

Friday, May 30, 2014

New Menu at Roadhouse LA with Chef Kyle Schutte

About 3 years ago, I encountered chef Kyle Schutte's cooking at Vu. He called it "progressive comfort food" and I still remember his chicken fried watermelon. He had a short stint at Corner Door and I'm glad he's finally found another home at Roadhouse - that barbecue restaurant at The Improv.

One of the favorites during my dinner was the Root beer-cured bacon, soft scrambled vanilla scented eggs ($12)

Root Beer Bacon
This is made with housemade root beer syrup and the thick bacon is brined for 2 days then smoked for 12 hours.

Chicken Fried watermelon with pickled rind ($6)
Fried Watermelon
Yes, the dish I had at Vu made another appearance here! These are quite interesting and worth a try if you've never had it before.

I really liked the Punjabi Poutine with thick cut fries, coconut curry spinach, grilled cheese curds, queso fresco, goat meat and goat gravy ($12)
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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Tips for Lining Up for Franklin BBQ (Austin, TX)

Breakfast Taco
1. Bring breakfast or snack, or be sure to eat breakfast beforehand. You might think you want to come hungry to eat barbecue, but trust me, you won't be eating for a while (I got there at 9:25 AM and didn't eat until 2 PM!). Me, I brought a breakfast taco from Cenote.

2. You can either be sure to get some or you can take a gamble. To be sure, get there early by 9 am and be prepared to wait up to 4 hours. Or you can take a gamble and stroll in around 12 or 1 pm. You'd only have to wait an hour or so and there's a chance there will be some brisket left for you (maybe even ribs).
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The line at 9:25am is already around the block
3. When I was there, they had a guy renting chairs for $5. Remember, you might be there for 3-4 hours, though you can always sit on the ground.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Dinner at Gus's BBQ, Plus Their New Party Trailer (South Pasadena, CA)

Gus's BBQ is a beloved spot for South Pasadena locals, who keep the restaurant packed every night. When you go, be sure to get the Cast Iron Cornbread ($6.95), made with Sweet Pennsylvanian corn and served with Jalapeno jelly (and make sure to try the jalapeno jelly!)

Photo courtesy of Wandering Chopsticks
NachosA good appetizer to share for a big party is the Pulled Pork Nachos ($10.95): homemade tortilla chips topped with pulled pork, four cheese sauce, bbq baked beans, smoked mozzarella, jack cheese, tomato, red onion, guacamole, and a bbq drizzle. Talk about loaded nachos!

Mint julep
There's a bourbon-focused cocktail menu here with items like Blood Orange Manhattan and Mint Julep. The Mint Julep is served in a proper julep cup with crushed ice. They also have a dozen beers on tap with seasonal selections and some good local selections.

Monday, January 7, 2013

8 Flavors of Pork Belly at Palsaik BBQ in Koreatown (Los Angeles, CA)

I was recently involved with a project to review a few Korean restaurants in Los Angeles, and one of my assignment was Palsaik Samgyupsal Korean BBQ. I was pretty excited since I had never been to this restaurant which boasts eight flavors of pork belly. The set menu with the 8 pork belly and stew ("Palsaik Set Menu") was $49.95. I asked around as to how many people the set would feed and got answers ranging from "two, but when you get to the rice you won't be able to taste anything" to four, so I settled at three, which seems to have been the perfect number.


Compared to other Korean BBQ places, Palsaik is decidedly more modern looking and cleaner (though the service wasn't any better)
The presentation was also quite impressive. A long wooden board held eight plates of the pork and underneath each one the flavor was printed: Wine, Original, Ginseng, Garlic, Herb, Curry, Miso Paste, and Red Pepper Paste.

On the wall they also display the "health benefits" of each flavor, which I thought was pretty funny ... I mean, we're eating eight slices of fatty pork belly here! I don't think the "benefits" of the red wine marinade would really cancel out the effects on your blood vessels.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

St Louis: Lunch Cue at Pappy's Smokehouse

When I found out I was going to St Louis for a conference, the only thing that came to mind was B.B.Q. At first I thought I'd do a BBQ marathon, but by chance I was having dinner with Chowhounder noshtp, who just happened to have grown up in St Louis. There's only one place for barbecue, he tells me, and that is Pappy's Smokehouse. So to Pappy's Smokehouse I go for my first STL lunch.

The wide streets of St Louis during the day were pretty empty and street parking aplenty. Until you get near Pappy's that is. Located next to two small universities, Pappy's back parking lot was completely full.Pappy's opens at 11 and stays open until 8 PM or when they run out. And they do run out. During lunch there is always a line.

On my first visit I got the rib combo - half rack of ribs, brisket, and 2 sides: cole slaw and fried corn.

The deep fried corn was ... interesting.
I usually love corn, especially corn on the cob. But since this one was deep fried, it ended up really sticking to your teeth and quite a hassle to eat. Plus it isn't as sweet/juicy as roasted corn ..

Three sauces are provided at each table: Sweet Baby Jane, Pappy's Original, and Holly's Hot.
It was hard to decide which sauce I liked best, depending on the mood perhaps, if you'd like something sweeter. I liked the Sweet Baby Jane with my brisket (brisket was ok - not much to say there) but decided on Pappy's Original for my ribs.

St. Louis style ribs are trimmed by removing the brisket bone and skirt meat. The ribs at Pappy's are dry-rubbed and then slow-smoked.
Because of the way it is trimmed, the St Louis ribs are thin and you're munching on the meat right by the bone (the best part!).

Pappy's ribs aren't the tender, fall-off the bone type. Having been slow-smoked, these ribs are tender but more like a tender jerky with a nice smoked flavor.
Flavorful dry rub, and don't forget the bbq sauce! A very satisfying lunch, indeed.

I came back for lunch again the next day and got the other things I didn't get a chance to the day before, like the Frito Pie!
It's not really a "pie" per se. Beans, pulled pork, cheese, sour cream, and fritos. Hearty and impossible to finish even with two people, this also gives a taste of how good their pulled pork was.

But I got my own order of pulled pork coming up.

Pappy's lunch special is quite a deal. $5.99 gets you a pulled sandwich, a side, and a drink. Naturally I went for the pulled pork sandwich!
The pulled pork is decidedly one of Pappy's best offerings, and a darn good one at that. Perhaps the best pulled pork in recent memory. It was so tender and moist/juicy! Sauce it to taste yourself with one of the three bbq sauces on the table and build your sandwich with the soft burger buns. This was a lunch I still remember to this day.

Man, that was some good pulled pork.


Pappy's Smokehouse
3106 Olive St
St Louis, MO 63103
(314) 535-4340
Pappy's Smokehouse on Urbanspoon

Monday, December 8, 2008

Chow Down at Baby Blues BBQ

I've been trying to actually use my Cozmo cards, so when I had to go to LAX I decided to try out Baby Blues BBQ in Venice.The place was crowded and loud - typical small BBQ joint. I was excited that they had sweet tea!!! It's hard enough for me to find ppl in LA who even KNEW what sweet tea is.

We decided to share the Blue Devil plate which gives you 4 meats (although Texas and baby back will cost you extra :/), corn bread, and 2 sides. We got the Texas beef ribs, Memphis ribs, baby back ribs, and shrimps - with sweet potato and corn on the cob for the sides.

The corn on the cob was sweet and moist.
I initially enjoyed the blue cheese they put on the corn, but after a while it was too much for me and I really just wanted to taste the sweetness of the corn itself.

The ribs were all great. Pretty tender with beef < memphis < baby back in tenderness.

Now, to show you the differences between the ribs, here are the bones, from top to bottom, of the Texas style beef ribs, then the baby back ribs, followed by the Memphis style long bone ribs.
See the size differences? And the curved bone of the baby back!

In an attempt to hit $50 so we can use our cozmo card, we ordered two desserts: the banana pudding and pumpkin-sweet potato pie.
I think there's too much starch in this pudding and I didn't really like the texture - too sticky.

The pumpkin sweet potato pie was good, although very rich.

This was a good BBQ place (next time I will probably get the baby back ribs, although they were all good), although it was relatively expensive (I want to go back before the end of the year to use my other cozmo card :D). Still, overall a much better experience than that LA BBQ Fest ....
The ribs here are tender and had great flavor, and the ambiance was pretty cool.

Baby Blues BBQ

444 Lincoln Bl.
Venice CA 90291
310-396-7675
www.babybluesvenice.com

Baby Blues Bar-B-Q on Urbanspoon

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