This
week’s topics include my continued pursuit of good barbeque in Reno, not one
but two barbeque reviews, does a critter’s place in the food chain dictate how
tasty it is?, and I throw down judgment on a restaurant that is supposed to be
one of THE barbeque places in the country.
Carolina Kitchen, Sparks, Nevada.
I am
still on the hunt for truly good barbeque in Reno. The closest I’ve come is Famous Dave’s, which
has respectable barbecue and very good brisket in particular. However, I still hold out hope that there’s a
little hole in the wall in my home town which serves great barbeque. To date, I haven’t found it.
Recently
a friend of mine suggesting that I try Carolina Kitchen. In her words, “It’s true southern
barbeque. Reminds me of being back home
in South Carolina.”
Pretty
strong praise.
So
one random Thursday night the Things and I head over to give it a try. As I walk in, I think that this is absolutely
the type of place I’ve been looking for.
Just a room with some tables, basic utensils, and old, outdate
furnishings and ‘decorations’.
Absolutely nothing fancy. There
was one small tv in one corner and I swear it was 30 years old.
A
true barbeque place should be Spartan.
Hell – I think it should just be a shack with a big ass smoker out
back. “We serve barbeque, and nothing
else. If you want weird crap hanging on
the walls and flat screen TVs, go to Chilis!”
We
ordered a couple of family style plates so we could try almost everything – hot
links, wings, spare ribs, pulled pork, hush puppies, fries, and fried catfish.
Let
me first say that I like my barbeque with a good, robust rub. There’s a school of thought that says salt
and pepper is enough, and you rely upon the sauce for the barbeque flavor. In my ever so humble opinion, that’s
crap. Anybody can make good bland ribs,
etc., and throw some sauce on it. Just
not my thing.
The
review? In a word,…. Meh. They clearly are disciples of the salt,
pepper, and sauce school.
The
pulled pork was cooked pretty well, but bland and I didn’t taste any smoke
flavor. The spare ribs were horribly
bland, somewhat overcooked, and also lacking smoke flavor. The hot link was very tasty, but buying a
store bought hot link and throwing it on the smoker seems like cheating, which
is what they did. I know because I
asked.
I was
left to wonder if this barbeque would be better on a busy Friday night where
everything was coming fresh off the smoker.
This was a slow Thursday night, so I suspect the barbeque I was eating
wasn’t cooked fresh that day. I could be
wrong, but that’s my suspicion.
However,
there were some stars of the show that will absolutely bring me back to
Carolina Kitchen. I have fond memories
of my youth of eating fried catfish and hush puppies along the Mississippi river. I love me some catfish.
Carolina
Kitchen’s catfish was absolutely fabulous and took me back to those
memories. For those of you that haven’t
tried catfish or just don’t like the idea (eww…. They’re bottom feeders… and
they’re ugly.. Yuck), you need to try fresh catfish cooked well.
A
quick rant about this aversion to catfish because they’re bottom feeders. What do you think crab and lobster are? They’re bottom feeding bugs of the sea, and
tasty bugs at that! Plus, catfish is a
lot cheaper than those tasty bugs. A
critter’s place in the food chain doesn’t dictate whether they’re tasty.
Actually,
maybe it does. The bottom feeders tend
to be tasty, while the apex predators often don’t. Hmm…
Back
to Carolina Kitchen’s catfish. It was
very fresh and coated in a cornmeal crust.
Crunchy, yet moist and delicious on the inside. Squeeze a little lemon on it and it was
divine, particularly with a hushpuppy and some sweet tea to wash it down. The Things absolutely loved it and asked when
we could come back. On Friday nights,
they have an all you can eat fried catfish special. I think we’ll be back.
Go try the catfish at Carolina
Kitchen. Fabulous.
Restaurant Review – Smoque, Chicago. Before
I went on a recent trip to Chicago, I researched some restaurants I wanted to
try. Smoque kept popping up as a
restaurant I had to visit. It’s supposed
to be one of THE barbeque joints in the country. I’ll be the judge of that…..
I
invite a couple colleagues to join me in a foray to Smoque. I say “It’s a BYOB joint and we’re going to
have to take the L quite a ways. Not
sure it will be in the best neighborhood.”
We’re in the heart of downtown Chicago, so they justifiably asked me why
in the world we were going halfway across the City to a barbeque place where
they don’t serve beer. “Because anyone
can go to a restaurant in their hotel!
We’re in a new city. We need to
try a LOCAL place.”
So my
friend P grabbed a 12 pack of Old Style (when in Rome….) and we jumped on the
L. P and D are from the Midwest and
somehow watching them tote a 12 pack of Old Style on the L entertained me
greatly.
We
get off the L at our anointed stop and drop down into what can only be
described as a suspect neighborhood. At
night. And we have to head back under
the L and the highway in a poorly lit underpass to get to Smoque.
Here’s
a picture of P heading under the highway with our beer. Seems a bit out of place, don’t you
think? At this point, P and D are openly
questioning my judgment and whether I have any idea where I’m going.
“We’re fine. Just keep walking.”
We
walk about another half mile, and we’re not seeing any restaurants or any
kind. And then it was there. A perfectly normal looking restaurant filled
with lot of suburbanites and their kids.
I have been vindicated!
I
ordered a platter with a half rack of spare ribs, fries, mac ‘n cheese (always
order mac ‘n cheese if it’s on the menu), and a taster of their brisket. I also asked if they had any brisket burnt
ends, and they obliged me with a handful. All of this was washed down with Old Style
beer, which was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. I wonder if the Red would give a similar
review to her marriage…….
As
I’ve said before in this blog, brisket is where you separate the men from the
boys when it comes to barbeque. Many
people can make good ribs and decent pulled pork. However, brisket is extremely difficult to
make well. It needs to hold it form so
that you can pull it apart, but it can’t fall apart. It must have a robust rub and good flavor in
the meat.
The
review? All around solid barbeque, but
not other worldly good. The brisket was
cooked very well, but the rub was ok and the meat was somewhat bland. The spare ribs had a fabulous rub and great
flavor. However, they were a little tough,
which means they weren’t cooked quiet long enough. Bummer, because these ribs could have been
great. My friend said his baby backs
were nice and tender.
The
mac ‘n cheese was very good. The fries
were spectacular. Surprisingly, the slaw
was fabulous, and I’m not a slaw guy.
Crunchy cabbage and other veggies in a light vinegar-based sauce. Not heavy like a lot of mayonnaise-based
slaws.
All
in all, Smoque was a very good barbeque joint.
However, it was not, in my ever so humble opinion (I appear to have a
lot of those), one of THE barbeque restaurants in the county. Definitely worth visiting, though.
What am I working on? Nothing. Too much work travel, so I haven’t been able
to cook. However, the holidays are upon
us, so that should change soon.
Happy
cooking and Happy Holidays.
WF
