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| - Having lived in Texas for 10 years and being in Calgary for the last 5.5 yrs, I've oft longed for really good Texas style BBQ. I do make my own with my smoker I hauled all the way up here, but that's usually a weekend affair so its always nice to have a BBQ joint where you can just go in and order and eat in five minutes (less than that at this place, actually).
So I had recently heard about Holy Smoke, and then was right across the street the other day so I drove my F350 crew cab long bed diesel into the parking lot and ambled up to the front door (on the opposite side of the building...weird.)
First of all, when I walked in, Holy Smoke smelled right. The deep smokiness that good BBQ joints have. I was intrigued. I ordered the chopped beef brisket and went with the house BBQ I believe (there were about a dozen varieties and I was so intent on eating I don't remember everything. I get like that around food.) I was given my Coke and a few minutes later my chopped beef brisket on a bun arrived on a tray lined with plain paper. Simple and to the point. The beef was overflowing the bun, and once I squirted some sauce on it, it became a dripping, sloppy bbq on a bun. Perfect.
I squinted as the afternoon sun was shining in my eyes at the bar height table I was seated at by the door. I opened my mouth wide, lifted my glistening chopped beef sandwich to my lips, and inserted. Chomp. The beef was tender, and my teeth sank through and through without dragging half the beef out of the bun. Another point for Holy Smoke.
A few more chomps, and it was gone. My assessment? The sandwich was pretty good. I've been spoiled by tasting probably over 100 different BBQ joints across Texas and the southern US, so my bar for great BBQ is pretty high. But for Calgary, with a VERY limited selection of BBQ (which always surprises me), Holy Smoke does a fair job. The ambiance of the place is good. Simple, strange stuff hanging around, totally unpretentious.
The brisket wasn't so much chopped as shredded, but that's not a big deal. I was hoping for a bit more smokey flavor. I'm not sure how much smoke penetration was into the meat as I didn't see any whole pieces of brisket so couldn't see how deep a smoke ring there was. I'm not sure how they actually do the smoking. e.g. electic smoker, real wood smoker, whole wood, chips, pellets, pucks, etc.? I should have asked, but I was making my first visit low key and didnt' want to bug anyone.
The main thing that I found a bit of a turn off was there was a substantial amount of a clear liquid dripping from the sandwich. Not sure exactly whether it was juice or oil, but it felt more oily/slick than water based. It didn't affect the taste, but I've never really seen that in a freshly made BBQ sandwhich. I don't know if the meat was freshly chopped/shredded from the brisket, but if not that could explain the liquid if the shredded meat was in a container. I do think one of the challenges of BBQ places here is that the volume of customers may not be so high on a steady basis that it may be difficult to always cut directly from the brisket and keep it fresh or not dried out. Also may be a time saver to cut in advance.
The sauce I had was okay, but was a little thin for my liking. However in the world of BBQ sauces, there are about 5 million variations so it takes time to find one you like when a place has several to choose from.
Overall, I'll definately go back and try some other meats. I didn't have any of the side dishes as I didn't want to contaminate my mouth with non-meat items for my initial taste. If nothing else, I'll just go back to sit and savor the smell and hope as much of it as possible gets in my clothes so I can smell it for a few more hours afterwards. Did I mention I love BBQ?
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