| rev:text
| - We looked forward to having barbecue at the newest BBQ restaurant to open in Toronto. It was a soft opening so we did expect there might be some difficulties. Were we right?! We were warmly welcomed and quickly seated. I had not expected to be seated on individual benches with no back. Just what I needed for my chronic back problem. Also, there were coat hooks on the wall quite a distance from the table which I could not watch during the meal. So with no back to the seat and a jacket full of keys, a phone and my Garmin, I was forced to lay my coat down on the floor. It is a simple one page menu with such small print that I was unable to read the menu by the light of the candle on the table. I had to use my Garrity LED flashlight and even with this the menu was still hard to read.
Are you licensed, I asked. Yes we have beer and wine. We have... (no beer and wine menu available). We ordered beer and a glass of wine. Unfortunately after the fourth beer was mentioned, I couldn't remember what the first one was.
We ordered Baby Back Ribs $25 and the "Sampler for 1" $19 (with Texas Style Brisket and Pulled Pork). Each entrée came with two sides. We ordered Mac 'n' Cheese, Coleslaw, Baked Beans and Sweet Potato Fries. As individual side orders are $3.50 a piece, we expected the sides to be sizeable and unusual.
I found the ribs a bit too dry and with very little smoke. The bark was tough and the ribs were a solid slab and were not cut through into separate ribs. I like my food to arrive 'hot' at the table. Like other BBQ places in Toronto, the Baby Back Ribs were warm not hot when placed on the table. The Texas style Brisket was not cut across the grain and was extremely fatty. Not at all what I expected.
It wasn't our night because I found fault with all of the sides. They were hot when brought to the table, but I had problems with each. The baked beans might just as well have come out of a can of Heinz beans. Southern Style baked beans have bacon and chunks of pork or brisket in it and have a kick from Worcestershire sauce, mustard and/or hot sauce. The dressing on the coleslaw quite vinegary and could have used mayonnaise, dijon or plain mustard to give it some flavour other than vinegar. Even their mayo/sesame seed sauce would have been better. I could not taste the Sweet Potato in the Sweet Potato Fries and the red and white checkered paper used to line the container meant that there was very little room for the dozen or so pieces. The less said about the Mac 'n' Cheese, the better. I enjoyed old fashioned KD from a box better.
To add insult to injury the "Sample for 1" was charged on the bill at $20 and not the $19 shown on the menu. When pointed out, it took 15 minutes back and forth without resolution because their "iPad using TouchBistro" would not communicate with their printer. My last problem was trying to walk down the four steps to the street without a handrail.
It takes years, many, many years to become a pit boss and master the smoking ribs, pork and brisket. It isn't something you learn in a few days or weeks. Executive Chef Tony Gallippi is a "Master smoker" which is a certification bestowed by Cookshack, a barbecue manufacturer based in Oklahoma. To earn the certificate, participants undertake a three-day course that teaches the fundamentals of barbecuing with smoke. He may know the fundamentals but he needs a number oif years to master the intricacies.
We might be persuaded to return but only after The Stockyards are closed and we can no longer make the long trek to Whitby and Oshawa for our BBQ.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)