Smokin’ Good Q at Smokehouse BBQ, Edmonton

Smokehouse BBQ re-opened on 124 Street much to the salivating delight of Edmonton barbecue fans. The restaurant shut its doors for a few months after a fire broke out in November 2012.

Well, they’re back, and they’re bad – in a good way – with beer, blues and barbecue: the Holy Trinity of the southern lifestyle

Terry and Sherry Sept do barbecue right using Okanagan Apple Wood, homemade rubs and patience as the cuts of pork, chicken and beef slow-cook for up to 12 hours in their Southern Pride beast of a smoker.  With a variety of victuals sure to please your inner carnivore, you’ll have a hard time choosing what you want.

We shared a plate of “Piggy Tails” (smoked rib tips with a salt and pepper coating) because what better way to start a meat-fest than with a basket of meat?

Those rib tips got the juices flowing, right in time for the next course: The Big Daddy Combo. You can choose two meats from the list of pulled pork, chicken, beef brisket, Andouille sausage, ribs or the bacon bomb. Two people ordering meant four meats a’comin’. YEAH MEAT.

Those ribs are ribolicious. As in righteous smoky rations of beef on bone.  The brisket, matched its basket mate in flavour, tug and tenderness. The sides are like many barbecue joint sides – good, but not bombastic, mainly serving to assuage the guilt of overdosing on a platter of animal flesh.

All platters come with a tasty home-baked cornbread muffin spiked with bacon, jalapeño and cheese. If you’re going for barbecue, leave your calorie counter at home.

Speaking of calories, have the bacon bomb. This is a creation unique to Smokehouse BBQ where they take mild, ground Italian sausage, wrap it in bacon, smoke it, and cut it like meatloaf.  Tons of flavour, as you might expect (fat + salt = flavour), and even better, from what I hear, if ordered sandwich-style. The chicken was, thankfully, extremely moist and tender, and the side of sweet potato mash the big flavour winner of all the sides.

My kids would eat pulled pork sandwiches at every barbecue spot they visit, and the pulled pork sandwich at Smokehouse was one of the best we’ve ever come across – and that’s taking into account a list of ‘Q joints in the southern USA.

Live and learn: we ordered a basket of cornbread as a starter not realizing that every entree comes with its own muffin, so there was slight overkill on the cornbread that night, and also, we wanted to try the deep fried dill pickles but refrained on ordering them as starters because, well, we didn’t want to “overdo” it. Having them appear unexpectedly as part of the sandwiches was a bonus. So, a tip: watch what you order, because the items may show up anyways in your mains.

For lighter fare (ahem), consider having the fish – as in the catfish po’boy. It gets pretty messy, so ask for extra napkins upfront.

The drink list has some interesting offerings: Sweet Tea (regular or spiked with lemon vodka), sangria by the jug, Alley Kat and Steamwhistle draft beer, some slushy cocktails, and a candied bacon Caesar made with bacon vodka.

A barbecue joint is not only judged by its meat, but by its desserts as well. You’d be laughed out of the county, or strung up by your ears if you offered your guests a store-bought, factory-made sweet. There might even be a shotgun incident.  I was very pleased with Smokehouse BBQ’s desserts: a lemon pie in a jar, and the coconut cream pie. At this point, if you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound, so go ahead – eat your dessert.

The restaurant is quite large as far as spaces go on 124 Street, but everyone in town is hot right now for the Smokehouse, so if you plan to go, call first for reservations. They are open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays (not closed Sundays and Mondays like I said on-air). Check their website for more details.

Dinner for four: $97 with one cocktail, two tea, before tip.

My CBC Edmonton AM review of Smokehouse BBQ can be heard here.