I know... It has taken me a bit of time to visit The Butcher's BBQ joint but as the saying goes, it's always better late than never... News about this small street food eatery on Mar Mikhael has made it to everyone's ears - especially those who crave smoked meat, brisket sand pork...
It's the latest trend.
It's called the Butcher's BBQ Joint and it's on located on Mar Mikhael lower road after Smoking Bun and before Frosty Palace, facing the Train Station entrance.
A square shaped shop welcomes you for lunch and dinner. The bar is made of wood and a you'll fine a bench of concrete and black leather chair under a pork shaped metallic sculpture.
Look up and see the giant compass, and a written word in neon lights... You'll also notice the menu imprinted on the glass window behind the bar.
I loved the traditional tiles covering the floor, the rugged table and the high stools facing the bar.
The menu is printed on a wood board. Three columns of choices including the bacon strips, classic grilled cheese, salads, the pork sandwich, brisket, mercury burger, pork ribs, fried chicken and sausages.
Music plays in the background, it was 4pm and the staff was ready to welcome us.
Let's eat:
- Bacon strips and sauce. To start with, they look awesome. Golden slices of bacon cooked to perfection offering crunchy borders and a firm, intensely flavorful heart, smoky and salty at the same time topped with maple syrup. Innovative, interesting and tasty.
- The brisket: The bread is good but inside the sauce is too creamy, the red cabbage is too prominent and the brisket is too thick without any smokiness. I expected a thinner version that's more tender and less chewy. Maybe it's the expectation that disappointed me.
- The pulled pork: The same heavy mayonnaise over powers the taste of everything. A tender piece of bread, tender pork but too much sauce and too much cabbage. I definitely had better.
- The pork ribs: a piece of ribs... It looks well cooked... But I didn't actually find anything much to eat in it. There's bones more than meat. The meat is dry and lacks flavor, juiciness, sweetness, caramelization. Extremely deceiving.
- Eat the salad alone and you'll understand what's actually spoiling the taste in all the sandwiches. Mayonnaise! Heaviness! This you don't want to have in your sandwiches.
I'm sorry to have to say it bluntly but the verdict is "not impressed". I expected more flavors, bigger portions, a more street food approach to those amazing innovations called brisket and pulled pork.
I'll work the portion size allowing an insight into what's in each sandwich, while the meat needs more flavor and sauce and the ribs need to be revisited. PS: You will smell smoke for the rest of the day.
