The Smoked Joint- for real this time

[MarketStEl]

I finally dropped in on The Smoked Joint for dinner tonight.

I was underwhelmed.

The ribs were tender, but dry, as though they'd been kept warm in an oven for too long. The chicken and brisket were all right, as was the pulled pork.

Their barbecue rub struck me as all paprika and pepper. Where's the sweetness to go along with the spiciness (which was muted)? No brown sugar or molasses handy? And even though "smoke" is part of this place's name, I didn't detect that much of a smoky flavor in any of the meats.

The sauce was interesting--vinegary and tomatoey at the same time. Again, there was a strong paprika taste.

The coleslaw was crunchy, but bland.

The beans were quite good, though, and the mac and cheese was excellent--maybe not quite to die for, but certainly worth coming down with a long and serious illness.

Service was attentive and friendly. But they should warn you about what your soft drinks come in. (At $3.50 for the pitcher, though, this was one of the real bargains in a place whose fare is a bit pricey for a 'cue joint.)

Atmosphere-wise, this place wants to be a roadhouse, but it's in a decidedly un-roadhousey space--one that is also, unfortunately, known for eating restaurants. There hasn't been a really successful eatery in this space since the original Marabella's, almost two decades ago. I would seriously consider relocating to South Street for that reason alone.

It seems to me that the Smoked Joint crew get the idea of barbecue, but need to play with their food more to get it right.

Edited March 22, 2005 by MarketStEl (log)

[phungi]

There was a "teaser" in the Food section of Thursday's Inquirer for a LeBan review of The Smoked Joint in this Sunday's paper...

[MarketStEl]

There was a "teaser" in the Food section of Thursday's Inquirer for a LeBan review of The Smoked Joint in this Sunday's paper...

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And LaBan gave The Smoked Joint two bells.

I wonder whether he ordered the same ribs I did. I certainly didn't detect a rich smoky flavor. Then again, he might wonder whether I had the same pulled pork he did, since he found his on the dry side--though he does write that they have switched their cut of meat for the pork since he ate there.

His tastes in barbecue appear not to be influenced by exposure to the Kansas City variety: he found the beans too sweet, I thought they were just right.

I guess once again, there's no accounting for taste.

[handmc]

I live out in Chester Co and have been following this thread wondering if I should make the drive in to give it a try....Every time I come away with thinking its a long drive to mixed reviews. The up side is though every time I read this thread I fire up the smoker and have something tasty. Still try to get the brisket to come out real nice I think there is a real art to brisket. I can't imagine having to hot hold it after I got it right.

[mrbigjas]

i suspect you're right, handmc. even at the famous kreuz's in lockhart, tx, the brisket has been slightly different every time i'm been there. i think a key is leaving a really thick fat cap on there, but then again that's just from observation, not doing it myself.

[Andrew Fenton]

handmc, I'd say if you're going to drive into town for barbecue, go to Sweet Lucy's. It's better, cheaper and parking will be a lot easier for you.

But if you have a smoker, why bother? Just about all the homemade barbecue I've had has been better than anything I've had at a restaurant. I think it's the sort of thing that really takes well to personalization, and as you say, doesn't take well to sitting around at a hot temperature.

[philadining]

Just when I was getting cynical about all this fuss about barbecue, I had an excellent meal at The Smoked Joint tonight.

i had been feeling incredibly caddish about saying hi to Katie, then rudely refusing to eat at the SSOH. It's just that I had barbecue on the brain, and oysters just weren't going to cut it! The sheer thrall of the smoky cue assuaged my guilt, I'm sure she'll understand....

They were pretty busy, so we ate at the bar, which was fine. My buddy and I split a "barbecue experience" which had a little bit of almost everything, and some mac and cheese.

The mac and cheese was good, tender and creamy with a nice cheesey crust on the top. Not mind-blowing, but solid.

The brisket tonight was just right: tender, very juicy, very smoky. This is the third time I've gotten it here, and this was much better than the other times, which weren't bad, but this was just amazing, really close to what I had in Texas.

Ribs were tender, and notably NOT falling off the bone, as they had been on my first visit. They too had a rich deep smoke, and a bit of spice, especially the little guy on the end.

Pulled pork was nice and juicy this time, but still benefitted from a little extra sauce. And a pleasant surprise was the chicken leg, moist and smoky with crusty skin.

Greens had more spice than I remembered, but it worked. And the baked beans are indeed rather sweet, but I like them. We had to ask for bread, but got a couple of thick slices of very good fresh white bread. And that Virgil's root beer is really tasty, almost liquoricey.

The food came out quickly, the staff was friendly, and all the food was great. I believe it when others say they didn't have as good a meal, things were not as consistent other times I've been there. But tonight..... just about perfect.

Edited April 18, 2005 by philadining (log)

[KatieLoeb]

i had been feeling incredibly caddish about saying hi to Katie, then rudely refusing to eat at the SSOH. It's just that I had barbecue on the brain, and oysters just weren't going to cut it! The sheer thrall of the smoky cue assuaged my guilt, I'm sure she'll understand....

I do understand. <sigh> Sometimes I'm just not the flavor du jour...

I'm still awaiting the chance to go dueling wine bottles though.

[philadining]

After a night of transcendent Indian music from Ravi Shankar at the Kimmel Center, one naturally thinks of barbecue.

OK, maybe not.

But we were hungry, it was late, The Smoked Joint was close.

So we dropped in at almost 11pm, and thankfully, they were still serving. (The website just says they're open until "late night" so I don't know what the real last call on ribs is.)

I had been curious about the pastrami ruben, and I'm happy to report that it's good, the smoke really melds well with the pepper and cured-tang. A couple of folks at my table got chicken, and they said even the breast meat remained surprisingly juicy. And ribs got the thumbs-up as well, although I would have lost one of mine if I had tried to nab a sample from one of their plates, so I'll have to take their word for it.

So, my experience so far has been pretty consistent, it was a little shaky on my first visit, but that was very shortly after opening. The subsequent three meals have been solid.

[Really Nice!]

So do they have a 4:20 special?

[philadining]

So do they have a 4:20 special?

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I'm going to pretend that I don't know what you mean, but, ahem, given their name, I wouldn't be surprised!

Hmmm, a tightly-packed bowl of macaroni and cheese?

[Andrew Fenton]

So do they have a 4:20 special?

I'm going to pretend that I don't know what you mean, but, ahem, given their name, I wouldn't be surprised!

Hmmm, a tightly-packed bowl of macaroni and cheese?

For comparison, check out the sign at "The Burrito Joint" at 6th and South: it features a burrito that has been rolled, um, suggestively...

[philadining]

OK, I'll admit it was a little sick to have a Tex's pulled-pork sandwich for lunch, and then go to the Smoked Joint for Dinner, but sometimes, things just work out that way. Could be worse.

Four of us were lucky enough to hit it early in the night, on the day after a Book and the Cook event with Mike and Amy Mills, authors of "Peace Love and Barbecue." They had some food from that special event left over, as well as the usual menu.

Our bartender, as well as several of the waitstaff had been raving about that food (we were fully aware that they were also desperately trying to move the product, but they did seem sincere in their praise.)

We surprised even ourselves by ordering the deviled eggs from the event, which despite our skepticism about how good a deviled egg can be, turned out to be rather interesting. The filling had a bold sweet mustardy flavor which was good on its own, and even better contrasted with the mixed greens on the plate, which had been simply dressed with a vinaigrette and dusted with rub spices. Even the couple of strawberries among the greens seemed to like the chile powder and whatever else was in the rub. This is worth exploring further.

We also got the babyback ribs from the special (leftovers) menu, and they were very tasty, not quite as smoky or juicy as the Joint's own spareribs, but a little spicier and drizzled with a very different, sweeter sauce. Our table was split on which version of the ribs we liked better. This came with a nice baked sweet potato with a brown-sugar based glaze, and a small ramekin of baked beans which were quite good, a mixture of types of beans, and were not as sweet as the Joint's own version.

We also got the Joint's standard Chicken Wings as an appetizer, and these really are terrific, as others have reported. They are not deepfried, which is nice, and they are big and meaty, which is not always the case.

The wings are smoked and grilled, and have a thick coating of dry spice on them, which makes them texturally pretty different from most wings, and I'd say way tastier. (And I grew up close enough to Buffalo to have encountered a few wings over the years....)

We also shared a "Barbecue Experience" which as I think I've reported in previous posts is a big plate with 3 or 4 spare ribs, 3 slices of Brisket, a good-sized pile of pulled pork, a chicken leg and two sides. The brisket was really nice and juicy, I think they might have finally nailed that, it's been good on my last three visits. The pulled pork had good moisture too, although i was also enjoying dousing it with a bit of the clear vinegar-based sauce on the table. Sweet potato fries and greens were both excellent, although the side order of greens is a little skimpy. I mean it's greens for god's sake....

I was so stuffed I couldn't even stagger over to Capogiro, which might be a sign of the apocalypse. Take cover.

Edited July 17, 2005 by philadining (log)

[shacke]

I was so stuffed I couldn't even stagger over to Capogiro, which might be a sign of the apocalypse. Take cover.

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Next time - don't let us down oh Bottomless One. I am sure Capogiro has Ipecac gelato in the cases. They seem to have a flavor for every mood.

Evan

[ellencho]

So the boyfriend and I made another trip to the SJ a couple weeks ago. He enjoyed his food but I didn't think it was as good as the first time I was there.

We started with wings again. The flavor was fine, they just weren't as falling-off-the-bone tender that they were last time. There was even a bit of blood between the joints when we tried to separate our wings. The bleu cheese sauce was good however.

Then we shared a crock of their mac and cheese. Since i'm not a fan of creamy non-curdy mac and cheese, I didn't think it was all that great. It definitely tasted cheesy but I prefer the type of mac and cheese that Delilah's serves.

The boyfriend had a chicken dinner that he completely destroyed - meaning he enjoyed it. I wasn't so impressed with my own meal. I ordered their Barbecue chef salad. They describe their salad dressing as a smoked tomato salad dressing, but I tasted nothing. It was absolutely devoid of flavor, and they over-cheesed the salad.

It's not like I'm going to stop going there because of this one salad, but it was definitely disappointing, especially after I had enjoyed my first visit there so much.

[mrbigjas]

might be that michael berman and... um, other guy whose name i can't remember... are still in a coma from eating like a piza and a half in 10 minutes on sunday at the tomato festival.

[philadining]

I went back to the Smoked Joint a couple of weeks ago. It had been a while, for no particular reason...

And I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

I got a combo of Brisket and Short Ribs. I don't recall having seen the Short Ribs before, and they were really quite good: big, chunky, tender, with a sticky thick sauce. The brisket was decent, but it was a touch dry. I've had better there. The DDP had a Pulled-Pork platter, which was nice and juicy, which some good charred edges in there. The collard Greens and the Baked beans were good as always.

The food was pretty tasty, if not spectacular, not quite as good as some other visits, but not at all bad. But I was left a little cold, and I think it might be mostly a presentation thing. It's not as if the dishes were ever all that swanky, but this time the food came on a plain white oblong plastic plate, with a smallish bowl holding the single side, that made the food look rather unattractive. The portions were just fine, I think, but they looked really miserly on that expanse of white, and just rather bleak overall. It just felt like "that's it?!?" when the plate got dropped in front of me.

And am I remembering it wrong? I felt like you used to get two side dishes with even the basic entrees.

Anyway, it just felt a little disappointing, even though the meat was pretty good, and I didn't exactly leave hungry. But I really think they need to go back to the original plates, and give more sides: both larger portions and at least two with an entree. I mean, come on, it's just veggies... The plates just felt spare and empty, not the vibe you want at a barbecue joint.

Edited May 1, 2006 by philadining (log)

[Bluehensfan]

We go to the Smoked Joint very often (last time this past Saturday). Each time it keeps getting better in our opinion. The ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and bbq'd chicken are all stellar.

What I find so interesting about the place is that they are always expermenting with the food. One example being the cornbread skillets. Shortly after the place opened they used habanero chiles throughout the cornbread then switched to a less spicy version of pepper. Lo and behold, the last visit the peppers were pleasantly missing from the cornbread entirely. Now all they need is some sweet maple syrup butter for dipping the cornbread in and they will have a winner. Even if they don't, the cornbread is much better than it was when they opened, and I know that changes were also made with the pulled pork, as it is a different, juicier cut than before, as well as the sweet potato fries, which are thinner than the older version.

I don't remember ever getting my meals served on white expansive plates though. On Saturday I ordered the combo plate and it was filled to the brim with pulled pork, four ribs, swet potato fries and dipping sauce, and homemade bread on the usual black plate.

They did change the menu a while back (4-6 months ago unless I need Aricept?) where they knocked down the price of a few items and cut the number of side items to one per platter.

I do admit that I have never left hungry from a visit there though...

[MarketStEl]

The boyfriend had a chicken dinner that he completely destroyed - meaning he enjoyed it. I wasn't so impressed with my own meal.  I ordered their Barbecue chef salad. They describe their salad dressing as a smoked tomato salad dressing, but I tasted nothing.  It was absolutely devoid of flavor, and they over-cheesed the salad.

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It is impossible to put too much cheese on a salad. Or on anything else that goes with cheese, for that matter.

Interesting to see this thread revived after about a nine-month hiatus. It looks like about the only thing that's constant about this restaurant is that the quality and flavor of the food will vary from visit to visit. That's more suggestive to me of a home 'cuer than a bunch of professionals, but then again, I got the sense from the one visit I've made so far that this place was opened by a bunch of people who just plain love barbecue. I'm willing to cut them some slack for that alone.

[Bluehensfan]

You gotta give them points for trying. We've stuck with them since the beginning and they started off pretty good, seemed to have some growing pains for a few months, but have really outdone themselves the past six months or so except for one time when they had a new chef in the kitchen who overdid the ribs. Like I said, they always seem to be looking to improve what they do, and they do take customer comments seriously.

[Bobby 2 Shakes]

I keep looking for a picture of Jamaica's founding fathers... Sir Walter Marleigh and the Inhalers.