The Smoked Joint- for real this time

[Andrew Fenton]

You should do it. I imagine they'd be fine with it; the servers all seemed pretty nice when I was there.

And if I'm wrong, don't worry: eGullet will put up your bail.

[mrbigjas]

aw, you guys are the BEST.

[MarketStEl]

aw, you guys are the BEST.

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Yes, but now we must ask: Stroehmann or Wonder?

[mrbigjas]

well, down in texas they have this other kinda white bread they use for bbq but for the life of me i can't recall the name of it.

therefore i'd have to say stroehmann, of course. mmm cheap white bread.

[Greg Salisbury]

well, down in texas they have this other kinda white bread they use for bbq but for the life of me i can't recall the name of it.

therefore i'd have to say stroehmann, of course.  mmm cheap white bread.

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I believe that Sunbeam is the name of the bread. White white, yeasty, with just a touch of artificial butter flava.

One place in town that does serve ribs with bread is the Rosemount on Baltimore Ave in the 50s. Their hours are, how to put this, irregular at best, but a friend dropped off an order for me on Saturday night, and they were really, really good. The bread is just an essential part of the experience. How else are you going to collect the sauce, debris and other various and sundry drippings?

Edited December 7, 2004 by Greg Salisbury (log)

[mrbigjas]

at kreuz's in lockhart, tx, when you order they say 'bread or crackers?' and give you either about eight slices of bread (it might be sunbeam but for some reason i'm thinking it's mrs something, or, like, blue ribbon or bluebonnet or something), or an entire sleeve of saltines.

hey how about mrs bairds? i think that might be it. based in ft. worth.

http://www.mrsbairds.com/fresh/breads.html

anyway, yeah, bread. i'm totally going to the smoked joint, and soon. are they open for lunch?

[KatieLoeb]

well, down in texas they have this other kinda white bread they use for bbq but for the life of me i can't recall the name of it.

therefore i'd have to say stroehmann, of course.  mmm cheap white bread.

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I believe that Sunbeam is the name of the bread. White white, yeasty, with just a touch of artificial butter flava.

One place in town that does serve ribs with bread is the Rosemount on Baltimore Ave in the 50s. Their hours are, how to put this, irregular at best, but a friend dropped off an order for me on Saturday night, and they were really, really good. The bread is just an essential part of the experience. How else are you going to collect the sauce, debris and other various and sundry drippings?

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I think Ron's Ribs @ 15th & South serves spongy white bread with their 'cue.

[MarketStEl]

One place in town that does serve ribs with bread is the Rosemount on Baltimore Ave in the 50s.

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Rosemont! That was the name of the place I was talking about earlier. The one with the vinegar-based (Carolina-style) sauce.

That place is good. And not just good-for-Philly-'cue god.

[herbacidal]

man oh man, i miss audrey's too.  the entire block of 40th between walnut and chestnut smelled like a giant bbq pit from that place.  it closed my scond year there.

so here's what i'm thinkin re the smoked joint: how do you think they'd react if, when they brought you your meal, you reached into your pocket and pulled out a sandwich baggie with a couple slices of wonder bread?  would you be hurriedly escorted from the premises?  or would it be like that commercial where the guy has burger king on the plane, and people would offer you large sums of money for it?

i'm totally taking some bread when i go.  byob indeed.

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Yo, throw together a dinner for a buncha people, we'll bring a loaf or 4.

[Andrew Fenton]

Hey, I'd totally go. Been meaning to get back at my arteries for some nasty things they were saying 'bout me...

Also, I'd love to see the servers' reaction to a half-dozen people bearing bread.

Edited December 7, 2004 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[MarketStEl]

I smell a group outing brewing. I'm definitely interested in participating. Whether I actually show up depends on date, time and funds.

I'll bring a loaf of private label white. Probably America's Choice, or Richfood if I have to get it at the last minute.

[brescd01]

I loved the food at Smoked Joint (and so did my wife) but both of us got upset stomachs afterwards. I ate the leftovers the next day and had a similar reaction, with headache. I wonder, 1) has anyone else had this problem and 2) is this related to monosodium glutamate? I doubt it was food poisoning of any sort.

[Andrew Fenton]

I loved the food at Smoked Joint (and so did my wife) but both of us got upset stomachs afterwards. I ate the leftovers the next day and had a similar reaction, with headache. I wonder, 1) has anyone else had this problem and 2) is this related to monosodium glutamate? I doubt it was food poisoning of any sort.

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I'll often get an upset stomach if I eat a big meal of fatty food. That's doubly true if the food is spicy. I didn't find TSJ to be especially spicy, but fatty? Oh my, yes.

[mrbigjas]

the funny thing is, if you have an upset stomach from a hangover, a big pile of fatty food like that can cure it. and if you don't have an upset stomach, a big pile of fatty food like that can cause one. it's one of life's great mysteries.

[Andrew Fenton]

To fatty food! The cause of, and solution to, all our problems.

[herbacidal]

the funny thing is, if you have an upset stomach from a hangover, a big pile of fatty food like that can cure it.  and if you don't have an upset stomach, a big pile of fatty food like that can cause one.  it's one of life's great mysteries.

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Well, isn't the grease that you get with fatty foods alcohol absorbent?

As I understood it, fatty foods eaten before drinking help raise a person alcohol tolerance.

More experienced nutritiionists and drinkers than I will have to comment further.

And I suspect less experienced ones, too.

[Andrew Fenton]

the funny thing is, if you have an upset stomach from a hangover, a big pile of fatty food like that can cure it.  and if you don't have an upset stomach, a big pile of fatty food like that can cause one.  it's one of life's great mysteries.

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Well, isn't the grease that you get with fatty foods alcohol absorbent?

As I understood it, fatty foods eaten before drinking help raise a person alcohol tolerance.

More experienced nutritiionists and drinkers than I will have to comment further.

And I suspect less experienced ones, too.

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Clearly, extensive research is required. I'll report back when my findings are complete.

[philadining]

Clearly, extensive research is required.  I'll report back when my findings are complete.

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Thank you in advance for your important work. It will be a dirty, difficult job, asessing all the possible combinations of fatty food and booze, but it's important to the world of science, and I dare say, the very future of our society. You're a brave soul, and a hero to us all....

[aliwaks]

OK the guys asked me to sign on and let you all know that they heard you and they now have bread, squishy white bread made just for them by Nishon...if it's not on your plate ask for it and someone will bring some out

Edited December 10, 2004 by aliwaks (log)

[KatieLoeb]

OK the guys asked me to sign on and let you all know that they heard you and they now have bread, squishy white bread made just for them by Nishon...if it's not on your plate ask for it  and someone will bring some out

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Excellent! Nishon was Pastry Chef at Striped Bass when I worked there and now bakes bread for several Philly restaurants including Rouge. We get our hamburger buns from Bread by Nishon and they're delicious. I'm sure his squishy white bread will be the best!

[mrbigjas]

awesome. i haven't even been there yet and i'm insanely happy about this development.

[Peter Johnson]

Greetings, all; I've posted fairly often at a different food-related board, but LOVE what I'm seeing here!

My wife and I went to the S.J. for the first time for lunch (late!) yesterday; mainly because Good DOg wasn't opening until 4:00, and we were HUNGRY at 3:40. Around the corner we went.

The "Joint" was nearly deserted; two tables were occupied by clearly out-of-towners (guidebooks)--did this place make it onto a published list somewhere? The ratio of staff to customers was approximately 2:1; slightly overwhelming. We weren't wild about the atmosphere (we believe ambience to be a critical element of our dining experience) and wondered exactly what they were going for with the hard rock cafe/chain/"inside of a barrel" (?) look; didn't do much for us. Let me be clear: We LOVE the ambience equally well at Ron's Ribs, Audrey Claire and L.B.F.; it's all in the restaurant, and S.J. didn't do it for us.

On to the food! We split a 1/4 rack, with sides of root beer baked beans and cornbread, and a small (not so small!) mac & cheese.

My first bite was the mac & cheese. Delish! Very tasty with a little subtle bit of blue cheese of some sort thrown in. I would have preferred it to be a bit crustier than it was (my wife dove in and stole most of the crust, so that could have been the problem!) and thicker (personally, I find Phoebe's mac & cheese side to be the gold standard of _consistency_, although I've heard others describe it as gluey); I found it to be a bit runny.

The ribs were dry-rubbed and not served wet; there's a bottle of sauce on each table which I found tasty to add to the meat. The meat on the ribs was excellent; not particularly fatty, which some might say is a negative. I thought they were great, although I prefer my ribs to be served wet, wet wet (with aforementioned white bread!). The barbeque sauce was a nice sweet/vinegar-y combination, not super sweet (phoebe's) or super vinegar-y (Ron's); I'd say we rated the ribs just under Rib Crib in quality (R.C. being our top choice in this area) and flavor. Not as smoky as I would have liked.

Root beer beans were excellent, and the corn bread was excellent.

On the whole, it was great, although we won't likely be back to eat there; we'll definitely do takeout.

A nice addition to the dining scene; as far as I'm concerned, we can never have too many rib joints!

Glad to be here on egullet!

Peter

[Andrew Fenton]

Glad to be here on egullet!

Glad to have you here, Peter: welcome!

I agree with you that the decor at TSJ is a little odd; it's as if they bought out a Hard Rock Cafe at auction...

But I gotta say, I don't think you can even compare TSJ's ribs with the Rib Crib's. Don't get me wrong: I love the Crib, mostly because the people there are so wonderful. But the ribs are fast-cooked, so they're tough, and there's no smoke flavor. TSJ's are really barbecued, and you can tell. The only comparable product that I've had in the area is Sweet Lucy's, I think. Certainly there's nothing in Center City... though TSJ has prices to match.

[Peter Johnson]

But I gotta say, I don't think you can even compare TSJ's ribs with the Rib Crib's.  Don't get me wrong: I love the Crib, mostly because the people there are so wonderful.  But the ribs are fast-cooked, so they're tough, and there's no smoke flavor.  TSJ's are really barbecued, and you can tell.

Thanks for the welcome, Andrew!

I have to say that I haven't been to the Rib Crib in quite a while, so my memories of their ribs may have gained grandiosity! I was thrilled when Ron's Ribs reopened, but have had inconsistent food ever since. I agree that TSJ's ribs have a great barbequed flavor; I think this just means (as others have stated previously in the thread) that I'm going to have to plan another trip to the Rib Crib for further investigation!

[philadining]

New review (jan 04) in the Weekly by Lauren McCutcheon