Blue Smoke

[Jason Perlow]

To this day I have not formally eaten at Blue Smoke, but I have had their ribs at the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party and I thought they were very good, if not the best ones at the entire event.

[tommy]

if anything everyone agrees that there are plenty of opinions on blue smoke.

[Stone]

the ribs tasted very good, and they were very meaty. I just thought they were too neatly trimmed (you know how at Applebys, Bennigans, etc., every piece of food is trimmed perfectly uniform?) and not as meaty as I remember.

Another odd thing about them is that although they certainly tasted like they were smoked, they didn't look smoked or rubbed. Smoked ribs come out pretty black and are still covered with rub. These were pretty clean. Odd.

[kjohn]

I tried Mike Mills restaurant in Murphysboro, 17th Street Bar and Grill. My understanding is that Mills consulted on the opening of Blue Smoke. The ribs compare favorably with Blue Smoke. At 17th Street you get a better value and the ribs are definitely meatier, but the flavor is very similar between the two.

[R Washburn]

I took home a brisket from Blue Smoke, the other day (3#4oz. for $39), and it was a great value.

[Daniel]

I tried Mike Mills restaurant in Murphysboro, 17th Street Bar and Grill. My understanding is that Mills consulted on the opening of Blue Smoke. The ribs compare favorably with Blue Smoke. At 17th Street you get a better value and the ribs are definitely meatier, but the flavor is very similar between the two.

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I ate at his place in Las Vegas.. Its called Memphis Championship Barbeque.. I like this place better then blue smoke.. It has more to it, more interesting dishes.. Pork stuffed potatoe skins for crying out loud.. Fried dill pickles with ranch dressing, and so on.. Blue smoke is really good, but Mike Mills is a champ..

http://www.memphis-bbq.com/menu_long.html

Edited November 1, 2004 by Daniel (log)

[Bux]

I tried Mike Mills restaurant in Murphysboro, 17th Street Bar and Grill. My understanding is that Mills consulted on the opening of Blue Smoke. The ribs compare favorably with Blue Smoke. At 17th Street you get a better value and the ribs are definitely meatier, but the flavor is very similar between the two.

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That's quite a compliment to Blue Smoke. Although I'd expect Blue Smoke to be able to get the best meat available, there's no way the rent and overhead in Manahattan would enable any restaurant to compete in "value" with any place in Murphysboro. Mike Mills was at the Big Apple Barbeque Party and I thought his stuff was terrific. I'm hardly an expert on the subject and there's no way I'd even try to compare it with what I had a Blue Smoke, although I recall being more impressed with Mills' product. It's quite possible the atmosphere of the event and just being outdoors added to the overall impression. It's also possible that working with portable equipment as opposed to built in smokers that had to comply with all NYC building codes was an advantage rather than a hinderance.

[wannabechef]

This thread hasn't been updated in a while and since I ate here last night I felt I'd do my duty. Went last night around 7:30. Place was packed and we waited 45 minutes. This was fine with us since they told us it would be 1-1.5 hrs.

Five of us ordered chipolte wings app, bbq chips, and blue cheese/bacon dip. All were fantastic. I think the wings were almost as good as Dinosaurs. For entree my friend and I split the pulled pork platter, and the rib sampler. I have to say all was incredible. The ribs on the platter were perfectly seasoned, and I think very lightly sauced - which is what I like. I believe one of them may have been dry. The salt and pepper beef ribs were incredible - but slightly overcooked. The St. Louis ribs were nice and meaty and had a slight "snap" to them when you took a bite. This is one major thing that I liked about these as opposed to Dinosaurs ribs. At Dino, when I took a bite, all the meat came off the bone with it. I guess they were overcooked?

Pulled pork was also good, but didn't stand out as much as the ribs for me. Maybe it's because I'm more of a "rib guy" anyway. The pork was juicy and flavorful. I like a little bit of crunchies in there which was absent. Do any places have that now?

For sides, we got the mac and cheese (not so great. too creamy and similar to Kraft), creamed spinach (awesome), mashed potoatoes (standard) and baked beans (tasty, but too sweet for my taste).

We were full and decided to skip desert. Out of the places I've tried, I think Blue Smoke is the best BBQ (ribs) in the city right now.

~WBC

[Jason Perlow]

Rachel, JHlurie, SobaAddict70 and I had dinner at Blue Smoke / Jazz Standard tonight, and sampled some of their 'Q.

Please excuse the sub-par photographs as the lighting was quite challenging.

We started off with the warm BBQ potato chips, which were a huge hit with the bleu cheese with bacon dip:

We had some of the sausage sampler, which was exceptional, especially the Jalapeno sausage and the Kielbasa/Hot Links.

And their famous deviled eggs

Rib Sampler

Halibut

The marbled brisket, which was universally enjoyed by all

Sweet Potato fries, which came with a great creamy maple syrup dip

Really good hush puppies

BBQ beans with pork, outstanding

The Blue Smoke Burger with house smoked bacon -- probably one of the best burgers I've ever had, the char broil taste was right on and the meat was really good quality and very juicy, with just the right balance of fat in it.

The evening's entertainment.

[SobaAddict70]

Don't forget the desserts. Chocolate cake came with a glass of milk, toffee bread pudding was probably the best dessert we ordered, and key lime pie had a slightly frozen crust.

I'd order the toffee pudding next time around. Might make me a fan of pecans, and that's no small feat.

Soba

[Sethro]

The dessert menu was bigger when they first opened. They had an awesome Grape Fizz, but I guess it either wasn't selling or was a bitch for service. That was the only place I knew of in NYC to get a real Fizz.

[jhlurie]

My biggest issue was with the ribs--which is especially surprising considering how much I loved the Blue Smoke ribs served at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. But these? They were skimpy. GREAT, but skimpy.

It might even be my fault, in part. Blue Smoke serves four kinds of ribs: Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis and Texas Beef Ribs. Normally the Rib platter contains the first, second and fourth of those. Three of the four of us eating had stuffed ourself silly on the K.C. variety at the BABBQBP, so I asked our server to substitute the Memphis Ribs in instead. It didn't occur to me till much later than I might have insisted they take out the meatiest ribs they served.

That rib plate in Jason's picture, by the way is the ENTIRE sampler order. We were assured it was the equivalent to a whole rack, but does it really look like that from the photo?

Pretty much everything else rocked, except Soba's over-frozen Key Lime Pie.

Jason does seem to have missed a picture of our Collard Greens, but then again Greens never LOOK all that impressive.

[Rachel Perlow]

The chocolate cake was great, and I am so glad it came with a glass of milk. I kept that for myself, although we all shared the desserts. You totally need that glass of milk with the cake. I think the others thought the sticky toffee pudding was the best dessert only because they didn't have a drink of milk to wash down the cake!

The baked beans were totally worth ordering, very meaty. I was the fish orderer, it was a nice alternative, and the mashed potatoes have a smokey taste, so you still felt part of the 'Q crowd.

[Daniel]

Great photos.. Blue smoke has my vote for best burger in NYC..

[Jason Perlow]

At the Pre-BABBP party at Blue Smoke this evening, I had an opportunity to check out Blue Smoke's BBQ infrastructure and their line.

Some finishing touches being put on the foie gras canapes.

Blue Smoke's 2 massive custom smoker rigs.

The firebox directly behind the smoker rigs, outside the restaurant.

Wood for the firebox.

This is the view directly above the firebox. As you can see one of the challenges in building the restaurant was that the ventilation shaft for the smokers had to go all the way up to the top of the building.

A quick peek inside the smokers.

Brisket, ready for service.

[jamiemaw]

Brisket, ready for service.

←

That's better. They must have felt guilty for bringing you that kiddy portion of ribs.

What were the approximate prices for the ribs, burger, sausage sampler, sides et al?

[AK@Spicehouse]

Being on a restricted diet <a href="http://allankleinonadiet.blogspot.com/"> DIET </a>I can only watch and listen and smell the eating going on around me. I chose last night, an extremely quiet night int the city, to go to Blue Smoke. Having supplied them with their spices for over a year, it was time to see what the fuss was all about. Four of us at the bar, we ordered wine, beer and a soda. My friends order the cheese fries and we waited for the last member of our party. With the fries, one of the chefs sent out the homemade potato chips with Blue cheese dip. The group dove into the freebies, and pronounced the chips to be some of the best snack food they had ever had. Fries went very fast, gooey homemade cheese wizesque on seasoned fries. They were ready for BBQ. In a relatively early time period and an empty restaurant, (5:00) the best time to try the hot places is when nobody is in town, we sat. By 6:15 the place was a zoo. I could only eat the gazpacho, which came on one of the diners Restaurant week meals. $33.00 for and appetizer, main dish with a side, an extra side, dessert and beverage (soda, coffee) Very fair deal. Wife of 120 pounds ordered the rib sambler, Mac and cheese, cornbread, baked beans and more wine. Friends had Rhapsody in Q, Chicken, Ribs, Pulled pork and a sausage. Also another rib sampler with creamed spinach and Sweet potato fries. Last diner, on the special, had smoked organic chicken, spinacch, mashed potatoes and cornbread. I toured the kitchen, the backyard pit and the stock room. Reviews : Fabulous cornbread, ribs went so fast they just grinned and ate. Too much pulled pork for the plate, needed saucing but tasty. Chicken got excellent reviews, eaten with mashed and ccreamed spinach with gusto. Sausage was meaty and tasty, sweet fries were well received. Mac and cheese, the only casualty. Too pasty. My soup was great, needed a kick of hot sauce. Desserts were another gift from my customers in the kitchen, fluffer nutter sundaes, toffee pudding, key lime pie and banana cream pie. The four of them grinned, ate like animals, and I watched. Blue Smoke was worthy of these four foodies praise and heartfelt thanks. Great staff, smiling always, my friend Pete in purchasing and my new waiter friend Tom. Thanks for a great meal and we will send the cayene on Tuesday,..

[Nina C.]

Again, since this thread hasn't been updated in a while, thought I'd add my thoughts.

I had dinner at Blue Smoke tonight with a group of friends who hadn't see each other in a while. One of our group had worked in USHG, and suggested the place. As a whole the experience was very mixed. Service was not good - long waits, entrees didn't arrive all at the same time, and she had to be reminded of drink orders.

We split barbequed mussels which were good, and the potato chips and blue-cheese bacon dip. The potato chips were thin, crispy and made me keep going back for seconds; the dip was good but could have been more flavorful. I skipped it after the first couple of chips. I thought it was strange that you had to order and pay for them separately - what would you have eaten the dip with otherwise? And I was sad that there was no bread to soak up the mussel broth with.

I had heard mixed reviews of their meat, and since I try not to eat meat too often, I decided to skip it and rely on bites of others. Instead I opted for the special - seared scallops with blue corn grits and apple-herb salad. While perhaps a strange choice to order in a barbeque restaurant, I was so glad I had. Although the grits and salad were pretty forgettable, the scallops were outstanding. Full of flavor, fresh, tender with a crisp crust - in short, everything you could hope for. Much better than the ones I had the other night at Al Di La. (Interesting to note that downstairs at Jazz Standard, this dish is also served with caramelized vidalia onions. That could be just what is needed to wake up the grits and salad. Or perhaps just a heavier hand with the seasonings.)

Pulled Pork was a huge serving and flavorless, but the accompanying beans were pretty good and thankfully not mushy. Ribs were pronounced "safe" and similarly pulled no punches.

For sides we shared the hush puppies with jalapeno marmelade and the fry bread with chipotle butter. The hush puppies were light, spiced well, and just the right temperature. I like Fry Bread a little less puffy and less zeppole-like but since it seems like there are a million variations and preferences for Fry Bread, I won't criticize them too heavily for this. But the accompaning sauces were misnamed at the least - I know that I have a strong palate for spicy food, but these had absolutely zero heat.

I think it is the Texas heritage in me that wants big flavor from barbeque. This flavor was weak, limpid, afraid to stand strong. Where are the punches? With a few exceptions, this was tourist fare and definitely not worth a recommendation.

[Nina C.]

Oops! almost forgot dessert. We ordered and split three: chocolate cake, rhubarb & strawberry cobbler, and banana cream pie.

The standout was the cobbler - the crust was excellent, and the fruit just how I wanted it - a little sweet, a little tart.

I have very high standards for cake, and IMHO this was a teensy bit on the dry side. Others in my party loved it.

Banana cream pie was what banana cream pie usually is - a lot of cream, a lot of air, not much to write home about.

[camilleboudreaux]

thanx for all the gullet info on blue smoke guys, just moved up here from new orleans ( professional chef/cook) and i am suppossed to set up a trail/ interview there next week,

and although nola doesnt really represent a far as having its own barbecue dogma and dichotomies, being from the south in general i treat true southern pit barbecue as a a quasi religious subject, but as a little bit of an outsider i can appreciate the subtleties of the regional variations, although i have a personal preference for barbecue meats to be served dry(i liked burnt sugar on my brulee, not on my ribs,. anyhoo there was a great amount of positive information on Blue Smoke, thx

boudreaux

[tommy]

the burger remains the most outstanding item on the Blue Smoke menu, much to Ken Callaghan's dismay no doubt (i mentioned this to Ken recently, and he seemed annoyed, in a nice way of course).

if anyone reading this wants an outstanding burger, go to Blue Smoke. and no, it's hardly related to the Shake Shack burger. a different animal.