183510 Sun Apr 03 14:37:40 -0700 2005 7 15 Pennsylvania 0 984577 Last night at 8, Joypirate and I began what can only be described as a delicious journey through meat. We went to the smoked joint and shared two delicious dishes: Pulled Pork Pickled Pizza - $12. It's a surprising combination, with the cool pickles and the warm pork and a cheese that held things together, though I wasn't aware of much cheesey flavor. Very tasty (even cold for breakfast this morning). But this was not (for me) the highlight of the meal. The other dish we ordered was the BBQ Experience - $27 - which was true to its name, and came with barbequed chicken (a thigh/drumstick), brisket (3 slices), ribs (3), a mound of pulled pork, and the sides we chose with it were sweet potato fries and root beer baked beans. All was delicious. I think I was most impressed by the brisket, which I don't think I've had BBQ style before... although the ribs were really delicious too, maybe my favorite... and the chicken actually was wonderful and smokey... and even the beans were amazing... basically it was all fantastic. And it was quite a bit of food. For dessert we split a cookie plate with one very delicious chocolate chip cookie, a very soft ginger snap and a less exciting banana whoopee pie, plus two scoops of vanilla ice cream with syrup. My biggest complaint would be that they did not provide us with extra BBQ sauce -- had we actually complained about this, we would have learned before finishing that someone had just forgotten to put a bottle of sauce on our table. I think the pulled pork would have been better drowned in the sauce they had merely drizzled over it. Also, for those of you who consider beer to be an important part of a meal (it was probably 60% of our meal, despite the amount we ordered), be forewarned: they only serve Yeungling, Allagash, Brooklyn Brown and Flying Fish. All are $5. Unfortunately, by 9 they were out of Allagash and Flying Fish! Who has ever heard of a bar running out of beer by 9 on a Saturday night? Despite those deficiencies in things liquid, things meat were all fabulous. I would definitely recommend this place. Sun Apr 03 14:37:40 -0700 2005 0 Adrienne 1 984578 Actually, if you are only going to serve five beers on tap, that is a pretty good selection. Of course, I assume the Allagash was the white not the brown, since they are pouring the Brkln brown? No excuse for running out. Sun Apr 03 14:50:41 -0700 2005 984577 0 Shoeman 2 984582 Yup, white. I agree, if they'd had all of them, it would have been a wisely chosen set of options. Sun Apr 03 15:37:12 -0700 2005 984578 0 Adrienne 3 984586 That's excessive. I know restaurants need to make their margins, but that's still far too much. $3.50 is a fair price, $4 absolute tops. This tactic will backfire when many people eat there as they'll be drinking tap water all night. I know I will. Shame, as the restaurant overall sounds excellent. Mon Apr 04 08:43:30 -0700 2005 984582 0 JackT 4 984594 Philly tap water--yucky. I would prefer to shell out 5 bucks for a good bottle of water, no less a beer. Mon Apr 04 13:42:21 -0700 2005 984586 0 gina 4 984602 Maybe out-of-towners will shell that out thinking it's a high-end local Microbrew ... I'm used to paying $2.50 per mug in my local tappies. Mon Apr 04 16:13:06 -0700 2005 984586 0 webmaster 4 984624 At our wonderful initial outing at Smoked Joint (best BBQ wings ever), we both ordered iced tea. They brought out a pitcher for each of us (with a straw, of course). No refills needed. Didn't bother with beer. Tue Apr 05 10:28:34 -0700 2005 984586 0 Susan H 1 984588 Nicely said Adrienne. What a magical symphony of meat that was. The brisket was really good, a good, strong beef and smoke flavor. The ribs also were great but didn’t steal the show. Chicken likewise surprised me as I was unaware BBQ chicken could BE that good, and that’s even after having sampled it at many legit places south of the Mason Dixon. Tenderness and smokiness lived together in wedded harmony in my mouth. Like Adrienne said, the pulled pork needed a heavier dousing of sauce, or at least a side of sauce to allow us to regulate the saucing. I think their standouts were the beef dishes which makes me think this was a bit of a Texas-style place trying to do all kinds of BBQ. A common occurrence I have noticed among those indigenous to BBQ cultivating lands is a tendency for those in states; at least those in non-Texas BBQ states such as the Carolinas, Tennessee or Georgia; to comment, “In Texas they cook the wrong meat!” believing the pig to be the superior animal to BBQ. Actually, I heard that phrase quite a bit. There might be something to that, but in any case, this was some very tasty beef. Mmmmm…you don’t win friends with salad. Root beer beans (Virgil’s root beer) came speckled with burnt ends. Mmmm…burnt ends. Sweet potato fries came w/a tasty ranch dipping sauce that went well. The dessert was also pretty tasty. I found the banana cream whoopee pie to be overly sweet and suspected that I might be slipping into a diabetic coma so I laid off. The gingersnap was oddly moist and tender yet a welcome departure. As for the chocolate chip cookie, it was, put simply, a good-ass cookie. Yeah, what was up with the beer? I suspect they weren’t ‘out’ so much as ‘too busy to change the kegs’ as you often find in the bar world. The $5 Yiengling didn't break my heart but it was a bit excessive, though granted they were in pretty good-sized glasses (imperial pints maybe). The ONLY thing that really stands out at Phoebe’s BBQ on South Street is their beef brisket which, I think, might be a surprisingly competitive match for this place. Smoked Joint’s brisket was tender but still toothsome and came w/out sauce (or perhaps we were just missing the bottle, as seemed to be the case). Phoebe’s is a bit more tender with just as much smoke flavor, yet not as much beef flavor. Yes, I thought about this an unusually long time. Mon Apr 04 10:09:10 -0700 2005 984577 0 joypirate