When we're traveling in this part of the country and it gets around lunch time, we keep our eyes peeled for barbecue. Around here, you don't have to look that hard, as the number of little shacks that you'll pass offering delectables of the smoked variety is quite astounding. Drive from Little Rock to Houston on Route 59, and you will have your choice of barbecue places to choose from. Our only lament was that it just wasn't lunch time when we passed most of them. No worries, though, as just about noon I spotted Porky's Smokehouse and Grill coming up fast on the right. I braked hard, which would usually get me some guff from my driving companion, but this time he was understanding, appreciative, even, of my quick thinking. We brake for barbecue.
Porky's is in Marshall, TX, which is in eastern Texas, where you'll still see pork barbecue. The parking lot was busy...good sign...so we went in and grabbed a table. People were eating all kinds of things here, as they have a big menu, and offer fried catfish, burgers and sandwiches as well as pork ribs, chopped and sliced beef, turkey, sausages, chicken and pulled pork. Doug went for the ribs, and I had the rib/pulled pork combo plate. We both got potato salad and beans. These ribs are truly great...perfectly smoked and falling off the bone tender, with no sauce, but a well balanced and tasty rub, just how we like them. We wanted more, as the rib plate comes with only 4, and I got 2 on my combo plate, and they're not all that big. The pulled pork was not such a huge success. We both like Carolina chopped pork, wherein all of the meat gets chopped up well and mixed with the fat and juices. Porky's pulls their pork in large ribbons, big enough that you have to cut it up yourself, and you only get meat from one part of the animal, so it's not as interesting as the whole hog mixed together. They bring 2 sauces to the table, both traditional and equally delicious, one a rich tomato based sauce, and the other a thinner vinegar and spice sauce. The beans are pure Texas... cowboy beans that taste of chile powder, very good if you like that style, which we do, and the potato salad was also good, so only one misstep for us with the pulled pork, which is odd, as they bill themselves as "Home of the Pulled Pork Sandwich". We're OK with that, however, as the ribs made this stop memorable, and we'll go back for more when we're in the area again.
GA Pig, Brunswick, GA
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Whole Hog Cafe Revisited
Whole Hog Cafe Revisited
We were recently in Little Rock and decided to visit Whole Hog Cafe for a second time and give them another review. If you recall from our first review, I wasn't so hungry the last time we ate here, and I've been kind of upset about that for awhile now, so we both arrived ready to eat. This is the second most decorated barbecue place we've been to, the first being Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur, AL. There are trophies and ribbons scattered throughout the restaurant, and it's a pretty big place. Whole Hog has an ordering window, so we made our selections and took a seat. I went for the baby back rib/pulled pork combo, and Doug had the baby back rib plate. Now, we've eaten our share of ribs since last year, and we've both fine-tuned our likes and dislikes where barbecue is concerned. Eat enough of it, and you get kind of opinionated, and these ribs are just not going to make the top 10 list. They smoke them nicely, and obviously know their stuff when it comes to cooking barbecue, but we're just not partial to the sweet sauce they put on them. They also lack the unctious juiciness that's present in the best ribs, and the sauce covers up the meaty flavor. Maybe if they just smoked them and left them unsauced, they'd be perfect. We really like the 6 sauces they offer at the table, conveniently stored in squeeze bottles and labeled for your edification. The pulled pork is wonderful...meaty and mixed with some fat and cooking juices, just as it should be. I hit that with Sauce No.4, Traditional Southern Vinegar and Spice, and that was real good. Doug's comments about the beans from the last review still stand...too sweet and too much going on, which masks the flavor of the beans themselves. I'll also add here that the molasses/celery salt combo that they spice these with makes for the weirdest flavor...don't like that at all. So a mixed bag here at Whole Hog. If we lived around here, we'd probably go regularly for the pulled pork sandwich and the chicken, which I liked from visit #1. We noticed they got 4th place for ribs in one of their recent state wide competitions, so there are better in Arkansas. Now we just have to go find them.
We were recently in Little Rock and decided to visit Whole Hog Cafe for a second time and give them another review. If you recall from our first review, I wasn't so hungry the last time we ate here, and I've been kind of upset about that for awhile now, so we both arrived ready to eat. This is the second most decorated barbecue place we've been to, the first being Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur, AL. There are trophies and ribbons scattered throughout the restaurant, and it's a pretty big place. Whole Hog has an ordering window, so we made our selections and took a seat. I went for the baby back rib/pulled pork combo, and Doug had the baby back rib plate. Now, we've eaten our share of ribs since last year, and we've both fine-tuned our likes and dislikes where barbecue is concerned. Eat enough of it, and you get kind of opinionated, and these ribs are just not going to make the top 10 list. They smoke them nicely, and obviously know their stuff when it comes to cooking barbecue, but we're just not partial to the sweet sauce they put on them. They also lack the unctious juiciness that's present in the best ribs, and the sauce covers up the meaty flavor. Maybe if they just smoked them and left them unsauced, they'd be perfect. We really like the 6 sauces they offer at the table, conveniently stored in squeeze bottles and labeled for your edification. The pulled pork is wonderful...meaty and mixed with some fat and cooking juices, just as it should be. I hit that with Sauce No.4, Traditional Southern Vinegar and Spice, and that was real good. Doug's comments about the beans from the last review still stand...too sweet and too much going on, which masks the flavor of the beans themselves. I'll also add here that the molasses/celery salt combo that they spice these with makes for the weirdest flavor...don't like that at all. So a mixed bag here at Whole Hog. If we lived around here, we'd probably go regularly for the pulled pork sandwich and the chicken, which I liked from visit #1. We noticed they got 4th place for ribs in one of their recent state wide competitions, so there are better in Arkansas. Now we just have to go find them.
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