In the meantime a little group of family and friends had formed that shared a common love of good quality food and relatively adventurous palates. I decided it was time to break out and come together for a meal out somewhere new!
Landing on a review of Smoque, an American-style BBQ restaurant located in the city area (where Antigo's used to be, a favourite in my post-high school years), I conferred with the others and made a booking for this place which promised hearty, tasty, casual eating of a different sort to that previously offered in Canberra.
Thankfully we had the minimum of six people required to secure a table - Smoque don't allow bookings for group numbers less than six - though they claim this doesn't cause too many problems for smaller groups, due to short sitting times (we booked for 6-7.30pm) and quick food service. And there's always the bar for some relaxed drinks while waiting...
Turning up at 6pm on the dot, it was a little frustrating to find that our table wasn't quite ready - after the waitress wandered round for a few minutes figuring out which table would be ours, a group of blokes looking to be still fairly settled into their substantial meal were told that they would need to finish up in the next few minutes. And so they did in a good-natured way, vacating quickly for us.
The decor was fun and casual, with a reminder of some of the critters that might be had in an alternative sort of BBQ (no beasts with these sorts of horns offered on the restaurant menu though!):
It didn't take us all very long to decide what we wanted, with 3 of us deciding to share the BBQ Trifecta platter (pulled pork, pork ribs, brisket) plus some extra sides of corn, chips and a serve of buffalo wings.
The other 3 ordered separate dishes and had tastes of each, with various combinations of meats, buffalo wings, chips, coleslaw and corn ordered, plus an Original 'sandwich' (actually more like a burger) with pulled pork.
As food is pre-prepared before each sitting, it comes out very quickly - usually within 10 minutes of ordering. Just enough time to order drinks:
Mmmm...refreshing Pimm's jug!
And to check out the assortment of sauces on the table:
You may notice the roll of paper towel next to the sauce bottle - this came in very handy when the food arrived:
Yep, that's a whole lotta meat there! I started with a piece of brisket (long strips shown in photograph) which was okay - tasty but on the dry side. The pulled pork was shreds of slow cooked pork marinated with a tasty BBQ sauce - again, a little dry. The real stars of the show were the succulent ribs - meat falling off the bone with enough fat to keep things moist, and slathered with a moreish sweet marinade - and the buffalo wings - chicken coated in Southern style batter then fried until crispy. They had a delicious tang which may have come from buttermilk (common in southern fried chicken) and the meat was super tender and moist. There was a ranch dressing on the side which wasn't necessary to add flavour, but came in handy for dipping one of the few concessions to healthy eating - carrot and celery sticks. The sides were perfect and moreish - including corn with a mayo and cheese dressing, and crunchy seasoned potato chips. As you can tell, any expectations of calorie-counting should be left at the door here!
We ordered the mildest heat 'setting' for the buffalo wings, but apparently they go to 'suicidal' strength, which by all reports of those who have eaten here before, are just that!
I didn't try any of the sandwich, but was informed that it was tasty if a little difficult to eat, being filled to overflowing.
Vegetarians reading this post may be losing interest by now if they have stuck with the review this long...but never fear, Smoque actually do quite a decent representation of vego dishes on the menu, surprisingly. With a BBQ vegetable plate including haloumi, and several gourmet salads with premium ingredients such as gorgonzola, quinoa and edamame included, the non-meat side of things is definitely not neglected.
This is definitely not a place to linger, as we were promptly (but politely) asked to finish things up right on the dot of 7.30pm. That was okay - it's not really the sort of place you go to dawdle over conversation, wine and cheese platters - more a fun, quick and cheerful place for a bite to eat before moving on to one of the city cafes to continue the evening (or afternoon if it's not a workday lunch!)
The prices seemed fairly reasonable, given the quality of the ingredients. My share of the food (including a shared jug of Pimm's) came to around $30 - and I left feeling quite satisfied. If you wanted a cheapish lunch or lighter (light being a relative term) dinner, you could order a few sides such as mac and cheese, a serve of corn and coleslaw, and still come away with change from $15 if you order the smaller sizes.
Will be back for sure to Smoque - if only for some more of those ribs and buffalo wings!
Shop 2, Bailey's Arcade (entrance from outside the arcade)
131 London Circuit
Canberra City
(02) 6162 3350
info@smoque.com.au
