Category Archives: Banana Pudding

Baby Back Ribs, Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Desserts

Dead End BBQ – Knoxville, TN

July 30, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Dead End BBQ
3621 Sutherland Ave
Knoxville, TN 37919
www.deadendbbq.com
https://www.facebook.com/DeadEndBBQ/

I’ve been to Dead End BBQ more times than I can remember. Is it the best in Knoxville you might wonder? No, but it is very good AND one of my favorites. Another bonus is that it stays open until 9PM; most of the others close at 7- o-r8PM. I typically arrive into Knoxville in the evening time and if I want good BBQ, then this is my option. Depending on where I stay there is another option that will come up in a future review.

Arriving at the hotel at 7:30 wasn’t going to leave me many options for eating. Since I want to get stuff up on the site for the various BBQ places, I thought about my options and Dead End was the logical choice because of time and location. I’ve had most of their meats, but I’ll just talk about what I had on this trip.

Also, arriving late I will cut them some slack on the meat. Ribs this late almost everywhere will not be their best.

Dead End BBQ, Knoxville, TN Ribs Pimento Mac and Cheese, Red White and Blue Slaw

The Sides

The Pimento Mac and Cheese – Do you like Mac and Cheese? Do you like Pimento Cheese? Just think how great it would be to combine the two. Well, they do it here. And man is it good! A side almost worthy of being a dessert. OK, I’m stretching it there. But it is a very nice offering. I like Mac and Cheese but I don’t often get it as a side item with Barbeque. However, this is one of the expectations.

Red, White and Blue Slaw – This is a bit different than what you’ll find in most barbeque places where you’ll get a white slaw, yellow slaw or a barbeque slaw. I think it’s hard to go over the top with slaw; Dead End BBQ may have done just that. If you aren’t into slaw because it’s so plain OR even if you like slaw, give this stuff a try. It’s a mixture of cabbage, blue cheese, Tomatoes and some bacon bits. Pretty creamy, and pretty tasty for slaw.

The Texas Toast – I will complain about this. Toast should be made when ordered. I passed on the other cornbread options for Toast. Maybe it was good I didn’t eat the toast considering my calorie counting I’m doing. but come on, this stuff was cold and even hard to chew.

Dead End BBQ Knoxville, TN Inside the rib

The Ribs

I apologize for the picture; I was tired and hungry. On this trip to Dead End BBQ I decided to get ribs. I’ve been eating so much brisket lately that I wanted a break. I thought about burnt ends but then decided it was so late that I’d pass. Ribs would be a good option; I figured that if they were too dry I could hit them with some sauce.

When they came to the table I thought they looked great. It hit me to probably rip a bone apart and let you see the inside. They didn’t look like they were too dried out, and they weren’t. They were nice, with a good smoke hit to them. You can see a little of it in the picture. I promise to do better as I move forward. They were not falling off the bone which most times indicates over-cooked. But they also were not tough. I separated them by cutting at each bone; and could bite meat off. They would have passed most judges test for that part. They aren’t the best ribs I’ve had at Dead End, but they were still very good. I was pleased considering the time I arrived.

Dead End BBQ Knoxville, TN Banana Pudding

The Banana Pudding

Others should take note here. Dead End BBQ’s banana pudding isn’t “traditional banana pudding” in any sense. But I like it, a lot. They use a cookie, and it goes ok with the pudding. They make a great thicker pudding. I like that. They use whipped cream; most people use that or meringue.

But Dead BBQ does fail in one area. They almost always do not provide enough bananas. They put the bananas on top which is different. I was talking with other locals and their comment was that it doesn’t have enough bananas. On that I have to agree. Remember what this is, banana pudding.

That said, I’ll get their banana pudding every time I go. Because overall it’s still one of the better banana puddings around Knoxville.

Baby Back Ribs, Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Desserts

Q2U BBQ Pit & Catering – Lake Wylie, SC

July 24, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Q2U BBQ Pit
4502 Charlotte Hwy
Lake Wylie, SC 29710
https://www.facebook.com/Q2U-BBQ-PIT-and-Catering-291083644297/

They do not have a website, but do have a Facebook page

I’ve eaten here more times than I can count, but not so much lately. Q2U was for a long time a Friday thing where I’d have lunch with my granddaughters. They call this place the “banana pudding place”. Soon I’ll do a review on another barbecue place that they call the “sundae place”. But for the past year the girls have wanted iHOP and cracker barrel more than the banana pudding place.

Friday morning, I was sitting here doing some work and watching the girls while my wife closed on a house she had sold. I saw come across twitter some tweets about one of the workers being her last day; and then I saw a tweet about the ribs. One of the things I like the most at Q2U are the ribs. I’m not as big of a fan of their pulled pork because they remove – by choice – much of the fat, which removes some flavor.

Anyway… I got a craving for their ribs and so I told my oldest granddaughter that it would be nice to go to the banana pudding place. Since we hadn’t been in a long time, I asked her if he remembered it. “yeah grandpa, let’s go to the banana pudding place”. Ok got that taken care of.

I order a half-rack of ribs which I shared with my youngest daughter. As sides, I got baked beans and banana pudding. Yes, banana pudding is a side option.

All the pictures that I will use come from previous visits. I didn’t take any on this visit.

The Bake Beans

These are some very good baked beans. I really like them, a bit Smokey with a sweet taste to them. There was pulled pork at the table, so as usual I dropped some in there. If you like baked beans, then I believe that you’ll like these.

The Hushpuppies

I’ll mention the Hushpuppies because they are good, very good.

The Ribs

They are baby back ribs, and typically they have plenty of meat on them. These guys are competition cookers so you’ll not get any of the “meat falling off the bones” stuff here. The ribs are delivered to the table with a sweet sauce on them. I like we ribs, I like dry rub ribs… I like ribs. Like any where they will have their good and bad days cooking them. Their bad days still deliver a good product to you. At least that’s been my experience. This trip wasn’t the best, but they were still good. I enjoyed my quarter of a rack. I wish they’d offer a quarter of rack as an option. I’d probably eat there more often.

Q2U BBQ Pit Lake Wylie NC Banana Pudding

The Banana Pudding

Theirs is a pretty good banana pudding. I’m not going to tell you it’s the best you’ll find, it’s not even the best in a 10-mile area. But it’s better than the Paula Deen Top-10 one you can find in Charlotte. So that must mean it’s pretty good? Bottom line is that I’ll get it each time I come here. There are places that I’ll not get their banana pudding again.

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Chopped Pork

Randy’s Bar B Que – Troutman, NC

July 23, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Randy’s Bar B Que Troutman, NC SauceRandy’ Bar B Que
103 N Main St
Troutman, N 28166
https://www.facebook.com/RandysBBQTroutman

No website, they do have a Facebook page.

Last week I made a trip to Detroit for business. I had stop overs going up and back in Charleston, WV. I ate BBQ in Charleston, WV and Detroit. I was ready for good North Carolina Que. I wanted something on my drive AND something new. I had heard about Randy’s but never made the trip. So, I plugged it into the Maps and headed out of Charleston, destination late lunch in Troutman.

Randy’s is located at a street corner on Main Street. Parking for me was on the side street beside the restaurant. I arrived shortly after 2PM, so I didn’t have to fight any lunch crowds. There were however a few people sitting at the counter and two other people in a booth. This is a place that you could get a great breakfast I bet! I did note that they serve breakfast.

I sat at a booth and looked the menu over; I decided on a Bar-B-Que plate. I substituted the fries with fried okra. And, I noted they have banana pudding. My expectation of nothing less than good were set.

Randy's Bar B Que Troutman, NC pulled chopped Pork Baked Bean Okra Slaw — Randy’s Bar B Que Troutman, NC pulled chopped Pork Baked Bean Okra Slaw

The sides

The Slaw

I think I remember her asking me if I wanted a red or white slaw. I like to get white slaw and add the sauce they have at the table if it’s a vinegar based sauce – it was -. It’s rare a slaw is over the top and this slaw wasn’t, but it was a good solid white slaw. Slaw is typically either good or bad. I like more mayo in my white slaw, but I guess got to be healthy, right?

The Fried Okra

A friend on Facebook saw my picture of the meal and commented that she’d prefer the Okra to have been frozen. Yeah, you can tell that kind of stuff from the picture. All the pieces of Okra looked the same, with the same amount of heavy breading on them. Regardless, it was good stuff. Someone can correct me if it wasn’t frozen.

The Hushpuppies

They are good. I like hushpuppies and these are up there. They aren’t stuffed with anything, apparently some people think you need to put cheese or something else in a hushpuppy; based on a comment I saw on my twitter feed last week. Nice and crips on the outside, and not doughy on the inside. However, please note that I don’t eat the entire hushpuppy. I cut back by eating the outside. Sorry, but I love the outside and figure I cut a few calories. I did eat one whole one just to get the full impact.

The Baked Beans

These are very good! Yeah, I like baked beans. I also like to have some meat in mine! I took some of the pork and added it. This is good stuff. Yes I’ve had better, but not in Troutman. When I return here I’ll get them again.

The Chopped Pork

Not only am I back in North Carolina, gee I could swear I’m in Eastern, NC. I noted a Piedmont Looking sauce, but the pork came out chopped and had some vinegar already in it. This is an Eastern, NC thing for sure. So, I tried some of the meat before adding the nice looking red vinegar sauce on the table. Yes, as it hit my mouth I enjoyed it. The meat was very tender, had a nice hit of smoke and it had a little tang from the vinegar. I put some of the red sauce on, which was red from pepper in it, I like it.

Verdict: If you live near Troutman, you need to check this place out. I’m certain I’ll be back again; I hate I’ve missed out on such a great place!

Randy's Bar B Que Troutman, NC Banana Pudding — Randy’s Bar B Que Troutman, NC Banana Pudding

The Banana Pudding

Alright now. The best way to finish up good smoked pork is with a nice banana pudding. What would I get? What I got was a darn good banana pudding. Much better than the one I had last night that Paula Deen named as one of the top-10. I seriously question her research. I’m not saying this is a top-10 in the South banana pudding. But it’s a solid better than most dessert. It could be top-10 or so in North Carolina, and I’ve had a lot of good banana pudding here in North Carolina

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Chopped Pork, Pulled Pork

Kyle Fletchers BBQ & Catering – Lowell, NC

July 21, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Kyle Fletchers BBQ & Catering
4507 Wilkinson Blvd
Gastonia, NC 28056

No website, but they do have a Facebook page!

One of my favorites in Lowell, NC. OK, it’s a favorite in Gaston County as well. If it’s lunch time and I’m nearby, then I’ll probably stop in here. My favorite here is their banana pudding. I like their pork and I’m a huge fan of their smoked turkey.

If you arrive here at or close to lunch time, you’ll find yourself standing in a line. It’s not a large restaurant, seating is limited. Also, you need to bring cash. Also, be prepared to be hit in the face with South Point High School stuff along with UNC!

This trip I had pork, baked beans, slaw, fries and hush puppies; the standard offering. I finished with banana pudding, you didn’t think I’d leave that off, did you?

Kyle Fletcher's Lowell, NC Chopped Pork — Kyle Fletcher’s Lowell, NC Chopped Pork

The Pulled and Chopped Pork

This is good stuff, is it the best I’ve had? No, but it’s good stuff. Their process leaves the meat a little drier than I prefer; but it comes to you without sauce. This allows you add sauce as you like. Their sauce helps compliment the meat, and it doesn’t kill the nice smoke hit the meat took in. They do have a nice vinegar sauce and there is a thicker Eastern NC style sweet sauce. My preference is to not put the thick stuff on pulled pork.

The Sides

Bake Beans

I like their baked beans. However, I also like to take some of the pork and put it into the beans. I think it makes them better.

The Slaw

The slaw is nothing special. You’ll note from the picture that it’s swimming in BBQ Sauce, I like to do that with any white slaw. I prefer doing that to getting the Barbecue Slaw.

The French fries

Really nothing special. So un-special that I don’t waste the calories on them. They’re not bad or horrible, just not special

Hush Puppies

I like their hush puppies. But then I do like hush puppies.

Kyle Fletcher BBQ Banana Pudding Gastonia, NC

The banana pudding

Piece de resistance … yeah that’s right, this is good stuff. One of the better banana pudding’s you’ll find. No good barbecue place should be without this dessert! And it’s great when I find a really good banana pudding. This here folks is a really good one.

Baby Back Ribs, Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Pulled Pork

Dem 2 Brothers & A Grill – Charleston, WV

July 21, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Dem 2 Brothers & A Grill
423 Virginia Street West
Charleston, West Virginia 25302
http://www.dem2brosgrill.com

I arrived about11:30AM, there was smoke everywhere. Smoking was taking place out behind the restaurant; I was told the process started about 7:30AM. It sure did smell good.

I made my way inside and was I wat taken to a table. I looked the menu over and decided on my order; Ribs, Pulled Pork, Baked Bean, Sweet Potato Casserole and Banana Pudding.

The Ribs

Ribs had good hit of smoke, the sauce used on the ribs is outstanding – kind of like sweet baby rays – but the meat was a bit overcooked thus drier than I like my ribs. It’s a fine line, and a lot of BBQ houses do this. So, don’t be too alarmed. They were still tasty ribs.

The Pulled Pork

They put their sauce on the Pulled pork before serving – note that if like me, you would prefer to add sauce as needed -. In other words, give me Pull Pork without sauce and show me the sauce(s) available for me to try. The Pork had a good hit of smoke and flavor, but is was also a bit dry. The sauce is a thick paste sauce, which while it had a good flavor and great for the ribs, isn’t my style of sauce for pulled pork. But I try things the way the guy running show likes to serve them

Sweet potato casserole – was pretty good stuff. I liked it.

The baked beans – are good, but needed something in my opinion; I added some pulled pork to the beans and that made them better.

The banana pudding – was the best thing they had. Theirs is a thicker pudding, using possibly a heavy cream? It’s a bit sweet, but those that know me know I like banana pudding. I get a thick pudding like this by using heavy cream in the pudding. I’m not sure what they did here. It was a touch sweet, but that was OK.

Service by everyone was great.

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Desserts, Peach Cobbler, Pulled Pork, Sausage

The Smoke Pit Concord, NC – The Sausage, and some desserts

July 14, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

The Smoke Pit – Concord, NC
http://thesmokepitnc.com
796 Concord Pkwy N
Concord, NC 28027

The Smoke Pit Concord, NC – The Sausage, and some desserts

Well, I convinced my wife that we should drive up to Concord to visit The Smoke Pit. That was a week ago, I hate there is such a delay in the review. I’ll just jump right in…

On this visit, I made the decision to get a two-meat deal and share with my wife; she wanted pulled pork and I wanted to try the sausage. I couldn’t load up on meats like I sometimes do; trying to control my weight and get it down more. But because they give you SO MUCH MEAT, I was able to get some pulled pork.

Sides included green bean casserole, white slaw and Smoked Pork BBQ Beans. Desert was peach cobbler and banana pudding.

Let’s get those sides out of the way first…

Green Bean Casserole

Good stuff right here if you like Green Bean casserole. We enjoyed and would order it again. I’m hoping you know what a Green Bean Casserole is. Green Beans, French fried onions, maybe some pepper, cream of mushroom soup, some people put cheese – No cheese here -. Thrown in the oven. I don’t one myself, but my wife does.

Verdict: This is one great side item here

White Slaw

Why white slaw? Because my wife likes it. I like to take white slaw and mix the BBQ sauce in, if it’s vinegar based. It’s a good white slaw.

Verdict: If you like white slaw, you’ll not be disappointed.

Smoked Pork BBQ Beans

I got them again this time because I liked them the last time. They are very good. I do add a little extra pulled pork to them though.

Verdict: Great, I may get them every time.

The meats are up next, the main reason we came… well sort of.

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork

I’ve already review this. But I’ll add, my wife really like it too. Agreed it might be the best she’s had. This is right up there with the best in North Carolina Period. And I really like their Lexington Style sauce which makes the pork even better. As I said before, juicy meat; great hit of smoke – not too much -. Get a little bit of that outside bark as well. Love it.

Verdict: some of the best pulled pork you’ll get anywhere.

The Sausage

One of the reasons I wanted to come back so quickly. On my first my visit I saw some had gotten this and it looked great. Well, I’m here to say that it is great. Very juicy as you should be able to tell from the picture. I really like smoked sausage, one of my favorite meats. And this is a very good one. I’ve got to get back to City Barbecue and The Que Shack and compare theirs again.

They provide a mustard Sauce for you to dip the sausage in, which is good. But I also found their other sauces to be just as good with it. So… go with what you like here.

Verdict: If you like sausage, then come here and get some!

The desserts are up next, I always get Banana Pudding when I can. I was anxious to try theirs since I didn’t notice it was available before. But all good barbecue places have banana pudding. The wife again gets Peach Cobbler.

The banana pudding

The Smoke Pit Concord, NC Banana Pudding - Top — The Smoke Pit Concord, NC Banana Pudding – Top

The Smoke Pit Concord, NC Banana Pudding - Side — The Smoke Pit Concord, NC Banana Pudding – Side

So, they do have a banana pudding! It’s HUGE! Far too much for a single person to eat. And it looked good before digging in. The pudding was very runny. I was not pleased with the pudding at all. Nilla Waffers, where are the Nilla Waffers??? I had something crumbled up on top; so small of a quantity that it was hard to tell if they were Nilla Waffers or not, Nothing down in the pudding. The banana’s were also over-ripened. You can see that from the side view actually.

No I wasn’t happy with the banana pudding. No award winning stuff here.

Verdict: I’ll give the pudding one more try just in case I happen to get an out of the norm not so good pudding.

The Peach Cobbler

Good, nothing extra ordinary about it. Still not the style that my wife likes. He likes that dough to be a bit crispier. One of the reasons I don’t get cobblers too often is because, the dough isn’t crispy very often like a pie can be. But it was good, had a decent amount of peach in it.

Verdict: Hard to say since I’m not a cobbler guy. It’s good and, if I were getting a desert here I’d get he cobbler over the banana pudding.

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Beef Rib, Desserts

The Beef Rib from Big Tiny’s BBQ – Mooresville, NC –

July 4, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

http://bigtinysbbq.com
Big Tiny’s BBQ
179 N Main St
Mooresville, NC 28115

When people talk about Texas Style and North Carolina Style; folks it really isn’t about which is better. The main difference is about the meats that are used within that locations. If you need an understanding of the different styles of Barbecue, go to YouTube and search for the “The BBQ Song”.

And gosh darn it, don’t get hung on any style! Trust me, I’ve had pork in Texas and North Carolina – and a lot of other states – if they know barbecue, it’ll be good; if they aren’t, it won’t. Texas or North Carolina doesn’t mean a hill of beans in that regard.

Another point about “style” could be the woods they use, for example in Texas you’ll find people using mesquite, in the Carolinas you’ll get Hickory and maybe some Fruit woods mixed in. Trust me, it’s ALL good.

Then you’ll get the use of different sauces with the meat. In my opinion, some meats handle different styles of sauces better than others. But there are even variants to that. For example, on pulled pork I like to have a vinegar based sauce and prefer anything from Eastern NC style to Lexington, NC style. But give me ribs and I prefer either a dry rub only OR a sticky, smoky, sweet and or hot spiced sauce or a combination of all of those.

But enough about that… I’m back at Big Tiny’s BBQ for a reason, Saturday’s are beef rib days. Beef Ribs, I’ve only had a few of these in my life, and all from Texas. Cannot be more than half a dozen prior to this visit to Big Tiny’s BBQ; so I am by no means an expert on the way they should be. I just know what I like when it hits my taste buds. Mostly the beef BBQ I’ve had has been mixed results IN Texas. Just because the place is in Texas, or the pit master comes from Texas doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be good.

Big Tiny's BBQ Mooresville, NC Beef Rib — Big Tiny’s BBQ Mooresville, NC Beef Rib

The Beef Rib

$18 dollars for this beauty, loaded with more meat than I should eat. How was it? It was right there with the best beef rib I’ve I had in Fort Worth at Robinsons BBQ. This rib was hit with smoke nicely, it was very tender and retained good moisture in the meat. It was all around awesome. You’ll not find a steak that is this good at this price, or even at a slightly higher price. Heck fire man, smoke some rib eyes!

Big Tiny’s BBQ is winning me over as one of the top Barbecue places I’ve eaten it. And I’ve easily eaten at over HUDREDs of different places in my life. The guestimate number is staggering to a point that you wouldn’t believe it.

So, what is my verdict? Drive to Mooresville on a Saturday and get yourself a beef rib, it’s a winner.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Because it’s a side worth mentioning and showing a picture of! My wife and I really enjoyed it. Very, tasty and … one of the better sweet potato casseroles I’ve had. Becky says that she wants to go back to get some more of it.

The Verdict: Awesome!

Green Bean Casserole

This is also a side worth not only mentioning, but showing a picture of. It was very good as well. Big Tiny’s is hitting on the sides as well folks!

The Verdict: If you like Green bean casserole, you’ll love this!

Desserts!!!

Big Tiny's BBQ Mooresville, NC Peach Cobbler — Big Tiny’s BBQ Mooresville, NC Peach Cobbler

For Dessert I had Banana Pudding again, you’ve hopefully already read about it. If not, get it.

My wife had Peach Cobbler! The problem was, her serving didn’t have enough peaches in it; but it did have a lot of juice in the breading;. Also, she doesn’t like the breaded kind of cobbler, preferring the crumbled crunchy kind.

The Verdict: We have to go by what my wife said here: not her thing.

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Brisket, Chopped Pork, Desserts

Hillsborough BBQ Company – Review

July 2, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Hillsborough BBQ Company
http://hillsboroughbbq.com
236 S Nash St
Hillsborough, NC 27278

I hit another BBQ place that I had not visited before in the Raleigh Durham Area, this time it was Hillsborough BBQ Company. This time met up with a friend, Jim West. This is his “neck of the woods” and his suggestion. Google Maps did some stupid routing and cost me at least 10-minutes on my trip from Durham over to Hillsborough. I wanted to throw that in.

One of the things that I’d like to identify is the location of the best brisket in North Carolina. Brisket ain’t pork you say, I know; keep in mind, cows and brisket isn’t reserved to Texas either. I may have already found the best, but the quest continued this evening.

So this time around I ordered the following:

Brisket
Pulled (chopped) Pork
Brunswick Stew
White Slaw
Banana Pudding

Hillsborough BBQ Company Hillsborough, NC Brisket, Pulled Pork

The Sides

The white slaw is, white slaw, nothing special here. I order white slaw and then add whatever vinegar based BBQ sauce they have. They have what they call a Midwest Red – more on it later -, that really didn’t change much. Their Eastern NC style sauce was OK like this. Yes, I know you can order a Barbecue Slaw, theirs is a Lexington style.

Brunswick Stew

Did you notice how I gave it its own heading here? That’s because it can stand on its own, meaning it is very good. Those that do not know what Brunswick Stew is I’ll tell you. It’s something that you’ll find in many BBQ restaurants in the south. The best way to describe it is that it is a very thick vegetable soup that is typically loaded with some smoked meat, for instance pulled pork. This Brunswick stew is very good, I enjoyed it.

Verdict: Next time I’ll get a side other than White Slaw, I’ll get the Brunswick stew again!

Now let’s get to the meats

Brisket

Barbecue is all about low and slow and getting the Smokey wood flavor into the meat. With brisket, you need to the heat low and to get that smoke into it, but you also want to render some of the fat into the meat. Also, you want to leave some fat. So that temperature at some point goes up from low. How long and how much long will determine the final quality of the product. It’s a hard meat to smoke, this I know. Many times, you get brisket and it is overcooked, so the meat will be drier and fall apart.

This brisket was good. It had a nice hit of smoke and good flavor. I do think that it might have been left just a little too long at a higher temp. Still, it is better than most brisket you’ll find. The Midwestern sauce, was a nice touch on it as well. Was it the best I’ve had in North Carolina? No.

Verdict: Yes, if you like brisket then you’ll want to get this.

Pulled Pork

The pulled and chopped pork was good. The Eastern NC sauce worked the best on it. This was not drive out of your way good, but definitely a good meal if you like smoked pork.

Verdict: Good, not over the top great.

The sauces

They had two sauces, a Midwestern Sauce which worked well on the brisket. I’m not certain what it is Midwestern to, North Carolina? It was kind of a like a Lexington Sauce but thicker, heavier on the ketchup, there seemed to be some vinegar in it but no twang from it. The vinegar sauce is an Eastern NC style sauce.

Banana Pudding

Oh my. This stuff was good, very good. AND, they make the pudding which is an egg custard style pudding. They crumble the nilla wafers up into the pudding.

Verdict: Get this, it’s one of the best banana pudding’s in NC. At least I like it, and I love banana pudding.

Afterwards, Jim and I walked in the River walk along the Eno River.

Banana Pudding, Uncategorized

Bullock’s Bar-B-Q – Durham, NC

June 29, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

Bullock’s Bar-B-Q
www.bullocksbbq.com
3330 Quebec Dr
Durham, NC 27705

Wanting to try new places on this trip, I did some searching. And Bullocks came up with high rating in several travel apps. The final item that said, go to Bullocks was one of the students in a class I am teaching said I should go there. So I decided to give it a try.

I drive over to Bullocks to have a late meal (7PM). When I get out of the car I am not greeted with that nice smell of hardwood smoke; and when I step inside, it smells like a fish camp and not a BBQ restaurant! That’s OK I thought as I was lead to my booth; I’ve had good BBQ in a fish camp before.

The waitress gives me my menu and takes my drink order. I left searching the menu to find BBQ; it was very difficult to find. I thought it would be a featured item! Afterall, Bar-B-Q is in the NAME!!! Finally, there it is. Hmm, is this a BBQ joint or what? I had already concluded that it was not. Ok time to place the order:

Spicy Pulled Pork
Baked Beans
Potato Salad
Mac and Cheese
Banana Pudding

Bullocks Durham, NC Spicey Pulled Pork, Baked Beans, Mac and Cheese, potato Salad

I’ll get the sides out of the way. Nothing spectacular about them. The Mac and Cheese was cheesy and it tasted like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with some extra cheese. The Potato Salad was kind of bland. The baked beans were pretty good.

The Spicy Pork

What can I say? It was bit dry, and there was no sauce to wet it down with. My waitress didn’t come back by very often so I just started eating. The flavor was OK, not horrible but nothing spectacular. I really cannot say anything more. It was uninspiring.

Verdict: If I ever come back I’ll try something other than BBQ

Banana Pudding

The banana pudding was ok, again nothing that made me go WOW.

Verdict: Because I like banana pudding I might get this again if I come here. Just depends on how I feel about the extra calories.

Banana Pudding, Barbecue, Brisket, Chopped Pork, Desserts

The Pit – Durham, NC

June 29, 2017 DaleRoss Leave a comment

The Pit Durham, NC
http://www.thepit-durham.com
321 W Geer St
Durham, NC 27701

While in Durham I’ve been seeking new places I’ve not been too. After a lot of off-line evaluation, I decided to go to the Pit in Durham. I’ve been to the Pit in Raleigh, NC. But I didn’t connect the dots until I was inside. This isn’t a bad thing, The Pit in Raleigh was good, just expensive for a BBQ place.

Parking is not good in this area of Durham. The Pit does have complimentary valet parking, which I did not use. I parked instead, up the street by a park. This turned out to be a good thing and I need to make some extra steps to burn some calories!

Alrighty then, I got inside and seated. No wait but then this was a Monday evening. As I sat there looking at the menu I decided to have a beer. They had many North Carolina selections, I went with Pig Pounder Boar Brown Ale. Pig Pounder is a brewery in Greensboro, NC.

I did my normal thing of ordering multiple meats. I do this so that I can sample as much as possible. They were not able to give me a good mixture, without overloading me. I had to go with their normal three meats offering. You’re going to learn that I don’t normally get Turkey or chicken as one of the meats. My order was for the following:

Eastern North Carolina Chopped Pork
Lexington Outside Brown Chopped
Brisket
Potato Salad
Baked beans
Banana Pudding

The Pit Durham, NC Brisket, Eastern Pork Lexington Outside Brown

Eastern NC Chopped Pork

For those of you from outside of North Carolina, this is one of the more traditional offerings for BBQ. Eastern style is chopped different ways. This wasn’t chopped as fine as many do. Kind of a cross between chopped and pulled. Nice hit of smoke, with an even nicer tang from the vinegar; I love vinegar. I was however, just a little disappointed with their Eastern NC vinegar sauce.

Verdict: If you like Eastern NC style chopped pork, get it. I’ll eat it again.

Lexington Outside Brown Chopped

I like some “bark”, so when I can get it, I order it. They also have Lexington-Style Pork Shoulder. This was very good, better than the Eastern NC Style. Their Lexington style sauce didn’t quite get it done for me. I don’t know if it’s the vinegar they use – I think it is – but it could have been better. I had a debate with my waiter about what was used in the sauce. He said it was white sugar. I told him that sometimes people put white sugar in Lexington sauce; but always brown sugar, he said no brown sugar. After checking in the kitchen, he apologized and said, yes they use brown sugar and not white sugar.

For those that don’t like a big tangy hit from vinegar, a Lexington style sauce is for you. It’ll be a little sweeter. The sauces are cut with ketchup and brown sugar and then it’ll vary. I spice my Lexington style sauce up a bit.

Verdict: This was the best of the two Chopped Pork offerings I had. I’d get it again.

Brisket

The Brisket came to me with a little more sauce on it than I would normally like; I want it to come with NO sauce, and then I can see and taste the brisket before sauce. I can then enhance the taste by adding as much sauce as I feel is needed. So, that put me off on the first bite or two of the brisket; and at that point I was sort of underwhelmed with the meat. But I finally hit a little fat and that changed everything. The brisket turned out to be the best meat that I had.

Verdict: Give it to me un-sauced, I’ll have to remember to ask for that next time I am here. If you like brisket, I suggest you give it a try.

Banana Pudding

Yes, they had banana pudding on the menu; and it had meringue to top it off! I was assured that there were nilla wafers in the pudding. The process is to put four of them on the bottom and then add the pudding and banana. I didn’t think, the consistency was that of a a hard gram cracker crust used for cheese cake. The flavor was somewhere in between. This must have happened in the baking process for the meringue. Don’t get wrong, this desert was a winner.

Here is a look inside the pudding…

The Pit Durham, NC Banana Pudding Inside

Verdict: Get the banana pudding. You just ate barbecue; banana pudding is a great finisher.

Overall a bit pricey. But this is one of the top Barbecue places in Durham.

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