Yes, this restaurant's name is Smoke. The name is simple and for the most part so is the food, but in a quirky all-natural awesome way. We heard about this place from another local blog, complete with mouth-watering pictures leading to menu perusing and much more salivating.
At its heart, Smoke is a BBQ joint but really so much more. The initial picture of a succulent beef rib was what caught my eye, recently falling back in love with the gloriousness that is the beef rib at Black's in Lockhart Texas, but that is another story. The picture led me to the menu or should I say menus since there are eight menus; Lunch, Midday, Dinner, Brunch, Breakfast, Bar Belmont, Wine, and Cocktails. I always check out the Dinner menu of a new spot first since that is typically where a restaurant puts forth its best effort. Being so tired of the humdrum that is the restaurant chain, I look for different, odd, quirky, or just plain awesome items. As soon as I saw Foie Gras, Sweetbreads, and homemade pork rinds, I turned to my wife and said this is where we are going tomorrow to eat! Don't let these items scare you away though if you are not ready for the Offal (organ meat), they are also famous for their barbeque, hand-crafted cocktails, and much much more.
So, we packed into the car one Sunday afternoon and headed towards Downtown Dallas through a huge rain storm to try it out. As I was whiteknuckling the steering wheel driving through the rain I kept thinking this better be worth it or maybe we should turn around but we pushed through, and boy was I glad we did.
When we got there it was packed but they told us it would be about a 45 minute wait which was not too bad considering how crowded it was and how Sunday brunchers like to take their time. I got my wife a Mimosa and I a Bloody Mary; my favorite brunch drink. My drink came with pickled vegetables and a huge pickled jalapeno which was very good. The Bloody Mary was not the best I had ever had, but it was quite tasty.
To our delight, they sat us at a table after about 25 minutes of waiting. The atmosphere was very lively and fun. My wife already knew she was going to get the Eggs Benedict; but of course this was no regular Eggs Benedict. This was Pulled Whole Hog BBQ Eggs Benedict with Goat Cheese Potato Cakes. Ya, that just happened. I "settled" on the Smoked Brisket Cornbread Hash with Poached Egg, Green Chili Rajas and Pearl Onions. My Step Daughter went all out and ordered the Kid's Cheese Quesadilla...I'm still working on her. I also ordered Thick Cut Pork Belly Bacon and Cheese Grits.
We patiently waited for what seemed like an eternity for our food as we watched other happy Brunchers enjoy their meals....ok we only really waited about ten minutes.
As you can see, the dishes looked and smelled amazing (no smellovision yet, sorry). The Bacon was so thick it was more like ham. It was perfectly smoked and very delicious. The cheese grits were served in a piping hot little cast iron dish and were more than my wife and I could share. They were covered in cheese and very very rich. My Brisket Hash was amazing. They formed the Brisket into a little patty and cooked it on top of a flat-top grill which caramelized the entire outside making it crispy and even more wonderfuller. Of course the poached egg on top was perfectly cooked...I was a little perturbed at this since I still cannot make the perfect poached egg like this. My wife's Eggs Benedict was really a surprising twist with the Pulled Pork addition instead of the usual Canadian Bacon. The Pork was a great texture contrast to the dish and played off the richness of the Hollandaise perfectly. Her Goat Cheese Potato Pancakes seemed a bit dry, but the cheesy taste seemed to help with that a little. Oh, almost forgot, we saw a number of people ordering toast so we decided to order some as well. Of course this was not normal toast, little did we know it but this was Buttermilk Dill Toast with homemade Blueberry Cinnamon Jam. I am not a fan of toast or jam at all, but the subtle dill flavor really set off the jam which was outstanding.
Needless to say, we will be checking out Smoke for Lunch or Dinner to test out the rest of their quirky menu. Although we've only been there for Brunch so far, I would highly recommend Smoke for their attention to detail and care of their ingredients.
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| Bacon!!! |
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| Brisket Hash |
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| Cheese Grits |
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| Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict |
