Hungry and out in Brooklyn with my friend Shaky Dave, I finally made it over to the Smoke Joint in Fort Greene, a place he has been encouraging me to visit for quite a while now. We parked illegally, and made our way to the restaurant located on Elliot Street between Lafayette and Fulton.
The restaurant is small and low key, giving off a friendly welcoming vibe as soon as you walk in the door. There is a counter with a chalkboard menu above it on the right, and a smattering of seating on the left. Also, there is a nice cozy looking closed-in front porch area with additional seating. We walked up to the counter and despite a menu of items that looked worth exploring on future visits, I knew what was for dinner this evening, ribs of course! I ordered a half rack ($10) and a square of cornbread ($1). The staff were friendly and fun, and I appreciate that.
The ribs came out in short order, and I lit into them. They made for a satisfying meal but lacked the glory of great barbecue. I have to say, this New York Times review is right on the money as far as the ribs go, and more positively, also about the friendly staff:
…the spare ribs are passable once you’ve paired them with a sauce, but great dry rub pork ribs don’t want for sauce or succulence. Smoke Joint’s ribs need the former, because they’re lacking the latter. I suspect that the pork itself could be a problem. It can be tiring to read about pig breeds on every menu in town, but it’s far more tiring to gnaw on the lackluster flesh of lackluster swine. Then again, a mop sauce might clean up the problem entirely.
Hospitality is something they’ve already got down pat. The staff is chatty and self-effacing; any minor missteps — forgetting to pop the top on a bottle of beer, say — are earnestly apologized for. One night a woman in line ahead of me wondered out loud whether she should get the greens with her dinner. Mr. Grossman, who was working the register, boasted about their quality and jokingly bullied her as he produced a tasting portion for her to snack on while she waited for her order.
The ribs were decent, and certainly affordable for a porky barbecue dinner. I would note that they DID have a mop sauce on them, maybe responding to the NYT review, but it didn’t really help. The tomato based sauce I tried, “jointsmoke,” was quite good, and thankfully so as I used it liberally on the ribs. Also, they have a nice selection of decent beers: Dale’s, Pork Slap, and Ommegang, to name a few. Next time, I will have to try the beef short ribs which both Dave and the New York Times recommend, but that probably won’t make it to this blog. Don’t get me wrong, the Smoke Joint is totally worth a visit, and I will be back when I find myself in the area.
I polished off my half rack of ribs without a problem. I saved the sweet, buttered, grilled cornbread for last and had it for dessert like cake. 6 more ribs down for the Year of the Pig. That makes it a nice even 12 squared, 144 ribs. Thanks to all “yous” piggies!
Comments(2)
