|
I have been hoping for a long time that a 'real excellent Eastern NC' bbq joint would open and become established in the 'non-culture' Raleigh - our Capital City. [I used to eat about once a week at Murray's on Old Poole Road but that place has closed. It wasn't 'exceptional' but it was good enough to keep me from driving the 60 miles or so to really good bbq.] Today I had lunch at The Pit on W. Davie Street. First let me say that I hope that this restaurant can establish itself and stay in business. Second - this is not the 'excellent' NC bbq that I would love to have easy access to. My credentials: I love bbq. I have eaten bbq from Beaufort, NC to Salanis, Calif. - and an awful lot of places in-between. I am not a 'certified bbq judge' (and I have some real doubts about some of those folk) but I have a very wide reputation for knowing excellence in bbq and I have found that most of the highly respected books/groups of bbq experts pretty well agree with the places I recommend. BBQ is an eating 'experience' as well as a taste/smell/touch event. My experience is that there is excellent bbq in many areas of the country but within any particular area that has a concentration of those preparing bbq, there is almost always one family-run restaurant with the best bbq (a food that can be rated 'excellent'). Further, not all pigs are created equal and some pork is simply better tasting than other pigs. No bbq restaurant can be assured that they will always receive the pigs that have that 'best' taste (there have been several times when I have purchased bbq at an excellent bbq joint and started along my journey while eating the sandwich only to turn around, go back to the place, and get additional bbq - because that pig just happened to be worthy of the extra 20 miles or so). I would thus 'rate' bbq restaurants only in relation to the specific area bbq they are attempting to challenge. My rating of The Pit would be perhaps a C (average) or "2 pigs" on Kent's barbecue scale. [I do not like the table clothes and cloth napkins - these are not 'bbq experience' items - but perhaps the 'non-native' major population group of the Raleigh/Cary/etc. area will appreciate this dimension and -never having experienced a 'real bbq joint' - it will not matter to them.] Specific rating: [1]. The sweet iced tea - This is always the very first indication of the quality of food you are likely to receive in any Southern restaurant. The sweet tea at The Pit rated about a 4 - 5 (average) on a scale where Bojangles tea typically rates an 8 - 10. The Pit sweet tea is not worth the $1.95. Drink tap water. [2]. The slaw - The slaw was very pedestrian. White slaw - not bbq slaw. Not a lot of flavor. Rate C - (number rating 4) By the way, KFC slaw is actually pretty good - perhaps an 8 - 9. [3]. French fries - The fries were sort of limp but well cooked. i like 'limp fries' but most folks do not. Rate C - (number rating 5). [4]. The BBQ. The meat was excellent in appearance. Not too greasy. Not a lot of skin - perhaps not really enough skin for a true Eastern NC bbq devotee. Very little - if any - wood smoke flavor (and I love the flavor of real bbq cooked with real wood - typically ordering 'outside brown' bbq where available). Almost no sauce flavor on the pork as presented and the pork flavor was not 'above average' (if this is the flavor Ed gets by using 'hormone free' hogs, then it is not worth the extra cost). Since the smoke flavor, pork flavor was not outstanding and there was little sauce on the meat, I was forced to use the sauces on the table. There was a choice of two sauces - but this was supposed to be Eastern NC bbq so why have a choice. (Aside: My experience is that when a supposed bbq joint offers a choice of sauces, they have no confidence in their own bbq sauce. Some chain joints offer such choices as - vinegar, tomato, Texas, Kansas City, South Carolina mustard, etc. When I see this, I typically 'back out' as discretely as posible.) Rating C - perhaps B- just because it looked so good. Scale rating 6. on a scale of 1 - 10. [5]. The barbequed chicken. This meat was well prepared, tender, moist but not a lot of barbeque flavor. Apparently they expect that you can 'add the sauce yourself' - a real 'chicken out' approach. Scale rating - 7. [6]. The bread. The bread was a biscuit - which I love - but Eastern NC bbq usually rates hush puppies. The biscuit was only average to below (I know that truly great biscuits are now very difficult to make with 'no transfats'. My preference is 'real biscuits' with lard and buttermilk. These have no transfats and they are wonderful - I will take my chances on the cholesterol. In summary, The Pit is not what I would rate a 'must visit' bbq joint. I hope that it succeeds in downtown Raleigh because Cooper's bbq is not that good, The Barbeque Lodge on Capitol Blvd is inconsistent but edible - the hush puppies and sweet tea are great, and Ole Time BBQ serves other food that is consistently better than the Q (but I have been to catered events where Ole Time presented excellent 'whole pig pickin' food). It would be wonderful to have a consistently 'excellent' Eastern NC bbq joint in Raleigh - but I seriously doubt that such a family owned restaurant would succeed with the makeup of the population that inhabits this area. Leon Neal Please send all comments to my private email address at: leon@hkentcraig.com |
Home
|
| | Writing | | | Personal | | | Humor | | | Blog | | | Project Mgmt. | | | N.C. Bar-B-Q | | | MP3's | | |
Contact
|