bbq

Making my famous pork for the 4th.

Quoted: The stereotypical image of a BBQ eatery is a thing of shabby beauty: a shack by the side of a country road, blue smoke curling from a brick chimney, and a gravel parking lot full of Chevy pick-up trucks and Ford Rancheros. Inside the place is cramped, the walls have hundreds of stapled-on business cards, the place smells of years of hickory, the waitress is in Sanforized cotton, and the pit cook has one gold tooth.

Compiled from the Big Green Egg online forum

Just went here for lunch. Good value for $6-$7. Even though the line was long, they were very efficient. Lots of seating, too.

Quoted: Longhorn Barbecue... tending the pits since 1965. The best Texas barbecue in Washington.

dixies... hmmm... not a big fan of dixies. i know they are famous for their supa hawt sauce, but their actually bby isn't fantastic.

Best Korean BBQ I've been to in the area. Just opened. Huge place with trendy (for Bellevue at least) atmosphere.

Quoted: Blue Ginger
14045 NE 20th Street
Bellevue, WA
425-746-1222

so after much research i ended up going here for bbq today.

here's my review. note the main reason i choose this place over other places that was recommended was mainly due to the date - most places don't open on sundays - this was one of a few that did. from the ones that did this was the highest ranked in 'citysearch' plus someone on bluedot recommended it.

so lets start with my research - going through citysearch's user reviews all the various bbq places in the seattle area has either 'highly recommended' or 'avoid at all cost' reviews - they don't go into details of the food per say - mainly cause well... i guess it's individual tastes. even the highest ranked bbq places on citysearch had wide ranging reviews. so i figured... i guess i can't do right - but who knows... maybe this place will be good.

i went over to cedar river smoke house at 12:45 pm on sunday. their sunday hours are noon to 8pm. a nice gal came over and took my order. afterwards i sat and kinda took the place in. it's nothing fancy but not bad by any means. there were 5 guys eating there - two larger men (good sign i thought for a bbq place) - two skinny - one cop. sweet. i look over at the pick up window. i notice the gal putting something into the microwave... (hmm... not a good sign)

after bout 5 min my order is ready to go. i go to the pick up window, pick up my order and ask for directions to getting back on to I-5 (not very familiar with renton). as i'm getting directions i notice a few things.

1. there are only 2 people working there. two gals - they both look young - highschool / college max. i'm thinking... are they the ones that made my bbq? if so... how good could it be?

2. one of the gals was openning a can of beans... not a good sign - should a good bbq place make all their stuff from scratch? what other things are they making using canned goods?

3. if neither of them is the cook... when was my bbq order made?

so anyways - i take my order, get directions, arrive at my father's place where we (my dad, sister, bro-in-law and i) dig in. we open up all the various to go items and my first impression - not good.

the meat didn't look mouthwatering. it looked like it'd been cooked awhile and kinda left out... the fat seemed to be congling. the ribs / chicken were bare - no sauce, just 'spices?' had a taste - it didn't taste like anything... just meat. no real flavor - thank goodness i got some sauce! well - tried the sauce... not very impressive. no real flavor. :(

Cool gas- and charcoal-less grill. It uses blocks of cedar or your favorite hardwood to impart that nice smoky flavor.

Quoted: Woodflame - Le barbecue portatif au bois / The portable woodburning barbecue

OK, this is really, really strange ...

Quoted: Using 30 USB ports spread out over five USB PCI cards, this barbeque was created.

BBQ place we saw in Snohomish yesterday.