I had a tension
I had a ten
I was a better, honey
so I did it again
Thought my intentions were better
Tried to put mind over matter
I lost my edge on things
when I lost my head
Another Tuesday, another Taste. While here at HQ this passing week was notable for very unpleasant reasons... hey at least now we've got an especially exciting review to jump into.
While returning perhaps without this kind of hooplah, for the first time since 2019 the Beaches Ribfest at long last made its return. Despite an insanely busy weekend (and one at far less than 100 percent mentally) I knew I had to find some way to check out this local Ribfest for the Tuesday review. Also, since most of these BBQ purveyors travel around for several festivals all summer, technically that qualifies within my "minimum four location rule" for these weekly reviews (if anyone reading is as big a dork about that as I).
Located in the spacious center of Woodbine Park, this Beaches festival of ribs and general BBQ goodness isn't as large or wild as some of the others that normally come through the GTA during the summer. The one at Centennial Park for instance used to feature twice the number of vendors and was attended by an even significantly higher multiple of people.
Strangely enough, I've been to the Ribfest at Centennial Park more than this Beaches one, despite only living in Toronto's west end for a little over a year. It wasn't until 2019 I realized this one existed, and I can walk to Woodbine Park easily from my house. Regardless of my classic obliviousness, it was great to be able to check out something like this again after three tough years.
Aside from the main attraction of the BBQ vendors (of which there were five at Woodbine), you also had a variety of other options and activities: various carnival games for the kids, non BBQ food options like a poutine truck or blooming onions, a slushie station, some local beer carts (I tried a tasty amber ale from Triple Bogey) and live music playing underneath the comically large gazebo. No doubt an event well formulated to keep people's attention enough to stick around longer (and potentially get hungry again).
I certainly can get hungry again, so let us take a quick look at some of these food options I was able to try in the limited time I was able to attend. Starting with my first stop, pork ribs from Louisiana Bar-B-Que.
Not the sauciest ribs I've had, but we are off to a very strong start here. Rather than it being slathered all over, this tastes more like the BBQ sauce and rub has been added as needed while slowly cooked into it, allowing it to penetrate into the deeper parts of the meat. The exterior is a bit chewy (particularly near the end pieces) but inside... hoo baby. Juicy tenderness that (forgive an overused phrase) truly melts in the mouth. I didn't find these particularly fatty either, no gross gristly bits beyond some of the tougher cartilage that sticks or extends from the bone. Finally, the flavour: bit on the saltier side and with some curious tartness that was surprising but welcome. I'm not sure if this is a common element of Louisiana style BBQ (again I'm no ribs expert, what is this? Pizza?) but I enjoyed the unique subtlety of it. Definitely a damn tasty way to kick off this visit.
Next up, my bottomless stomach and I moved onto Big Hank's BBQ Shack, a Nashville inspired outfit. Wanting a break from ribs (and knowing there were many more in the near future) I instead went for their pulled pork sandwich, complete with a little side of mac n'cheese you see nestled behind it. One thing I do regret about my experience at Ribfest this year was not sampling many of the side dishes these vendors offered (this was in fact the only one). I'll blame my schedule constraints, which left me having to attend this alone both times I could go and impossibly just beating the clock for the second (I very nearly didn't get in, they were shutting early). Hopefully next year the timing works out better and I'm able to actually do this with other people... checking out a big fun food festival by yourself feels very awkward.
Onto the actual food you see above. Unlike ribs, mac n' cheese is a dish I actually eat more than once every few years and have made for myself from scratch, so I have a better frame of judgement here. This... was very solid: closer to a quality pub mac n' cheese than a fancy one you'd find in a hip dining restaurant. None of those rich, deep complex cheeses here... this is a straight up cheddar base that is somewhat less creamy than I prefer, and the flavour (while tasting of real cheese) is enjoyable enough but pretty basic. I do think at least it would go over significantly better than this sorry dish did with a famous chef.
Mac n' cheese goes together with pulled pork undoubtedly brilliantly. I briefly once worked at a brunch restaurant as a busboy that served a grilled cheese sandwich with pulled pork and actual mac n' cheese inside, which was by far the most/only amazing thing about that job. How about this sandwich here? Well like its mac counterpart, it is very simple. No sauce, no additional toppings, and a very generic soft bun. But... when pulled pork is this good, any other additions can be mere frills. It certainly helps to be this fresh out of the cooker, as even the best prepared pulled pork will dry out in spots after sitting out a while.
This sandwich is a real greasy ball, which certainly helps keep that moisture in, but the grease doesn't dominate the taste only the texture... and even then that gives way to pure unstoppable tenderness. There's a flavour beyond pork in there (probably a long slowly cooked in BBQ sauce) that adds a little something sweet. Would this be a better sandwich with say, some crispy onions and pickles or cucumber? Yeah for sure. That would make it ridiculously good, probably one of the best pork sandwiches I've ever had. As is, it doesn't need any of that either is all... the sign of some high quality stuff.
Back to ribs. My next stop was Texas Jack's Famous BBQ Pit, which I'm sure is Kentucky inspired. *Cough* That's the joke.
At this point, I was getting pretty full (no shit) so I only sampled a couple bones of these before packing them away and finally heading off. These were definitely to the level of sauciness I like ribs (I mean, they're a mess to eat anyway so why not just go all in) but the BBQ sauce... it's good but I was expecting something really mind-blowing I suppose. Still a far superior BBQ sauce to anything you'll find in a grocery store under six bucks... definitely a sweeter one (which I like) and it has a bit of lingering tang to it as well (unlike cheaper BBQ sauces that overwhelm with sugar and smoke). Some smokey sting here but a nice one that shakes your hand instead of crawling down your mouth. As for the ribs.. well there was so much damn sauce that it dominated everything (they did give me this option and I asked for it) but overall I'd say these were quite enjoyable. Even on the reheat a couple days later (which sadly meant much of the sauce was lost) they hadn't lost much in tenderness. Besides, they also win points for this little display:
Hopefully that is readable (zoom in!). Definitely a sweet touch.
Lastly, the final entry (and the one I was barely able to squeeze in at the very end of the festival): Oak and Barrel, which according to their banner are based out of British Columbia. At this point it is difficult to judge them completely fairly for multiple reasons: I ordered this about five minutes before everything shut down and security told us all to start leaving, and that's a damn long weekend of work for these cooks. Also, I wasn't exactly getting "sick of ribs" but definitely the excitement of eating them was lacking compared to before (my initial intention was to get a brisket sandwich from Oak and Barrel, but alas).
Still, this was the weakest of the four stands I tried all weekend. Not bad at all, but these were definitely the toughest on the outside and by far the fattiest of the three racks I sampled (these oozed on my baking tray on the reheat) and my poor stomach was not feeling that. Positively, these were quite meaty and the BBQ sauce had more of a whiskey kick to it than the sweet or smokiness I'd become used to from the other places. Next time, Gadget... brisket sandwich. Next time.
----
Overall... this was a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to check it out at all, even in a less than idealized manner. Those Louisiana ribs probably win the weekend amongst what I managed to try, just by that interesting seasoning and flavour... but truly everything here was anywhere from very decent to really damn good. Now that my fix is complete, I'm very done with ribs for at least several months.
Burnt Ends --- Pizza! I need to start reviewing some of those spots again. My list of places to check out is nearing fifty and my endeavoring has been lacking on this front for so long some of these places I added have closed since. Also, Spoon album ranking coming along. Hopefully done soon.
BlogPieTo --- Hey, it was a very off week for my brain... so indulge me yet again on the food that consistently makes me happiest.
As BlogTo will do some version of seemingly once every three months now, they published a "Best Pizza in Toronto" list. All right, I'll bite on it. Lets quickly go through who they've got in order, with where I have them ranked (in brackets) circa 2020:
#1: Descendant (WCSt: #1) --- Good choice. You have to be a deep dish fan (or at least open to it) but disappointment is cosmically unlikely going here.
#2: Pizzeria Badiali (WCSt: unranked) --- I have tried them, just haven't reviewed them. They're exceptional, with a vodka sauce pizza that is unlike anything I've had before or since. I'll go again, write about it this time, and they'll at least make my Top Ten I'm certain.
#3: Revolver (WCSt: unranked) --- Damnit! Another one I tried (back in 2019) but also haven't written about. Revolver is pretty good, but a few notches below these two above. Again, will have to hit up Mimico and try them again. For now, they'd be in my 20-25 range. Great chili oil too.
#4: Fourth Man In The Fire (WCSt: #12) --- Really good and interesting take on a NYC slice. People might think #12 is low but I've tried over 105 places don't forget... anything in the Top 30 is gonna be good.
#5: One Night Only (WCSt: N/A) --- Haven't tried them, have heard nothing but great things. Will have to go do so very very soon (they're East End too so I have no excuse)
#6: Salt & Tobacco (WCSt: #18) --- Actually very surprised this ended up on the list. Thought they were more of a hidden gem. Really good place I found randomly in 2018, would go again but not often in Cabbagetown anymore.
#7: Levant (WCSt: N/A) --- One I know almost nothing about. Damn, I be slacking.
#8: Mark's Pizza (WCSt: N/A) --- Been meaning to check out Mark's for over a year. It's just so damn far (like east east Scarborough) and their hours are weird. It'll happen though.
#9: Conzo's (WCSt: unranked) --- Tried them a few times (a close friend lives close to there). They're very good and very interesting. I never thought pineapple and mushrooms would work together but they pulled it off. Easily Top 25 in town.
Of BlogTo's list of nine... I've reviewed only three? Tried only six? I mean they have some seriously glaring omissions (Maker, Napoli Centrale, Defina, Oro Di Napoli, Blondies... well regarded new spots I haven't tried like Ambassador or Bello... and hell even Libretto still brings it) but still... I gotta step my pizza game back to something approaching previous levels. Maybe not the level of insanity where I tried like 70 places in four months... regardless though. Summer of Pizza? Lets make it happen.
You can read BlogTo's list here.... although mine (even a couple years out of date) is way better though.
Tuesday Tune -- The 2000s Garage Rock revival is certainly a jam that I dig very much (that was 20 years ago? W....T...F...) and the album this song belongs to is one of the very best of that sweet, sweet energized and rocking period of time. These guys also just had/have? wonderful titles for songs. Check it out.
That's it for me this week! Hope this diversion into food has at least somewhat provided a reprieve from the twisted nightmare the world seems intent on becoming.. didn't talk about the latest bit of horrible news this week because I think most of us are all discouraged and disgusted enough about it already. What a positive ending! Sorry... but also just never think that gross shit can't happen here in Canada either.
To quote a fictional professor defending against similarly Dark Arts... constant vigilance! Also, please take that at face value and not as an endorsement of that authour's current beliefs... or the fact that very character only used the phrase when portrayed by an evil imposter.... positive ending? Sigh. Anyhow, stay safe out there, stay healthy, enjoy the summer and don't spill that mustard.
No comments:
Post a Comment