Big T's BBQ

Here is a write up on Big T's BBQ.

I love barbecue.

There are very few bbq restaurants around here, but Big T's has opened a shop on MacLeod Trail. A couple of weeks ago, some work guys and myself went over for lunch. The place is very nice, lots of wood and decorated with some blues memorabilia. When we pulled up you could smell the wood from the smoker. Heaven!

I was trying to decide between the brisket sandwich and the pulled pork sandwich. Someone spotted the Big T's platter. For $40 you get a platter with brisket, pulled pork, ribs, half a chicken, rib ends and andouille sausage with slaw, beans, fries and cornbread. We got that. And some deep fried pickles to start.

It was good, certainly enough for the 4 of us, it might have even fed 5 or 6. 4 things I wasn't crazy about:
1. Service. I know I complain about this a lot, but I used to be a waitress. I know how to do it. It was not busy enough to justify that slow of service.
2. The beans were god-awful. Terrible. I can't believe they even served them.
3. The sauces. Except for the mustard sauce, they need work.
4. The rib ends. They did not taste good.

But, definitely worth it, and definitely somewhere to go back to.

And so I did. The next weekend Scott and I went for lunch. Everyday day they have a lunch special. You can have the brisket or pork sandwich with one side for $6. Good deal. I got the brisket with hushpuppies, Scott had the pork with mashed potatos. The brisket was nice and tender, with a very faint smoky flavor. The hushpuppies were out of this world! So nice and soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside, and served with a side of honey for dipping. The pork sannie was so good - nicely cooked and served with slaw in the bun. I had told Scott not to get the beans as they were so terrible last time, but his came with a small bowl. They were marginally better than the first time I'd been there. A really nice lunch, although I wouldn't have minded if both meats had more of a stronger smokey taste.

I asked if they had a website; they don't but they gave me a menu to take home. I can't wait to go back again. Scott has his eye on the catfish po boy, and I want more hushpuppies!

Vietnamese Lunch

Today Scott and I went and did some errands. When we were almost done, Scott said he wished he could have a Vietnamese sub for lunch. (See earlier post called Our Food Day to read about the best Vietnamese sub shop in the world.) There were 2 Vietnamese restaurants in the area we were in, and one was open. So we had lunch at Shawnessy Vietnamese Restuarant.

We split a chicken satay sub and a number 11 - bbq pork, spring rolls and rice vermacelli. Service was awful. There seemed to be lots of people working in the place, but not much getting done. Our food came at different times, so we had eaten half of the #11 before the sub came to the table. What's up with that? We weren't the only table that happened to though. Anyways, food was pretty good, sub wasn't quite as good as the one from Trung Nguyen, but nice. #11 was good, lots of mint mixed in with the lettuce and sprouts, but the pork could have been better. Scott and I have made a pact that the next time we go for Vietnamese, we will both have something we've never tried before. Scarey!

3 links

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A couple of weeks ago, I was at my desk, working away, when my boss came in my office waving around the Real Life section of that days Calgary Herald. There was an article called "Hot Chocolate, a hot trend for 2005" and it talked about the new Chantico hot chocolate from Starbucks. He immediately sent a co-worker to go and get us all one.

Hoo boy. You haven't had anything like that before!

Starbucks calls it drinking chocolate. It tastes just like a melted chocolate bar of the best quality. Rich rich rich. You absolutely must be a chocoholic to drink this. The cup is small - 6 ounces. The price is not small - I think it's about 3 bucks or so. The downside? 390 calories and 21 grams of fat!