Smoky BBQ foods

My hubby loves BBQed stuff. He loves all different types of barbeques - korean, jap, charcoal, steak on the barbie, Bunnings sausage sizzles... everything! Recently on our trip to the US, the smoky BBQ was a 'must visit' (many many times) type of venue.

In Chicago, there was Blackwood. It was smoky and simply delicious! You could smell this place from a mile away! On our visit, hubby had the pulled pork in a bun. My choice? The beef brisket - on the platter. It comes with a variety of side dishes to chose from - the pickles and radishes were complimentary. The other stuff - baked beans, coleslaw, baked mac and cheese, were all worth it's price. What I also couldn't draw myself away from was their housemade lemonade - love that stuff! Super refreshing and not too sweet :)

The pulled pork was tasty and tender. You just bite into it and loads of smoky, porky flavour just fills your mouth. The bun was good - but clearly, the meat was the hero of the dish. Hubby also loved their baked beans.

pulled pork in a bun with baked beans

As good as the pork was, I think that the beef brisket was our preferred meat. It was juicy and tender, slow-cooked for like 16 hrs or something like that! I got this awesomely smoky, hint of chilli, and tomatoey sauce on top. Deliciousness! It was 'melt in your mouth' goodness. And the mac and cheese? More please!

slow cooked beef brisket with mac&cheese

There are other BBQ joints around the USA. One other was Mighty Quinn's. Here, I couldn't resist but order their pork ribs. This was AMAZING. Pork ribs v Beef brisket? I'm a fan of the super smokey super tender pork ribs! :) Hubby also really liked this. As we were eating sooo much that day, we only ordered the one meal.

ribs

But would hubby let us leave the states without trying the beef brisket from here? Of course not! So one night - pretty late... like 11pm... we ran from our previous commitment back here, just to line up and order their brisket. I know that my photos are pretty poor (given that it's just from my phone and with really little lighting), but honestly, it was delicious! It's hard to say which briskets were better - the one from Blackwood or the Might Quinn's. All I know is that hubby would die to have places like this back in Sydney :P

slow cooked beef brisket

Blackwood BBQ
305 W Lake Street
Chicago, IL, 60606
Tel: +1 312 621 9663

Mighty Quinns
103 2nd Ave
NY 10003
Tel: +1 212 677 3773