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Over Xmas break, I got to finally go check out the new Smoke in Plano. I've always gone to the Dallas location, and only for brunch (which is fantastic btw...one of our go-to's). But this time I wanted to try dinner. I've been eyeing their Big Rib for some time now. :P
A friend of mine was back in town for the holidays so a group of us met up for dinner. It was a party of 7 adults and 2 babies. They put us at this super large table.. it was a little hard to talk to everyone cuz we were so far apart. haha. And I didn't bother taking pictures of some of the dishes that were across the table. :P
Smoke Plano
2408 Preston Rd. #704a
Plano, TX 75093
(972) 599-2222
http://smokerestaurant.com/plano
Price: $$$+
I knew I wanted to try the Big Rib... which is supposed to be massive. So I got a friend of mine to go in on it with me. When the waitress came to take our drink orders, I immediately asked if they still had any left. They have limited quantities of this so you gotta order fast! She went to go check... came back and said there's only 2 left! Yikes! I put my order in then and there. haha. The Big Rib (hominy casserole, fresh herb chimichurri) $38~
When this thing came... everyone at the table just stopped and stared. I was psyched! And shocked at the same time. MEAT FOR DAYYYYYYS!!! It was wayyyy bigger than I could've ever expected. The bone itself was longer than my forearm bone. O.O Whoa. Definitely more than enough for the 2 of us. I would say shareable for 4 people if you order sides or appetizers. Yowza. They're not playing around! We went to work attacking this thing. My friend wished that he didn't order the appetizer that came earlier. haha. This rib was spectacular. FORK TENDER, we didn't have to barely touch it to pull it off the bone. And soooo much flavor on that char. Some of the most tender bbq I've had. My friend loved it as well. And it came on a bed of hominy (basically like grits). OMG. Heavy, with the meat pairing but oh sooo good. The chimichurri added some brightness. I wish there were more veggies on the plate. The onions and parsley on top helped a little. At last, we lost. We binged ourselves to about 3/4ths of the dish. I was proud we got that far. haha. He took the rest home. So freaking awesome. I'd totally get this again, but next time share with more people. And the pictures never do it justice...just trust me when I say that is one big ass rib!!
Collard Greens. I did order a side of collards. Not sure how much it was but it was a pretty big portion. Unfortunately it was way too salty, so neither of us had much of that. I was hoping having some veggies would offset the large amount of meat. Instead we just focused on killing that rib!!
Smoke Sausage (stout beer, cabbage, spicy mustard) $11~
So my friend also ordered this to start. Not knowing what to expect with the Big Rib. It was ok... Not sure I like the sausage bathing in the soup. I would've preferred a drier dish... The sausage was good but nothing specials. I liked that they gave a lot of cabbage, but neither of us were fans of the beer "soup". We didn't drink it obviously, but it was a tad salty. The spicy mustard was nice. Always a good combo.. mustard and sausage. But like I said, we totally didn't need this dish. haha.
Coffee Cured Natural Beef Brisket (B&B pickles, potato salad) $22~
Another friend of mine got this. She subbed the potato salad for the Mac n' Cheese. And what a great choice that was. The Mac n' Cheese was on point! She originally wanted the ribs but they were out. Next time I guess. The brisket was super good as well. Thick slices and very juicy. I think she make it through about halfway of that mountain of meat. It was a lot! And I want to give a spotlight to those pickles. Fantastic. And I'm not even a huge pickle fan. I'd get this again too.
EB&D Loaded up & Truckin Burger (homemade thick and smokey bacon, sharp cheddar, frittered egg) $15~
2 of my friends ordered the burger. Somehow the orders got messed up and was never sent to the kitchen. So they waited forever for it. Finally it came. OMG. How do you even eat this thing?!? That frittered egg looked awesome. But do you just press down and smoosh the whole thing? haha. I think they decided to take a knife and fork to it. The burger patty itself was juicy and pretty flavorful. I got to try a bite, but was already so overwhelmed with the Big Rib that I really don't remember much. Their fries were good too from what I can remember. :P
It was a great meal. Quite epic actually. It's not everyday you eat something as big as your arm. hahaha. And always fun to catch up with friends. Other than the snafu with the orders, the service was good. And on a weeknight, I'd say their business was doing well! I'll definitely be back again for dinner. Just thinking about that Big Rib is making me drool. Just make sure to not go too late and order it fast, otherwise it'll run out!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I'd have to say brunch is probably my favorite meal of the day. My bf and I were on our way to Ft. Worth this past Saturday for a wedding so we stopped at Smoke for some brunch! Ever since we went the first time, he's been wanting to go again. Can't blame the guy. It was soooo good! :)
Smoke
901 Fort Worth Ave.
Dallas, TX 75208
(214) 393-4141
www.smokerestaurant.com
Price (for brunch): $$
We arrived around 12:30PM. My sister and her bf had already checked in with the hostess and she told them it was a 45 minute wait! :( But I'm hungry now! haha. But like last time, they quoted us some ridiculous wait time but it was so much shorter than that. Within 10 minutes from our arrival, we were seated. Woohoo!
My bf knew exactly what he wanted. Smoked Brisket Cornbread Hash (with poached egg and green chili rajas) $14~
Same thing he got last time. It was really good, I totally would have it again. And this time it didn't disappoint. He gobbled it up so fast... This dish just has so much flavor and texture. The soft poached egg with the smoky brisket and slightly crunchy cornbread. I'd say this is the best dish on the brunch menu.
Hungry Bear Smoked Ham Steak & Farm Egg Fritter (with sweet corn griddlecake and Dr. Pepper Red Eye gravy) $12~
I had several options but chose this one. The farm egg fritter really sounded interesting. Turns out it was a poached egg that's breaded and fried. YUM-O! It was definitely a sweet and savory dish. Totally up my alley. The ham was savory and smoky with a hint of sweetness. Plus the slight sweetness from the corn in the griddlecake. And I really enjoyed the Dr. Pepper gravy. It was a lot of food. I had to leave some ham and griddlecake on the plate because I was full! Oh no! :P I enjoyed the combination, however, I think they should do a version with their thick cut bacon instead of the ham steaks. hehehe.
The Full Monte (steak, eggs, biscuit, potato cakes and peppercorn gravy) $15~
My sister and her bf shared this because it had a little bit of everything. They were awesome and split the plate for them (so the picture is only a half portion). I got to try a bite of a few things. The steak was a bit overcooked since he liked it more medium well (we like it med rare, so they settled on medium). The potato cakes were kind of hard, not a fan. But they seemed to enjoy the overall plate.
They also got some sides to share:
Thick Cut Pork Belly Bacon $3.50~ If you love bacon, can't go wrong with this. I think ALL restaurants should serve bacon like this. Thick cut and tons of flavor.
Cheese Grits-Hominy Casserole $3.50~ Tried this for the first time. The addition of hominy was interesting and good. It added an extra texture in the grits. And it was cheesy and creamy. Went well with my ham steaks.
Once again it was a great brunch. We thought this time we'd try their desserts but didn't have room... haha. Oh well, that just means we have to return another time!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I went to an art event downtown yesterday. ArtOfficial at Zouk nightclub featured many local artists, musical artists/DJs, live performers, and food trucks. It was also a charity event with a portion of the proceeds towards local nonprofits: ALS Association, Art Hunger and Dress for Success.
A friend of mine works for the ALS Association and invited me. So I brought a few of my friends to check it out. I have to be honest though, the main draw for me was that they said there will be free food from various food trucks from 5:30-7:30PM for all paid attendees. haha.
One of my friends and I arrived super early... Trying to bypass the after work traffic. But that just means we were first in line for the food trucks. :P Most of the trucks were still setting up so we didn't really get started until about 5:40 or so.
The first truck we hit up was the Dough Boys Pizza Truck.
www.doughboypizzatruck.myshopify.com/
facebook.com/doughboyspizzatruck
twitter.com/PizzaTruckin
We decided on the Margarita (olive oil, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato and basil).
They are 8" pizzas, freshly baked. It took longer for us to get it because they were just firing up the oven. But it's all good. Worth the wait since the pizza came out piping hot! It was a pretty good size. I would definitely get full if I ate the whole thing. I thought it was a really great pizza. I especially loved the crust. It was not too thin but the outside was super crispy and inside was still soft and slightly chewy. It was a white pizza, so no marinara, which I liked. The toppings were all really fresh too. I would get a pizza from them any day. :) Oh yea, the guys on the truck were super friendly too!
Overall:
Rockn' Ricks Truck
www.rock-n-ricks.com/
www.facebook.com/pages/Rockn-Ricks/355779484454846
twitter.com/rockn_ricks
They were only offering one thing during the free food time period. Pulled Pork Sandwich (smoked daily for 14 hours, pork pulled off the bone).
Normally it's topped with red onion, pickles and bbq sauce but for the free samples, it was plain. The service was night and day compared to the pizza truck. We didn't know if they were taking orders because it took awhile for someone to talk to us when we're standing outside the truck. But the sandwich itself was decent. The pork was tender and slightly sweet from the sauce. A slaw topping would've been nice. Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.
Overall:
OinknMoo Truck
www.oinknmoodfwbbq.com/
facebook.com/OinknMooBBQ
twitter.com/oinknmoodfwbbq
This was the other bbq truck. The free samples they were offering was the Pork & Green Chile Hominy (homemade, infused with crispy bacon and chunks of pulled pork and roasted Hatch chiles).
I wanted to try this so yay! It was very good. Hominy is a kind of corn, but it doesn't really look or taste like it... I like it though. And this was really good. The pork was really tender and the flavors and textures with the chile and hominy worked together really well. With a little squirt of hot sauce, it was even better. haha.
By about 7pm, they had apparently ran out of all their free options so my friends bought some food:
Bacon Mac n Cheese (homemade mac & cheese infused with crispy bacon) $3~
Loaded Bacon Mac n Cheese (1/2 pint of Bacon Mac w/ your choice of meat chopped on top) $6~ He got it topped with brisket. $3 extra just for a bit of brisket? We were all expecting the loaded mac to be a bigger size since it's double the price. Oh well. At least it was good. The brisket was finely chopped and added texture to the super rich mac n cheese. I didn't see much bacon inside but it was already rich enough!
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I saw Bobaddiction twice this week!
www.bobaddiction.com/
facebook.com/bobaddiction
twitter.com/bobaddiction
I got to try more samples. The passion fruit green tea is super refreshing. Especially since yesterday was uber humid. Also tried the Thai Tea again. It was yummy. The sample cups were just too dang small! :P Oh, and I still need to try the boba. I guess next time! :)
Overall:
Campisi's Catering was set up inside the venue. They were serving some sort of Pasta (penne with chicken, artichokes, tomato). I only ate a few bites. It was not good. That little scoop was half grease. XP Eeeeeks.
Overall:
It was a fun event. I hope they made lots of money for the charities. And I got to try a bunch of food. Some great, some not so much. But still a fun experience! :)
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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