Restaurants
Smoke BBQ House
Smoke has brought Southern-style BBQ to a sleepy stretch of Harbord at the corner of Manning. Already the neighbourhood has woken up to take notice and on a recent weekday evening, a steady stream of locals were full of praise for first time restaurant owner Francesco Grandi and chef Tony Gallippi.
I couldn't agree more. Service was on-point and Grandi certainly has the Southern hospitality thing down. He's a copywriter by day but obviously a natural at making people feel welcome and at ease. His design-driven rustic vision for the space was executed by Mahmood Popal of Craft Studio with handcrafted elements like burnt wood paneling and picnic-like communal seating. Table settings come equipped with colourful silicone brushes setting high expectations for a saucy meal.
Chef Tony Gallippi hails from the respectable BBQ city, Windsor, and delivers the complete package of smokehouse essentials. The Sampler for Two ($35) offers a choice of three mains and two sides, and probably merits it being renamed "The Sampler Platter for Two Plus". From the heaping platter of meat that arrives, I sample the St. Louis Spareribs, Corned Beef Brisket and Pulled Pork. The pork is good and saucy but ultimately outshined by the other two selections. The spareribs are served dry letting you savour the smoky taste on it's own or to sauce at your discretion with squeeze bottles of spicy Texas or lipsmacking South Carolina condiments. The corned beef is better still; served with pickles and horseradish mustard, the thinly sliced, juicy and succulent meat could rival even Montreal's Schwartz's.
Included with the sampler, we try the side of Collard Greens topped with bacon; and the crisp, puffy Waffle Fries that are made even better with the addition of zesty housemade mayo.
The side Mac 'n' Cheese ($3.50 on its own) could be dinner itself and yet somehow I managed to try it too. Though at this point its all too much, I can recognize a well done classic when I see it. Luckily, Smoke does take-away too so they're prepared to pack it up for you to bring home.
On the hooch list, bacon-infused bourbon cocktails like the Smoked Whisky Sour ($11) are the tipple of choice though wines, beers and whiskies are also on offer. Even the singular dessert option (trust me you won't miss pie) is spiked; the Maple Cinnamon Bourbon Gelato ($6) is the product of a marvelous collaboration with Queens Quay's Lick It Gelato.
Smoke is not only a great addition to the neighbourhood but also to Toronto's BBQ cred. I totally have plans to return ASAP and often, if only to bring my partner who repeatedly told me how irresistibly smoky I smelled after returning home.
Currently Smoke is open week round from 5:30pm to 11pm, but look forward to the addition of lunch and brunch in the coming months.
Photos by Jesse Milns
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wut?
Anyway, this place has gotten really bad reviews on Chowhound. Personally I have no interest in going until I hear some positive feedback from a realiable source. The meat pics above don't look that great to me. I hear they take short cuts like leaving the membrane on the ribs.
Also, still not sure if this is a "review" or "profile" based on the review policy linked above.
The pulled pork was average. The spareribs were decent. The brisket basically tasted like ordinary roast beef. To top it off, all of the meat was cold-to-lukewarm.
I had high hopes as a nearby resident. Consider me underwhelmed.
Overall, if you are a true meat lover it's probably not the right place for you but if you are looking for a good sized portion and don't want to spend to much money on it, Smoke might just be the right place.
Unimpressed by the service and unimpressed by the food.
Seem to be struggling with the basics.
Starts with the uncomfortable seating; no back is exhausting after a long day.
Server walked away before last party member finished ordering.
Don't bother ordering a coke, it's those tiny glass bottles, smaller than a can.
Server managed to spill a glass of water all over the table, used napkins on table to wipe up mess, didn't bother to bring new ones to replace them.
Mussels were OK tasting, certainly better bang for your buck at a decent Italian restaurant, they showed up without a side bowl for stacking shells. Nothing to soak up the tomato sauce except the cornbread, which was dry and flavorless.
Mains and side dishes started showing up before group finished appetizers. Obviously not enough room on the table to fit everything, but that didn't stop them from cramming everything in to the point you couldn't grab your own utensils. Some people got their sides first, some people had mains, there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the order in which food was showing up. This lead to the majority of people having cold food.
Macaroni was bland, I've frequently eaten much better from the freezer/microwave. It's pretty hard to mess up french fries, yet the lattices were stuck together in large clumps. Coleslaw was overdressed.
Wooden serving plank for mains is awkward. Kind of hard to sauce up ribs when there's no edge to the plate keeping things from falling on the table and making a mess.
Ribs and pulled pork were fine, although not very hot due to the earlier service problems. Plating of the corned beef was lazy; a stack of long cut brisket folded in half on top of itself, making it very inconvenient to eat from, as there's no room to unfold the entire stack. If your going to fold sliced meat, do it on a per slice basis as it comes off the slicer, that way you can still eat it.
Got the bill, waited a while for server to come around with the machine. No toothpicks to be found, instead 4 business cards; subsequently used as toothpicks, and thrown in the trash.
Service: speedy, welcoming, knowledgeable
Food: arrived promptly and was hot. Portions were very large, even the samplers. Eating off the planks was not a problem. The baby back ribs were fuller, more tender and juicier than the St. Louis ribs. Both were better than the typical ribs you get at a sports bar, but Stockyards ribs still rule. The smoked chicken wings, pulled pork and corned beef (which was nicely sliced, not folded) were excellent. The waffle fries were the most addictive and unique side dish; our group enjoyed the potato salad and mac and cheese as well. I like how they went in a different direction with waffle fries instead of normal shoestring fries. The best thing about this place is the choice of 4 sauces which enhanced the meal. Unlike some places where you can only choose 1 or 2 sauces and pay extra for more, Smoke places 4 different types of sauces on the table for you to sample to your heart's content.
Toothpicks: available.
Give this place a chance.
For the real deal, try Barque.
https://twitter.com/SmokeBBQHouse/status/311505737987792896
https://twitter.com/SmokeBBQHouse/status/311506467318554625
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http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do/Eat/March-2013/Smoke-BBQ-House-changes-ownership-rebrands-as-Smoke-Bourbon-Bar-B-Q-House/
Original "chef" is taking over that space, rebranding to Smoke Bourbon Bar B Q House