7-30-2009 Smoking Mo's Kitchen

Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard I try to not do something events conspire to head me in that direction anyway. Today I was going to enjoy this HOT summer day with a ride up the Hood Canal. Maybe catch a bite to eat at some random restaurant alongside what ever road my travels put me on. Within minutes I hit new chip seal and too much traffic. So, just a mere 5 or 6 miles north of Shelton I turned around and was thinking about what should do. Without too much conscious effort on my part I found myself pulling into the parking in front of Mo's. Hmmmmmm... how did I end up here? Lord knows, I couldn't have picked a better spot to just chance by. HA HA, who am I kidding? Smoking Mo's Kitchen doesn't need divine intervention to get me in the door.

Taste: Last time I was down there Tom was talking up the new sandwich, aptly named the Big Country. I was intrigued and the thoughts of this monstrosity had my interest and appetite whetted, so without too much apprehension that is what I decided to take home. Good grief folks! 1/2 pound each of pulled pork and brisket, piled very high on a huge bun with slaw and sauce. Just the right amount of sauce too, as it complemented the smokey pork and beef. The beef was incredibly tender and extremely smokey. The pork was well done and tasted just like the inside of a well seasoned pit. The slaw added a very nice crunch to the sandwich. The bun, well the bun was made for hamburgers. Not my top favorite for serving BBQ on, but it didn't detract from anything on this feast. 9 very deserved stars.

Value: A full pound of BBQ piled onto this giant sandwich with a double order of slaw (on the sandwich and on the side) made this $15 w/tip a very good bargain indeed. 9 stars.

Staff: Today I had a treat. I got to say hi, then bye, then hi again.......and then another goodbye to Mo. She was running in and out of the joint getting ready to head home. Tom was his usual friendly self and I heard about the new sandwich, which will put the Big Country to shame. 9 stars.

Ambiance: As usual, I can't find any faults or wrongs here. One of these days I'm gonna have to catch you guys when the smokers are running. 9 stars.

Friends: I needed a friend today as this lunch/dinner was enormous. I wondering who I might drag down to try another one. Anyway, its just one more thing to recommend to my buds. 9 stars.

Well....lets see...take the root angle of the circumference of the outer diameter of the right triangle. Divide by pi and factor in the air velocity of a coconut laden swallow.....and the results are......drum roll please....9 STARS. Well, another fine BBQ experience thanks to the great folks at Smoking Mo's Kitchen. Come on people, you ain't had BBQ until you try Mo's.


Later...

7-17-2009 Po-Boy & Bar-B-Q

A couple of weeks ago Wookie and I were making good time heading back to Olympia for dinner with folks and friends when we passed by Po-Boy in Puyallup. The savory scent of a smoker knocked on my nose as we barreled down the road. We both looked at each other and I decided at that moment that the BBQhunter would return before too long to try this place out. That day was today as Wookie, Her Majesty, Daylight and I ran up to Mt. Rainer and back. What a beautiful day for a ride and what a great way for the BBQhunter to end on. This fine afternoon also had the smoker in operation with the sweet perfume of smoldering wood kicking out copious quantities of smoke. After looking at the menu I decided on the pulled pork sandwich combo that included beans and one other side of choice. I chose the macaroni salad and for 50 cents more had a scoop of slaw put on the sandwich. I also had a super cold iced tea and an equally as big and icy water. I believe Daylight ordered pretty much the same and Her Majesty and Wookie had the brisket.

Taste: Well, I'm here to tell ya folks that the pulled pork was smokey and tender. Just a wee bit too much sauce. Not over powering by any stretch, but just a little in the way of really tasting the meat. The bun was a typical hamburger bun with sesame seeds. Not my favorite choice for serving up BBQ, but it was a sizable sandwich. The beans were good, but tasted a little too much like Bushes beans that you get out of the can. The real winner on this plate was the macaroni salad, done up with small shells and spiced up with what I think might have been seasoning salt. Very smooth, creamy and delicious. I've seen on TV how southerners sometimes get a scoop of slaw on the sandwich and thought it went pretty darn good too. I'll score you 8 out of 10 stars for this category and that is only because of the bun and beans. My riding and dining partners thought everything was great.

Value: Nothing wrong here. I can't remember for sure and they do not have a website to check this on, but I believe my combo plate went for 6 dolla fitty cent. That is not a misprint (just a not so subtle try at slang). $6.50 for a pretty big sandwich, a BIG scoop of salad and beans, and all the iced tea and water I could stuff down my neck. I believe the bill for all of us came to around 36 bucks (thanks Wookie!). 9 easily deserved stars.

Staff: Well, this is kinda hard to judge as we pretty much were left alone except for when the food was delivered to the table. The two staff in attendance this afternoon were polite enough whilst the orders were made and then pretty much left us on our own afterwords. Our gentle teasing and questions did not even raise an eyebrow with them. We pretty much had the run of the place to ourselves. Maybe it was the sight of 4 dehydrated bikers left them a little aloof this day. Who knows, but I'm only gonna score you a 7.

Ambiance: If you are a John Deer fanatic besides an eater of some pretty good BBQ than this is THE place for you. John Deer bric-a-brac was the theme decoration here. A couple of other whimsical decorations and a great tee-shirt (that wasn't for sale; what the heck is up with teasing us like that?) were the other items to look at besides the DVD of some ultimate fighting being played on the big screen. At least my back was turned to it so I would't have to watch it. Not a bad look, just not my idea of a BBQ joint. 6 stars.

Friends: Yeah, I admit it. I would take my buddies to this place because when it comes right down to it, its the food that is the real ticket here. I bet you will see my friends and I again. If I understand it right, I believe Wookie put you at the top of his list for "local" eateries to visit. 9 stars.

Overall I award Po-Boy and Bar-B-Q 8 stars out of 10. Pretty good for a resaurant. You folks up in Puyallup have a BBQ joint that you can be proud of. So count me for having yet 1 more BBQ place in my top 10 and who knows, maybe I'll darken your doorstep in the not so far future.


Later...

7-16-2009 Smoking Mo's Kitchen

YIKES! Has it really been this long since my last BBQ experience. I guess so, seeing how my last entry was 27th of last month. I have eaten BBQ during this time frame. It came out of my smoker and I was informed that it was the best chicken they had ever had. Plus my smoked ribs got a lot of attention too. Well, to make a long story even more endless; today found me at Ft. Lewis at a new memorial park dedication. What a great day for a ride and to have the PGR so honored by our active duty heroes stationed at Ft. Lewis. Kinda wish more than 5 of us showed up. Oh well, no use griping about it. It was my privilege to be there. Anyway, it was late in the afternoon before I was able to leave the base. Robo & Lil' Bit's bike shed a belt, so Beacon Keeper and I waited around for the Tow Truck to arrive and take those 2 back to Rochester. On the way home I was thinking......ok, ok..... I was obsessing about some BBQ from Smoking Mo's. I spent some awkward moments with a new guy at the counter before Tom made it back in to take my order. I told him I had 20 bucks to spend for meal and tip, so surprise me. And here it is....

Taste: The mountain of food I ended up with was as follows. Ribs, chicken, pulled pork, potato salad, beans and a piece of corn bread. For sauces I got the Carolina style mustard, sweet BBQ and a new offering of Lexington vinegar. I was told that down in Kentucky this Lexington sauce was used to make pulled pork sandwiches. Any who, the pulled pork was at the bottom of the pile so first I tried dipping the ribs and the chicken in it. Hmmmmm, not bad but not great either. I took a fork full of the pulled pork and dredged it into the sauce. Now that's more like it. I couldn't quite put my finger on what the sauce reminded me of. I know I've had it before, but I've never been in Kentucky my entire life. After much mental twisting I had the mystery solved. This Lexington vinegar sauce is a dead ringer for the vinegar sauce I used to get in the Philippines with fresh outta the fryer pork rinds. No wonder it went great with the pulled pork. As for the other items, the ribs were their usual falling off the bone tender and smokey. The chicken was done to a T. The beans were fantastic. The potato salad was just a wee bit bland (I like LOTS of mustard in mine) but other wise not too bad. My disappointment was the corn bread. Smoking Mo's , in my not so humble opinion, makes the world's best corn bread...........usually anyway........today it was a dry as a piece of Styrofoam. Insert sad face here :( sigh......... So for today I can only score you 8 stars out of 10.

Value: I can't think of a single new adverb to describe these guys any differently than before. My bill (+ tip) came to an even 20 dollars. The container I took it home in was bulging at the seams. I'm not kidding, it was a miracle that it even closed........barely. 9 very well deserved stars here.

Staff: You know....I sure have fun going down to Smoking Mo's. They know who I am now and this afternoon I got a big "How's the BBQ Hunter doing today?" as Tom came back in from making an enormous delivery to someone's car heading back to Gig Harbor. I apologize to the "new guy" for not letting him take my order, I just felt like waiting for Tom to come back so I could do my surprise me order. I got to listen to Tom talk about their future plans with Smoking Mo's for a bit and I really felt like I was at home there. 9 stars here too.

Ambiance: I guess I must just be getting used to the place. Part of me wants to remain objective and gripe about this and that. For example, I wish I could see the pit and smell it just a little ( ok, a whole lot more). The other part of me is saying "What the heck!", I'm just around the corner from home and I don't care......it's just great having a place like this so close to home. There just isn't anything to gripe about (besides the corn bread) so I would be remiss if I didn't award another 9 stars here too.

Friends: I don't hold anything back when I talk about Smoking Mo's to my friends, coworkers and anyone else I can pin down for a couple of minutes. I even told the owner of Big Lou's Texas Style BBQ in Camas and the owner of Tatu BQQ in Kingston that they really really........no really really really needed to try this joint if they are ever in town. 9 stars!

Overall, today's visit nets 9 stars out of 10 for Smoking Mo's Kitchen. I hope that any of you reading this blog take the time out to visit this place. Shelton not that far out of the way for most of you. Heck its on the way up to Hurricane Ridge and back. So take the time to visit and I guarantee you won't be sorry (guarantee void in 5 seconds or when you say "Hey honey, lets go visit this BBQ joint this idiot raves about" or whichever comes first).


Later...