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...
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...
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