bbq Archives - Queen of the Food Age

Swig & Swine

January 16, 2015

One of my favorite new restaurants to open in West Ashley recently was definitely Swig & Swine. I love me some good pork and boy, does Swig & Swine have some good pork!

Also, your body weight in pulled pork seems to do the trick.

The first time I went with friends, we couldn’t decide what we wanted, so we ordered the Family Platter (Smoked Chicken Wings, Ribs, Smoked Turkey, Pulled Pork, Beef Brisket, Smoked Pork Belly, Homemade Sausage, w/ 3 sides, $38), since it had basically everything on the menu.

Seriously. Everything but the kitchen sink.

All of their meat is amazing. The ribs and the chicken wings are something else entirely, and the brisket is so flavorful. I’m not as crazy about the pork belly, but that’s more of a texture thing for me.

Talk about a successful before and after pic.

The pulled pork is smoky and yummy all on its own, but that’s unnecessary because Swig and Swine has 4 different sauces you can use, a sweet red, Carolina mustard, vinegar, Alabama white, and they’re all delicious. My favorite is the mustard and it might be one of the best mustard sauces I’ve ever had. Their sweet red is also great, and you’ll like the Alabama white if you like that white sauce at Japanese restaurants (which I do).

If you love BBQ sauce, this is the place to be. Photo via Swig & Swine’s Website

For the sides, we chose Mac & Cheese (obviously), Beans w/ Brisket, and Pickled Vegetables. The mac and cheese is awesome, I highly recommend it if you like a classic shells-and-cheese-style macaroni.

Seriously good macaroni.

The baked beans are tangy and meaty (from the brisket) and smoky, and just great all around.

Beans, beans, the magical fruit…

The pickled vegetables are the perfect texture, not too soft, not too crisp and I love the taste of the vinegar they’re soaked in.

And what an array of veggies!

On a follow-up visit, we got the same family platter, which we split between 4 of us, so we managed to have some room leftover for dessert (Banana Pudding or Mini Pies, $5). I went with the chocolate pecan pie, which was served as a mini-pie-for-one with homemade whipped cream on top, which was nice and fluffy and just a touch sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It’s so cute and miniature!

Lily got the banana pudding, which I’m normally not a fan of, but this was pretty darn good. It tasted like real bananas and not banana flavoring, and was nice and creamy and topped with something that had the consistency of meringue.

It tastes much better than it looks, I promise.

Ben May got a blueberry cream pie (I think that’s what it was), and it was thick and creamy with fresh blueberries on the bottom. We were all very quiet as we ate our desserts, which is very unlike us, so that’s how you know it was good.

This definitely had a different name than “blueberry cream pie” but I can’t for the life of me think of what it was.

If you get a chance to go to Swig & Swine, you definitely should. Get the family platter and let me know what your favorite meat or side is!

This is exactly how a classy roadside BBQ joint should look.

This is exactly how a roadside BBQ joint should look. Photo via Swig & Swine’s Website

Swig & Swine
1217 Savannah Hwy
Charleston, SC 29407
843-225-3805

10 Comments

Events

Charleston Food Film Festival, Night 1

April 25, 2014

I’m basically a professional photographer.

Last night, Lily and I attended the first night of the 2nd Annual Charleston Food Film Festival atop the USS Yorktown in the Charleston Harbor.

Look how excited we are!

The main feature the first night was “Kings of BBQ Barbecue Kuwait,” a short film by director John Markus (who’s super nice, btw), which chronicles him as he “teams up with the most legendary BBQ Pitmasters in America, travel to the Middle East, and cook an unforgettable homestyle dinner of smoked brisket and chicken for thousands of US troops stationed in Kuwait.”

The film was about 37 minutes long, and was a joy to watch. I was entertained from start to finish. The coolest part was when you were sitting in your seat watching the soldiers enjoy their brisket on the screen, brisket suddenly appeared in your lap for you to try, too. The brisket was provided by Sticky Fingers and was prepared by the pitmasters from the film who’d been cooking it for most of the day.

The best kinds of events are the ones where food magically appears in front of you.

The second film was called “Mile High Pie,” by director Melanie Addington, which told the story of ” mile-high pies at Ed & Kay’s Restaurant in Benton, Arkansas.” The film was about 4 minutes long, and I really enjoyed the lemon meringue pie we sampled during the film, provided by Wild Flour bakery in Charleston.

Magically appearing pie!

After the films were over, there were buffet stations setup with a full BBQ feast available (chicken wings, brisket, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and beers from Holy City Brewery), being served to us by the same pitmasters who were featured in the first film.

So delicious.

Although I took the time to stop and talk to each of the pitmasters, I was extra excited to get a photo with my favorite, Johnny Trigg, a two-time Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational grand champ.

The champ, Johnny Trigg!

I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to talk to director John Markus about what inspired him to make the movie. You can tell by the way he talked (even with BBQ sauce smeared on his cheek) that he put some of his own heart into the film. He seemed to genuinely be pleased to hear that we enjoyed the film.

Director John Markus

I had a crazy amount of fun and can’t wait for tonight and tomorrow’s events, where I’ll be joined by my mom at High Wire Distilling (which I’m excited about because I haven’t been there yet). Tickets are still on sale, and if you enter QUEENS10 at checkout, you’ll save 10%! Hope to see you there!

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Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 2/25/13

February 25, 2013

This week’s quote is inspired by the delicious Barbecue I ate in Orangeburg this weekend. It comes from BBQ enthusiast Vince Staten who wrote a nifty guide about the best BBQ joints and recipes in the US. I haven’t read it yet, but I want to!

“The story of barbecue is the story of America: Settlers arrive on great unspoiled continent, discover wondrous riches, set them on fire and eat them.”
–Vince Staten

Am I the only one who thinks he kind of looks like the Keebler Elf?

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 9/3/12

September 3, 2012

Hope everyone had a safe and fun-filled Labor Day weekend! I know I had fun. A little too much fun, in fact. Lauren was in town, so we went a little crazy with the food and drinks. But it was totally worth it. I’m just glad I had an extra day to recover. Hooray for three day weekends!

On Sunday we saw Legally Blonde: The Musical at the historic Dock Street theater downtown, starring our friend Sean Bear. It was really good, although having no A/C in the theater was not very fun, especially since it was a full house and 92 degrees outside. But, I highly recommend seeing it, ’twas very funny!

I spent most of “Labor” Day sleeping and eating. Which was pretty awesome. I slept til one pm, and then got Jack’s Cosmic Dogs with my parents and Cullen (who were in town for a wedding). Then I took a nap. Then Ben and I watched Meet The Robinsons and then I went to sleep. Pretty much it was the perfect day.

I know I owe you guys a Boston Round Up, so expect that to happen later this week! I’m thinking Thursday.

This week’s quote is in honor of Labor Day, and comes from the ever-hilarious Stephen Colbert. Enjoy!

“Have a relaxing LaborDay everybody! Unless you’re catering my BBQ, in which case, stay focused and keep the sangria chilled.”
–Stephen Colbert

Mmm…. tastes like Patriotism.

Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

JB’s Smokeshack – Closed

February 29, 2012

Update 5/10/18 – It’s with a heavy heart I report the closure of JB’s Smokeshack. The owner retired and tried to sell the business, but no one bought it, so it’s officially closed up shop.

JB’s Smokeshack is the epitome of great barbecue, there are no two ways about it. It embodies all of the characteristics I look for when selecting a quality barbecue joint:

Sweet Tea. Homemade, Paula Deen sweet, and ice cold.
Baked beans with meat in them. Seriously. PUT SOME MEAT IN DEM BEANS.
Pulled pork that tastes delicious before you even put sauce on it. If your meat doesn’t taste like anything before you put the sauce on it, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.
And on the subject of sauce, being a southern girl, I prefer my barbecue sauce to be mustard based. But I’m not opposed to vinegar or tomato based sauces. I just like to have the mustard base sauce as an option in case your other sauces suck.
A buffet, so that I am able to shove as much meat into my face as humanly possible… and then some (that’s what she said?).

JB’s does all of this exceptionally well. You know it has to be good for me to be willing to drive 25 minutes out into the middle of banjo country to get there. Their sweet tea is amazing. The perfect level of sweet, in my opinion. But then again, I subscribe to the Gospel According To Paula Deen (Our sacraments are butter, sugar, and butter….it’s pretty great), so to each his own.

You can’t argue with Paula, ya’ll

When it comes to baked beans, I’m pretty sure I’ve never eaten anything like JB’s. They have some of their pulled pork in the beans, so they’re beany and meaty and sweet and savory all at the same time. Their pulled pork is amazing all on its own. I’ve been to plenty of barbeque places that really rely on their sauce to give the barbeque all of the flavor. And while I agree that the sauce is an integral part of the barbeque equation, I don’t think it should be the main flavor factor. The flavor of the pork should complement the sauce and vice versa, each adding its own flavor profiles to the mix, so it’s like a barbeque party in your mouth. JB’s definitely does this superbly. I could seriously eat their pork without any sauce on it at all. But that would be unfair to their fabulous sauces, which I also love. I like to mix the mustard one with Mama’s Sweet and Spicy (which I’m pretty sure is vinegar based), and it’s AMAZING, trust me on this.

We’re gettin’ a little saucy up in here.

And finally, their buffet is outstanding. I love their beans (obviously), macaroni and cheese (although I’ve definitely had better mac n cheese), collards (spicy and meaty, just the way I like it), green beans, fried okra, and fried creamed corn bites (seriously, those are amazing… I could probably eat 100 of them in one sitting).

This is what I imagine heaven looks like.

They also have a meat station which they alternate the offerings of regularly. They’ve had brisket, ham, etc., which they carve for you right there.

Ron Swanson would get teary-eyed looking at this delicious hunk of meat.

They also have some salad on their buffet, which I’m pretty sure they put there just to taunt you. It stares as you judgementally as you load up your plate with meat and beans and macaroni and meat like “Hey fatty. You know you should just be eating salad. You know you’re going to hate yourself later” but I can never actually hear what it’s saying to me over the sound of my own chewing. I usually make three trips to the buffet, loading up on meat and beans, and then collapse on the table, praying for death….

Sweet, meaty death

So I’ve never actually eaten dessert at JB’s. But I’m sure it’s delicious, because everything else sure is. I really want to try the “pluff mud pudding,” which reminds me of the dirt pudding I used to eat when I was in kindergarten. You know, chocolate pudding, crushed up oreos (to look like dirt) and gummy worms. It’s awesome. Ben got the banana pudding but was unimpressed (but once again, CANADIAN).

Man, feels like kindergarten all over again.

So basically it’s awesome. I would recommend fasting for three days or so before visiting, so that you can truly appreciate the meat cornucopia that is JB’s Smokeshack. They’re also really great people who truly take pride in their food, so how can you go wrong with that?

The word “shack” is not an exaggeration.

Bottom line: Get the meat. And the beans. And everything else. DON’T. STOP. EATING.

JB’s Smokeshack
3406 Maybank Highway
Johns Island, SC 29455
(843) 557-0426

4 Comments

Restaurant Reviews

Eating in Atlanta, In A Nutshell.

January 6, 2012

HAPPY 2012 ERRIBODY! I hope everyone is excited for this upcoming year! I know I am…minus that tiny little detail where “The World Might End in 359 Days”… not that I really believe it. But, you know, it would be nice if it didn’t actually happen. I feel like I’ve almost gotten the hang of this whole “adulthood” thing or whatever.

This is the side of adulthood I’ve really mastered.

For New Year’s Eve, I travelled to Atlanta to visit my friends, “The Hungry People” aka Sean and Christine where I spent a wonderful span of days hopping from one meal to another. There’s so much ethnic food here. It’s kind of like how I imagine heaven. I was really excited to eat Lebanese food Wednesday with my mom and Sean, but on the way to the restaurant, my mom’s car broke down. So not only were we stranded by the side of the road, terrified that the tow truck would never actually come, we were also hungry because our car didn’t have the decency to wait til after lunch to die. Rude, right? So I’m stuck in Atlanta for another night (or three), and I thought this would be a good time to do a roundup review of all the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Atlanta. However, I’m going to break from my usual style and only do brief summaries of each restaurant, because I ate at so many, it got kind of hard to keep track of it all.

This has been me at every meal this week.

1. Cafe Bombay Indian Bistro

We went to Cafe Bombay on Sean’s recommendation–he’d been there with Thomas for lunch a couple weeks earlier. To be honest, I really hadn’t been in the mood for Indian food that day, but that feeling changed the second I stepped in the door. I could just tell by the scent in the air as soon as I opened the door, that this food was going to be delicious, and I definitely was not disappointed. We were there for the lunch buffet, and let me tell you, this is the biggest indian buffet I’d ever seen (and I’ve been to quite a few). We all know, however, that bigger does not necessarily mean better, but Cafe Bombay definitely knows what they’re doing. They don’t sacrifice quality for quantity even in the least.

Trip 1 of 8 through the buffet.

Their paneer tikka masala with their homemade cheese cubes was AMAZING. Usually I don’t care for paneer because it’s usually bland and tasteless, and reminds me too much of tofu, but if I ever go back there, I will order just the paneer tikka masala. Also, they made this chicken that they marinated in cream cheese. That was really good too. Basically everything they made was delicious, and I highly recommend you visit them if you ever have the chance. But, don’t be surprised if you leave never wanting to eat ever again.

#1 indeed!

Cafe Bombay
2615 Briarcliff Road
Northeast Atlanta, GA 30329-3112
(404) 320-0229

2. Sushi Kiku

So Sean went and woke up (ish) Raina on New Years Day to ask her about a sushi buffet place she’d talked about. She snored out the words “sushi kiku” and Sean decided that’s where we were going to eat for lunch. So Thomas, Sean, Christine, and I ventured out to Buckhead to shove some sushi into our faces. They made about two rolls of each type of sushi at a time, so they really weren’t out long enough to get gross or weird, and I’m pretty sure they changed them out at regular intervals. Every time I went up to the bar, there were different rolls out to try. I was quite impressed.

A very pleasant surprise!

I think they probably had a 9 or 10 rolls total to choose from, and you better believe I tried some of each, and then second helpings of the rolls I liked best. But be warned, their spicy mayo is super spicy. They also had a bunch of non-sushi items for those who aren’t really the lovers of the sushi–steak, salads, fried rice, chicken, pot stickers, cheesy scalloped potatoes (I guess for those people who don’t like japanese food either…I guess no one can say they’re not diverse!), and some dessert items that I couldn’t really look at without feeling nauseous because I’d eaten so much, but Sean assured me they were delicious. I found out that the apartment above Sushi Kiku was for rent, and I seriously considered moving in, dreaming of eating at Sushi Kiku every day…

Because sushi + cats = happiness.

You should definitely try Sushi Kiku if you’re into sushi and like variety. It wasn’t necessarily the best sushi I’d ever had, but it was pretty good, and it was cheap for a sushi buffet, like $12.99 per person for lunch. Which is great, because I definitely ate my money’s worth of sushi. Even though it wasn’t my favorite sushi ever, the quality was still very high, and it was good, and the value was great, so I would definitely recommend it if you’re into sushi.

Sushi-palooza

Sushi Kiku
2770 Lenox Road Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30324-6006
(404) 467-4544

3. Fat Matt’s Rib Shack

Wednesday was kind of a crazy day. Our original plan was to get some lebanese food with my mom when she came to pick me up, but then the car broke down on 85, which kind of threw a wrench in that plan. We’d had a crazy morning filled with running up an exit ramp against my mother’s wishes, waiting half an hour for Thomas to come rescue us, waiting for the AAA people to figure out what they were doing with the car (which they never ended up doing), etc., before we were free(ish) to FINALLY find something to eat. Only we were so far away from our original destination we were left to answer that age old question “What shall we eat?”

WHY, GOD, HAVE YOU CURSED ME WITH SO MANY CHOICES?!

After driving around for about half an hour trying to figure out what we wanted, Sean finally had the brilliant idea to try out Fat Matt’s, a place he’d wanted to try for a while. We all liked barbecue, and we were half starving to death, so we decided that was where we would eat. The restaurant itself is an unassuming little diner-type building, and the few menu items were written on a board near the ordering counter.

I’ll have….one of everything on the menu.

I ordered the chopped pork sandwich, minus the bun, with a side of macaroni and cheese and collards. Tina got a combo plate of chicken and ribs, with rum baked beans. Sean got ribs with macaroni, and Thomas got the combo plate, but I don’t remember what sides he got. The combo plates came with toast, and the chicken was delicious, as were the ribs. My pork was delicious, and the barbecue sauce was the perfect blend of spicy, tangy, and sweet. The collards were really good, but super spicy, and the macaroni was delicious.

This is some good stuff.

The food was delicious, the atmosphere was comfortable and homey, and the bathrooms were nice and clean. Also, it looks like they have a stage set up for concerts, which I think would be very cool. Check it out!

Fat Matt’s Rib Shack
1811 Piedmont Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 607-1622