On every recent return trip from CT, my beau has pointed to a new-ish bbq restaurant and said “man, we gotta go there.” After a good review by Grub Street there was no more waiting around. We made a point to go. Located in the Mott Haven area of the Bronx, Hudson Smokehouse is actually super easy for us to get to from our Harlem location…which is good because they’re turning out some solid bbq.
The restaurant itself is your standard bbq joint with exposed brick, wood, and some industrial elements. What wowed me the most was their beer system. They have special [reusable] plastic cups with a hole and magnet at the bottom that you press down onto the bar and it fills, bottom up. Technology! What will they think of next?!
The menu is large, with tons of different meats on offer. We wanted to try it all so we ordered an absurd amount of food, intentionally getting enough to take home for a suppertime part 2. For the meats we tried brisket, pulled pork, smoked fried wings with Alabama white sauce, rib tips, jalapeño cheddar sausage, and smoked pastrami. For sides, they were sadly out of collards so we got mac and cheese, cole slaw, cucumbers, and cheesy potatoes. Ok so that was a lot. Overall we loved our meal(s) and are already planning a return. When it comes to sides, I found most everything standard and appreciate that they didn’t try to go crazy or get fancy with any of it. I wouldn’t get the cucumbers again (the vinegar/sugar ratio was off vs. what I’m used to and love), but the cheesy potatoes were spicy and definitely stood out from the lot. As for the meat, everything tasted great but the rib tips and pork were the most forgettable. What I won’t forget, though, are those chicken wings and pastrami. I never see Alabama white sauce outside of Alabama, yet it’s so so good. They did a great job with it and kept the wings nice and crispy. The pastrami was also fabulous. I’ve never had pastrami at a bbq spot (in fact, I never had pastrami at all til moving to NYC) but this made me wonder why. It was smoky, peppery, and tender. It’s only available on Saturdays and I would recommend building your visit around it.
It’s nice to get bbq that doesn’t feel so citified. We were in the market for some good smoked meat and that’s exactly what we got.
Peaches to Apples 