Over the past couple of years we’ve seen quite a few BBQ restaurants open up in and around Toronto. The newest kid in the playground is Smoque N Bones which opened up in early May. Owner, Alex Rad, walked away from a job in corporate finance to open up his restaurant almost across the road from Trinity Bellwoods in a space previously occupied by a Gino’s Pizza.
Owner of Smoque N Bones, Alex Rad
I was recently given the opportunity to bring three friends and visit the restaurant to sample a few of their dishes and see how well they pair with Samuel Adams Lager, available on tap. From almost half a block away you could smell the smoke and I knew I was in for a southern BBQ treat.
We started the festivities with a sampling of the sides dishes that are on the menu.
Side dishes at Smoque N Bones
The sides consisted of coleslaw, potato salad, collard greens, mac & cheese, baked beans and candied yams. Asking me to pick a favourite would be a tough one, but if I was really pressed for an answer, I’d have to say it was the candied yams, followed by the potato salad. The yams were nice and sweet and the Samuel Adams Lager worked really well to cut through some of the sweetness. Someone on the table mentioned that they thought the potato salad was a bit dense, but that’s what I liked about it. There were also pieces of pulled pork mixed in that added a bit of smokiness. However I will say that I didn’t like the baked beans as much because I thought it had a strong ketchup taste.
Shoestring fries, onion rings and sweet potato waffle fries | Photo Credit: Jeffrey Chan Photography
After the sides we were served three ‘buckets’ filled with different types of fried goodness. We had shoestring fries, onion rings and waffle sweet potato fries, All three items were nice and crispy and the spicy dipping sauce worked very well with all three.
Bread basket from Smoque N Bones | Photo credit: Jeffrey Chan Photography
What’s BBQ without bread? Alex served up a nice variety in his bread basket, consisting of cornbread, cheese twists, hush puppies and a flaky biscuit. They were all delicious, though the cornbread would have benefited with some pieces of jalapeño. It did, however, go well with the spicy dipping sauce that came with the fries.
Next came the star of the show: the four-hour-smoked pork ribs! Alex uses a top of the line Southern Pride smoker to ensure he gets perfect smoky taste throughout the meat. The ribs weren’t fall-off-the-bones tender, which is a good thing. When I’m eating meat I’m expecting it to put up a little resistance and these were just how I liked them. The ribs are served right out of the smoker and naked, so you get the true taste of the meat, spice rub and hickory.
The Samuel Adams Lager was a good choice with this dish and even though I felt that it was a bit “hoppy”, I thought it went really well with the smoked meat. One of my guests, who confessed to not drinking beer often, commented that even though she got the flavour of the hops, it was still smooth and enjoyable for her.
Naked ribs straight from the smoker
I am not a big fan of over sauced meat, so I was really happy to see the ribs come with a little cup of BBQ sauce on the side. By doing it this way the customer can ‘paint on’ as little or as much as they’d like, although these ribs wouldn’t have suffered without the sauce. Another observation I had, after following a bite of the meat with the Samuel Adams Lager, was that there was no lingering aftertaste, which wasn’t a bad thing in this case.
Time to paint those ribs | Photo credit: Jeffrey Chan Photography
There were a few hiccups that occurred on the night we were there, but nothing that time won’t fix. Alex isn’t a seasoned restaurateur, just a man with a dream, and the balls to go out and make his dreams come through. I’m going to give Smoque N Bones some time and I will definitely be back to try his other offerings. Rumour has it the brisket is delicious, so that’s a must for my next visit!
Smoque N Bones
869 Queen St W,
Toronto, ON M6J 1G4
647-341-5730
Disclosure:
All photographs shot by Jeffrey Chan Photography appear with permission.
This post is sponsored by Branding & Buzzing but all opinions are my own.
