ottawa foodies

I went to the new location on Clarence St. Menu set up was a bit different and they seemed to be working with the Clocktower as all of their beer was available on tap. Jerk wings, hot rib tips and baked beans were great. Inconsistent seasoning but I will be back.

A bunch of us stopped by for a Friday lunch. I tried the jerk and hot bbq wings as well as the baked beans. I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the food arrived (5 minutes?) especially on a Friday. The service was very efficient but the jerk wings had been pre cooked a while earlier judging by the temp. Both sets of wings were generously sauced and delicious and I could drink a pint of the hot one. Their beans are awesome. Smokey and sweet, chunked with brisket, I should always remember to get the large portion especially when someone else is paying.

So my coworkers took me here for lunch on my last day of work...

And I was a bit angry at first because I figured they wouldn't have any vegetarian options!!! I couldn't believe my coworkers forgot and suggested this place..

But lo' and behold - they have an absolutely spectacular vegan sausage option! :D

Great local beers on tap to wash it down, too .

We stopped in to satisfy our BBQ craving. I love the baked beans! Chunks of brisket in a tangy , spicy deliciously sauced beantastic dish. Disappointingly, they were out of my favourite hot sauce which is great on their wings. I opted for their andouille sausage. It was very good. Leftovers were gobbled down for breakfast 😳.

This continues to be a nice option for those who don't have proper bbq equipment at home and for those who don't like using the bbq in the winter. ;-)

On my last visit (more than 4 years ago), I didn't really enjoy the pulled pork or brisket. So this time we ordered the BBQ Chicken and Pork Side Ribs. Both of these were excellent although the white meat portions of chicken were a little dry before dredging them in the bbq sauce on the serving dish.

The Caesar Salad, Mac and Cheese, and Southern Style Greens were all quite good as we'd remembered before.

One nice extra: they had the seasonal Beau's Triceratops Tripel on tap and it was spectacular, with its floral-herbal background flavours and dangerously unnoticeable 9% alcohol content!

This Sunday around Brunch o'clock the BF was wanting to head out. I wasn't feeling particularly Eggie so I thought to myself - how can I hijack brunch into Lunch... BBQ!

BF got the brisket sandwich (they have added crispy fried onions to this sandwich that add a nice crunch!) He was pleased for sure. The brisket has really nice smokey flavour that goes well with the coffee BBQ sauce.

I ordered 1/4 LB of the pulled pork and it was delightful. I wish it had been a tiny bit saucier but I spent the 1$ and added an extra side of the bourbon BBQ sauce (not for tea-totallers!). It comes with a nice little ace bun if you want to make yourself a tasty little pull pork slider!

We got the corn bread and deep fried pickles as our sides and were not disappointed. The pickles were crisp and nicely complimented by a dilly ranch sauce and the cornbread was enhanced nicely by my extra BBQ sauce.

Service was actually the best I've ever had at Shack - albeit it wasn't that busy. Our server was friendly, effective, and attentive which always makes me enjoy my meal that much more :) !!!

I included a pic of their weekly special board in case any one was interested. Cheers!

My second time visiting Smoque and it was so-so...Ordered the Brisket Sandwich which came flooded in bbq sauce...couldnt taste the meat at all. Mac & Cheese was creamy overall very good. Poutine was nice but nothing special.

I will be back because I love bbq and Ottawa has not much to offer. Too bad D&S BBQ is far out of town.

I was here a few months ago when the BF had a hankering for southern food. The original destination was supposed to be FatBoys but at the last minute we switched to Smoque Shack. He ordered two types of meat, I ordered the smoked tofu sandwich, and we split three sides - mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, and cornbread.

My sandwich was pretty underwhelming but I honestly can't blame them. The tofu was messy and kept sliding off the bun, not the biggest issue but I definitely didn't taste any "smoke" - just your average chunk of firm tofu slathered in bbq sauce. Not roasted, not fried, just kinda...heated up. The combination of a roasted red pepper, cheddar cheese, tofu and bbq sauce just didn't do it for me, it was all mush and super sweet.

As for the sides, 2/3 were incredible. I would go back to this place and just order sides for dinner. The mac and cheese which had a great breadcrumb crust and bits of jalapeno, and somehow the sweet potato fries were simply the best I have ever tasted. I've never been a fan of cornbread so I stuck to the other two and man, were they ever good.

I'm back to post one more review since I returned to the Smoque Shack last night for what is becoming monthly visits.

Last night I decided to try a burger since they look good but are seldomly reviewed. Perhaps they are not big sellers? I decided on this visit to order a Shack burger consisting of ground beef seasoned with a house blend of spices, a thick slice of smoked bacon, and cheddar. The flavours blended nicely and the burger was actually nicely cooked. Not the medium-rare that I like but I find Ottawa restaurant hamburgers tend to be overcooked. The Smoque Shack version was more on the medium-well side. I ordered some creamy coleslaw and fries on the side. My only complaint is that there was a little too much salad dressing on the coleslaw but everything else was perfect.

Last Thursday I paid a long overdue visit to the Smoque Shaque. I noticed a few small changes - they've added pricing to the online menu as well as some new menu items since my last visit a couple of years ago. Despite the temptation of trying something new I gravitated to my usual favourites of the sample platter, corn bread and mac 'n cheese. I chose the pork ribs, pulled pork, and bbq chicken all of which were delicious. The corn bread was moist and delicious and the mac 'n cheese is still my most favourite menu item. I wish I had read W.C.'s review and in particular about mac 'n cheese with curds and BACON! I was not able to finish my meal so they packaged up my leftovers and I had enough smokey goodness to last two more dinners-;)

Wifey and I finally visited on a Saturday night. It's casual inside and the food value is good. We shared a bunch of appetizers and sides and had a one-person 3-meat combo plate as follows:

* Caesar Salad - Tasty all around, generous croutons, and amazing chunks of smoky bacon.
* Baby Back Ribs - Good chewy texture, pretty decent smoke flavour.
* Beef Brisket - Tender, not a lot of smoke taste, I didn't like the sauce.
* Jerk Pork - Tasted like an oven-roasted pork loin, chopped up and tossed with a homemade jerk sauce with good heat. Again, this sauce was not to my taste. We actually left it.
* Mac and Cheese - Really nice, browned on top, macaroni not overcooked, and with tasty cheese.
* Corn Bread - Surprisingly not too sweet but a little dryer than I like. Would benefit from a dab of butter or a sauce worthy of dipping.
* Southern Greens - My favourite dish by far! Tender, tasty greens in a flavourful sauce, adorned with generous hunks of smoky bacon. Spectacular!

The Chicken and Waffles ($12) looked pretty amazing. Generous boneless chunks of (mostly) moist breast meat started out promising but suffered from a strangely bland but delightfully crunchy breading. I dipped them into the sauce of my Southern Style Greens ($5.50) to make them nice. The waffle itself was a hearty cornmeal one that needed dipping in the sweet apple-tinged syrup before eating. Nestled amongst the chicken pieces was a thick slab of icing sugar doused butter that also helped lubricate the waffle.

My palate was uncomfortably confused by the icing sugar on the chicken and the sliced scallions with syrup. Some people might like these combinations more than I do, so please accept my discomfort with appropriate skepticism.