Foods from Lexington Smokehouse and Bar
Comments
2019 Jul 23
Went Saturday night. My wife and I were dropping our kid off in Westboro, and hadn't eaten yet.
Room was nice, some exposed brick, some wood, though sort of a modern look. Definitely loud -- hard to be heard at times over music and other diners trying to talk over the music. Youngish crowd. Nice casual service.
Brussels sprouts for a snack (really good), and then shared the Beef Cheek Nicoise, and a thing they call To Start which is two meats and 2 sides -- we got brisket and pulled pork, fries and potato salad.
We really enjoyed everything, though I think we could have done better on the sides -- fries were fantastic, but potato salad (apart from doubling up on potatos) a bit bland.
Nicoise was great if a bit unusual -- typical cherry tomatoes, new potatoes, haricots vert, with tapenade instead of whole olives -- on a less typical creamy tarragon dressing, topped with really smoky slices of beef cheek.
The barbecue was really nice. I already lauded the beef cheeks on my salad, the brisket was super tender and well flavoured, and the pulled pork was good too. House bbq sauces all good, liked the Carolina best.
Saw the earlier comment re value. Maybe they have shaken up their menu, but we thought they did pretty well on the value front. At $15 the salad was solid and the To Start, at $26, also seemed well-priced. Good sized portions of everything, and lots of little pickle accessories. Agree that the coleslaw was served in a thimble on the To Start plate -- sounds like we got the same thimble as the earlier writer -- but it seemed like more of an accent than a side, so not an issue for us.
Beer to wash it down.
We left full and happy.
Room was nice, some exposed brick, some wood, though sort of a modern look. Definitely loud -- hard to be heard at times over music and other diners trying to talk over the music. Youngish crowd. Nice casual service.
Brussels sprouts for a snack (really good), and then shared the Beef Cheek Nicoise, and a thing they call To Start which is two meats and 2 sides -- we got brisket and pulled pork, fries and potato salad.
We really enjoyed everything, though I think we could have done better on the sides -- fries were fantastic, but potato salad (apart from doubling up on potatos) a bit bland.
Nicoise was great if a bit unusual -- typical cherry tomatoes, new potatoes, haricots vert, with tapenade instead of whole olives -- on a less typical creamy tarragon dressing, topped with really smoky slices of beef cheek.
The barbecue was really nice. I already lauded the beef cheeks on my salad, the brisket was super tender and well flavoured, and the pulled pork was good too. House bbq sauces all good, liked the Carolina best.
Saw the earlier comment re value. Maybe they have shaken up their menu, but we thought they did pretty well on the value front. At $15 the salad was solid and the To Start, at $26, also seemed well-priced. Good sized portions of everything, and lots of little pickle accessories. Agree that the coleslaw was served in a thimble on the To Start plate -- sounds like we got the same thimble as the earlier writer -- but it seemed like more of an accent than a side, so not an issue for us.
Beer to wash it down.
We left full and happy.
2019 Jun 16
I wanted to love this place as it came highly recommended by a foodie friend of mine, but it fell short of expectations.
First: burger. Very good bacon, nice fresh soft ciabatta bun but otherwise a miss. The burger itself was two small patties, way too small for the $18 price point. The meat had no texture, certainly not grilled and hard to tell if fried on griddle as there was no bark on exterior. It had a fast food mouthfeel although the meat is advertised as local and high quality from O'Briens. Processed cheese which is inexcusable at this price. No cold veggie toppings instead fried onions which is all the rage among the chains. The lack of raw veggies like tomato, onions, greens is a lamentable shortcut.
The shoestring fries were very good but too small a portion. Even the ketchup provided was pathetically short in supply as was the Cole slaw which was in the same tiny condiment thimble as the ketchup. Cheap.
I tasted a bit from my friend's fried chicken. Great breading, good flavour, but tiny pieces. Again, poor value for what I think was also an $18 plate.
Finally, very good service and nice ambience. However, will not be back for anything other than beer. Good draft selection of 14 oz brews for $6.
First: burger. Very good bacon, nice fresh soft ciabatta bun but otherwise a miss. The burger itself was two small patties, way too small for the $18 price point. The meat had no texture, certainly not grilled and hard to tell if fried on griddle as there was no bark on exterior. It had a fast food mouthfeel although the meat is advertised as local and high quality from O'Briens. Processed cheese which is inexcusable at this price. No cold veggie toppings instead fried onions which is all the rage among the chains. The lack of raw veggies like tomato, onions, greens is a lamentable shortcut.
The shoestring fries were very good but too small a portion. Even the ketchup provided was pathetically short in supply as was the Cole slaw which was in the same tiny condiment thimble as the ketchup. Cheap.
I tasted a bit from my friend's fried chicken. Great breading, good flavour, but tiny pieces. Again, poor value for what I think was also an $18 plate.
Finally, very good service and nice ambience. However, will not be back for anything other than beer. Good draft selection of 14 oz brews for $6.
2019 Aug 12
A pretty well brined and fried chicken on a biscuit with coleslaw and a side of creamy Mac and cheese. I added show string fries which were quite salty. Nice texture but salty. The food is rich so it’s filling fast!
There is a nice selection of local beers on tap and a good wine selection. Service is very good too.
There is a nice selection of local beers on tap and a good wine selection. Service is very good too.
James C.
First off, we ordered what they called the date night special. For $78 we got four meats (we choose brisket, pulled pork, fried chicken and the flank steak), a massive portion of mac and cheese and cowboy beans, two pieces of cornbread, a slice of cake, and a bottle of wine which if we had ordered separately would have been $50. So all in all, a really really good deal.
Let's go into the dishes component by component.
The brisket was melt in your mouth tender. It packed such a good rub that it didn't need any sauce, it had a great ratio of fat to meat, and it was far and away my favourite part of the meal.
The pulled pork was also excellent. Fat chunks mixed in, with a carolina style vinegar sauce that cut the richness nicely. If we hadn't gotten the brisket, this would have been my favourite.
The fried chicken was good. Crisp outside, juicy inside. The batter contains a fair bit of cayenne or something similar, it left my mouth tingly. If you like spicy fried chicken, you can't go wrong.
The flank steak was, unfortuantely, our least favourite. It was quite dry, and chewy. Even with sauce, it wasn't that good. I mean, it was tasty, but I'd rate it ok, instead of good. We both agreed, our least favourite.
The mac and cheese was standout. It was creamy, rich, and flavourful. The mac was cooked perfectly, not soggy, even for takeout. Highly recommended side.
The beans were also good. The sauce was spicy. The beans weren't overcooked, nor were they undercooked, but they still had some firmness to them that we are unused to. That being said, after two days in the fridge, then reheated over gentle heat on the stove, the beans became much softer and creamier and were delicious on our monday leftover dinner.
The cornbread was straight up divine. They included a tomato jam, but you don;t need it. It is so moist and flavourful, you don;t even need butter on it.
Finally, the cake was a decent piece of chocolate cake. I am not a big sweets person, so my wife ate most of it. She really really loved it tho.
The wine they sent us was perfectly balanced, not too sweet, and very very tasty. We enjoyed it alot.
I highly recommend getting their food. If you live within 6k, you can get it delivered. Otherwise, get takeout. Try all the cocktails too