I am a true southerner. South Brooklyn, that is. Born and bred. Even though I don’t ride around on candy paint, or refer to everyone as “shawty,” I feel that I’ve eaten enough real southern BBQ to earn the right to marry my first cousin. For my BBQ fix I usually head to Jakes BBQ in the Columbia waterfront district of Brooklyn, but my new year’s resolution for 2012 was to not eat at the same place twice. So I whipped out my shamefully long list of places I wanted to checkout and decided on Mable’s Smoke House in Williamsburg. I strapped on my hipster repellent and headed down to PBR heaven.
Mable’s Smoke House is located on North 11th Street and Berry Avenue, in the ‘burg. It’s a self service type place, where you order from the counter and the food is brought over to you. There is a full service bar and communal seating, which I hate. I don't feel I should have to suffer by sitting next to some hipster while he plans his next demonstration for Occupy Wall street. Luckily it was a Sunday night at 9pm and the place was dead. After a quick skim of the menu, here’s what my friend and I decided to order:
Fritos Pie ($7) : Anyone who knows me knows that I love pie. Apple pie, cherry pie... all kinds of pie. So when I heard they had a fritos pie, I needed to have one. A 50 cent bag of fritos chips ripped open and topped with ground beef, shredded cheddar and a side of sour cream. Basically, hillbilly nachos. The beef had a little kick to it but the sour cream took it down a notch. The pie was probably as good as panty pie.
DeLux Platter ($28) : Your choice of three meats and three sides, plus pickles, jalapenos, sliced onions and wonder bread.We chose the brisket, pulled pork and St.Louis ribs. For Sides we went with Mac & cheese and a coleslaw.
Brisket: Tender pieces of thickly sliced brisket that fell apart when I lifted them from the dish. A mild, smoked flavor that brushed your palate with utter goodness with every bite.
Pulled Pork: Chunks of pulled pork served dry (without BBQ sauce). I topped it off with Mable’s BBQ sauce and it was like I walked into the nexus of another universe. I think of myself as a BBQ connoisseur. I mean, I put that shit on my eggs. And I’ve never tasted a BBQ sauce like this before in my life. It was sweet, smokey, tangy… everything a good BBQ sauce should be.
St. Louis Ribs: There’s always the debate of dry ribs (without BBQ sauce) vs. wet ribs (with BBQ sauce). I don’t like dry pussy, so why on g-d’s green earth would I want my ribs dry? When a rib is cooked properly the sugar from the BBQ caramelizes the meat, thus forming a crust, giving you a crunchy out layer and sealing the juices inside giving you a juicy, tender, rib. And that’s exactly what this rib had. This rib should be inducted into the rib hall of fame.
Mac & Cheese : Old school Mac & Cheese made with elbo macaroni. Creamy and good.
Coleslaw : Fresh, crunchy and cool down some of the heat that from some of the meats.
The bill came to $40.24. That is dirt cheap. It was a lot of food, not enough to put you in a food coma but just enough to hit your craving for good BBQ. With all the BBQ joints popping up in Brooklyn Mable's makes my list of the top 3. Mable's was a great way to kick off 2012 and sticking to my new year's resolution. Eh, fuck resolutions, we just got reservations.
Mable's Smoke House
44 Berry St Brooklyn, NY 11249
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