When the southern cooking restaurant Buntyn Café closed its doors, Patrick’s had big shoes to fill. I miss the homemade buttery yeast rolls and fried okra from Buntyn, but Patrick’s mesquite-smoked ribs won me over. So much, that I began including mesquite in my barbecue, a full-flavored wood many pit-masters shy away from using. Check back in the future for a full review. If you’d like to read more about it sooner, comment to let me know. Until then, don’t miss my Quick-Fire Guide below. Also check out full reviews and Quick-Fire Guides of other bbq restaurants from my BBQ Guide.
Quick-Fire Guide:
Mesquite-Smoked Pork Ribs, Fries and Slaw From Patrick’s in Memphis
Here are a few notes about the ‘que:
Tenderness-
- Ribs-Were tender and moist with nice exterior bark.
- Shoulder-Was mostly tender, but a touch dry in places. I didn’t care for how the meat was pulled into long thin shreds, sort of stringy.
Smoke-
- Ribs-Were actually mesquite-smoked, which is uncommon for the South. Typically, mesquite is known as a western wood, commonly used for beef, which has bold enough flavor to stand up to the strong wood. But it actually worked beautifully with the pork ribs. The smoke flavor was full, but well balanced. It was actually after having these ribs in 2011 that I began experimenting with mesquite-smoked pork at home.
- Shoulder-I wanted more smoke flavor for the pork shoulder.
Sauce-On my first visit, the shoulder was served with a peppery sauce. I like pepper, but I thought it had too much. Interestingly, on my second visit, the sauce served with the ribs was a thick, sweet sauce, but nicely balanced with tanginess and a touch of heat. I enjoyed sopping up the leftover sauce with the fires, which reminded me of Chicago style rib tips and fries.
Slaw-First visit when my family dined in-I liked the flavor of the slaw, which had plenty of red cabbage as well, but I prefer a finer chop to compliment bbq, instead of the long, stringy strands of cabbage, which can be a struggle to eat in a sandwich. Second visit, when Blake and I picked up take-out ribs-the slaw was now different. It was more finely chopped and did not include the red cabbage as the slaw did on our first visit.
Thanks for visiting my Memphis bbq blog! Comments, rants, raves, disagreements and downright bbq feuds are welcome below. Tim Shirley