Monk’s BBQ, Purcellville, Virginia

I’ve been revisiting barbecue places lately for two reasons, first in order to eat barbecue, and second, as research for updating my highly competitive Ten Best Barbecue in Virginia and Best Barbecue in the Washington Area lists. I was especially interested in re-checking Monk’s BBQ out in Purcellville. I say “out in Purcellville” because it’s almost 50 road miles from my home in Washington, out in Loudoun County. Loudoun used to be fox hunt country, but is increasingly the site of very high end suburbs — the median income of over $170,000 is the highest in the country.

Monk’s is something of an oasis. There’s nothing fancy about it. It’s in a big old feedhouse of a building with big smokers outside fueled entirely with wood. There’s abundant seating outside as well as in,

and a large, well-stocked bar.

The street address, 251 North 21st Street, makes is seem more urban than it is. There’s a small historic core that boasts an American Legion Hall and a shopping center on the outskirts with a Dollar Tree.

I’d been to Monk’s earlier, and it didn’t quite make the Top 10, but everyone gets a second chance. I did not check some foods that Nancy and I both liked so much on our first trip, the smoked chicken, their excellent Texas Hot Link, or their custard-filled corn bread. (Try it.) This time I drove out and arrived for an early lunch. I looked over the menu (meat prices are by the half pound) and settled on a pastrami sandwich (I’m also surveying pastrami sandwiches, in both barbecue paces and delis).

I also ordered a Kids Meal of half pork and half brisket.

First the pastrami sandwich.  Let’s peek inside.

The meat was very tender and tasty.  The bread, a marble rye, was pretty well flavored by quite thick, and they only had ballpark mustard (forr, I suppose, the mustard-based barbecue sauce, but ….) Under the circumstances, I just skipped the bread and focused on the meat, which, as I say, was tender and the flavor was very good. It wasn’t as pronounced as some other places, say Silver and Sons, 2fifty, and HammerDown in terms of either spices or smoke. I suspect that a good mustard would have helped draw out the flavor. I note that a discerning friend was disappointed with the HammerDown pastrami when it was served in a Reuben with Russian dressing, as opposed to the Pommery mustard that I enjoyed so.)

Moving on to my kids meal — and I recommend child portions when you want to try more than one meat — the brisket was as tender as you could want and a noticeable albeit slightly muted smoke flavor. This brisket was much improved from that in my earlier trip to Monk’s, and they have reason to be proud of their brisket. The pork, which I’d liked a lot before seemed to have backslid, although that probably reflects that I’d had some great pork in Virginia since then, notably the superb pork at Redemption down in Richmond recently. Both the vinegary white sauce and the well seasoned mustard sauce improved it.

My two orders each came with a side, and I chose collards and potato salad.

The potato salad was very good, as to both flavor and texture. The potatoes were cooked just the right amount, and the salad was not over-dressed. The collards were pretty good, too, and I do like to get my vitamins.

I was pleased with Monk’s overall, but I wish it were closer. It ended up being close to three hours of driving time going and coming home. I’m very glad I took the trouble, though. The pastrami is a great find, and I was very pleased with improvement in the briskect. I may well have caught their pork on an off day, and I welcome your comments. If you live closer than I, give it a test.

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