The Smokehouse in Hilton Head, South Carolina

March 5, 2015:

The Smokehouse on Hilton Head is a spacious sports bar with a large beer selection, lots of TVs, steaks and seafood along with standard bar food, along with smoked meats and what they call barbecue. It illustrates the difference between smoked meat and barbecue. Smoking involves cooking meat slowly over indirect heat.  Barbecue, properly considered, is cooked slowly over an open pit. Both involve a fragrant wood — hickory — or oak or mesquite if you don’t have any hickory.

I used to have a smoker which I used to smoke turkeys. The result was very good, but then you have to eat your way through ten pounds or so of smoked turkey, so I eventually gave it away. I use a Weber grill or two for barbecue. Eating my way through 10 or 30 pounds is all too easy.

At the Smokehouse, Nancy and I got cups of chili (Nancy) and Brunswick Stew (me) and we split a combination plate of pork, brisket, ribs, and chicken. The chicken was outstanding, perhaps the Platonic ideal of smoked chicken — moist, tender and full of smoky chicken flavor. (Chicken can have flavor.)  Indeed, Nancy and I fought fiercely over the chicken breast. She won, of course, and I was limited to only about 60 percent of it.

The ribs were ok and the brisket was inoffensive, but the pork was flat bad. It was dry and flavorless, neither of which smoked meat should be, least of all pork. I suspect they may have the pork in the oven, but I am otherwise baffled. The collards were good and the slaw was fine.

They have several sauces, none of which is remarkable. I tried each and, on the waiter’s advice mixed their “hot” sauce with their mustard sauce. I tried it and added some Texas Pete, which helped. The chicken needs no sauce.

Nancy’s chili tasted mainly of tomato. The beef was brisket, which could have been a nice touch, but the absence of cumin and a light hand with chili made it more of a chili-beef soup. The brunswick stew was pretty much a waste of time.

So go to the Smokehouse if you want to watch sports and drink beer. The chicken is way above sports bar standards.