Smokin’ up flavour of Deep South
NEW RESTAURANT HELPS YOU TASTE THE AMERICAN DREAM
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE’S newest restaurant is smokin.’
Food lovers can enjoy a taste of America’s Deep South with barbecue classics and decadent milkshakes on the menu.
Pitmasters work their magic in an open kitchen at Hickory’s Smokehouse, which transports diners from Nuthall to Texas in a rustic US diner setting.
Customers choose from a newspaper-style menu - the eight-hour smoked beef rib, rubbed in ‘magic dust’ and glazed in sweet Tennessee bourbon gravy, making the headlines.
The lip-smacking, sticky finger starters frickles (deep-fried pickles), burnt end popcorn bites, slow-smoked chicken wings and an American pretzel kick off the feast.
Expect to get messy - in readiness there’s kitchen roll on the tables instead of flimsy napkins.
The smokehouse section of the menu features all the classics: Texas-style brisket, barbecue hand-pulled pork, Memphis-style baby back ribs and hickory wood smoked pork, jalapeno and cheese sausage. Can’t decide which to go for? The £47 platter solves that dilemma by serving up a bit of everything.
The chicken fried waffle with bacon and maple syrup is deceptively filling. Not everything is deep-fried. Cajunrubbed salmon and roast seabass served with prawns, creole rice and lime are two of the healthier options.
For the ultimate comfort food, try gumbo, a hot and spicy southern stew, or dive into the mac ‘n’ cheese.
There’s burgers, of course, with a choice of beef, chicken, a mix of both, veggie/vegan and the towering Go Big or Go Home Burger for anyone with a huge appetite.
The American dream continues with desserts of ice cream cookies sandwiches, Alabama chocolate fudge cake, and probably the most fun of all, marshmallows which you can toast at the table on your very own campfire.
Drinks have an USA theme from the Cotton Candy gin cocktail to blueberry lemonade and Budweiser to Cosmic Unicorn milkshake.
The former Brewers Fayre pub Oldmoor Lodge in Mornington Crescent, has metamorphosed, and staff have been employed based on their personality and character due to the company’s no CVS policy.
Executive head chef Rob Bacon said: “The brisket is probably the most popular dish on the menu. Next is the smokehouse platter as it has a bit of everything on there. They fly out there when we do a new opening.”
With 350 seats inside and outside on the veranda it’s one of the company’s biggest restaurants, complete with a children’s play area.
Hickory’s founder Neil Mcdonnell believes British barbecue has become as good as America, which is considered the birthplace of barbecue.
He said: “The idea of Hickory’s came out of a road trip through Texas and Louisiana. America has led the way but I feel we’ve not only just caught up, we’ve probably overtaken. I think it’s more genuine, it’s more authentic than some of the states you see out there.
“We concentrate on the southern states with Hickory’s. Some of the meat-based places in Texas are fantastic but some of the hygiene has very different rules to here.
“When we go down a dusty track and find obscure barbecue places, they’ve got the carcass of the meat hanging and flies coming and the barbecue is being cooked outside. It’s so different to the rules and regulations of how we do things here.”
Hickory’s Smokehouse is set to open on Monday.