The decor is all functionality and no frippery- walls and floors are bare wood, and even the Christmas tree is a pyramid of Brooklyn Beer kegs festooned with fairy lights. It's pretty much what you'd expect a smokehouse to look like in 2015; as a bonus the staff have some serious facial hair, with the kind of beards you could lose a badger in.
The menu is simple here: you choose brisket, pulled pork or barbecued chicken. Each meat (and yes, you can mix and match) comes with fries, hot links and coleslaw. A burger, a couple of hot dogs and a choice of two sandwiches completes the list: you get the feeling they would rather do feweer things well and stay true to the traditions of this food, than to go all-singing and all-dancing.
As a whistle-stop tour of the menu, the 'Backwoods Challenge' seemed the best option. It's designed as a sharing plate, and they're not kidding: there's a serious amount of food on display. A couple of pulled pork plates completed our order. (Incidentally- you normally have to ask for this when you book: they were very accommodating, however, and sorted us out. And no, they didn't know I'd be writing this at the time).
As a whistle-stop tour of the menu, the 'Backwoods Challenge' seemed the best option. It's designed as a sharing plate, and they're not kidding: there's a serious amount of food on display. A couple of pulled pork plates completed our order. (Incidentally- you normally have to ask for this when you book: they were very accommodating, however, and sorted us out. And no, they didn't know I'd be writing this at the time).
The trays arrive. One carries the sides. The 'slaw, lightly dressed but full of crunch, is topped with long pickle spears to cut through all the richness on offer. The beans-smoky, chock-full of pulled pork- are a triumph. They'd do you quite nicely as a quick lunch in their own right, yet it's just a small detail in a huge meal.
A huge rack of baby back ribs delivers soft meat in spades. Literally, almost. It's no hardship to eat food as good as this in large servings, though. The hot links are meaty, fatty and spicy in equal measure, as a good hot link should be.
The pulled pork is made up of both strands and chunks of the stuff: it's at its best when cut through with one of their homemade sauces, with the sweet tangy heat of their South Carolina the pick for me
Ditto the burnt ends, with an impressive crust on tender-as-you-like flesh. We end up ordering another portion, as they are among the very best I've ever had.
We were asked if we wanted our chilli mild or spicy. We chose the latter and it was firmly in the 'strewth, you weren't kidding' category, a hearty thump of heat lurking in the sauce along with the brisket.
They have an impeccable playlist and have the good sense to play it at a volume that still allows conversation. It's annoying how many places get this wrong. Bonham's primal, seismic thump on When The Levee Breaks, it turns out, is the ideal accompaniment to a mountain of 'cue.
The fries come in the kind of quantities you consider hiring a Sherpa to navigate and are crisp and well-seasoned. The chicken is pronounced 'incredible; some of the best I've ever tasted' by my trencherman friend, while the brisket-sliced thick- comes apart beautifully and is testament to the benefits of low and slow.
The burger- a handmade double-patty brioche affair- is excellent: it oozes with cheese and put me very much in mind of Got Beef. That's a bonus in my book.
The beer list ticks all the right boxes- it leans heavily on the US craft element, with plenty of Brooklyn beers (that Christmas 'tree') and Pabst, Sam Adams and the like, both bottled and on draught. If I was being picky I'd have loved to have seen some Sierra Nevada on the list, especially the powerful Torpedo Extra IPA, but these are minor quibbles.
The Backwoods Challenge was a bridge too far, even for two hungry chaps. It's a quite remarkable amount of food and we were found wanting. We could have easily fed my two nephews from the same plates.
Dirty South has proved hugely popular in Newport in the year since it opened (that end of town is incresingly interesting, what with the new Taphouse and Pretentious setting up). Tables are legendarily difficult to come by, with the booking system rather quirky (see below) and it's not difficult to see why. The atmosphere, the staff, the beer, the fact they serve great authentic barbecue in massive portions: it ticks all the boxes, no? It's easy to imagine them needing larger premises very soon. Go- just clear your schedule for the rest of the day. And take a doggie bag. Or two.
Weds- Sat, 5-11pm.
Dirty South Smokehouse
10 High St
Newport
NP20 1FQ
Send a Direct Message https://www.facebook.com/TheDirtySouthBBQ to book.
And finally...a Happy New Year to all my readers, new and not so new. Enjoy the season with the ones you love most, remember those who can't be with you, and thank you for reading. And here's to a peaceful 2016.
J
J
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