Sunday, April 26, 2009

Travelling: Smalley's BBQ - Stillwater, MN

While on a day of wine tasting through vineyards in Minnesota, PiC and I stumbled across a rather interesting restaurant. Smalley's BBQ is a Pirate themed bar/eating establishment. It was at the end of the strip, I was ready to gnaw PiC's arm off, and I didn't want to walk all the way back to the bistro we had considered while looking for a particular cafe.

Now I have to admit, I was dubious. They claimed a "Caribbean theme" to their food but they didn't do much in the way of actual Caribbean style food as I have come to understand it. With the Pirate stuff everywhere, and the large collection of Rum options on the back of the menu, I was expecting something rather run of the mill.

We both ordered sandwiches, me the pulled pork, he the jerk chicken. They arrived stamped with a jolly rogers seared into the bun.

And then I bit in.

That was so much better than I was expecting. The BBQ flavors were bold, yet not overpowering. Smoky, but oddly for me not unpleasantly so. And the BBQ blended well with the jerk flavoring if you want to add that as well. They also came with a choice of sides and I went with a sweet potato and pork side that carried that same theme through.

PiC's jerk chicken was just as enjoyable, but the biggest hit was his chosen side of the curried and grilled vegetables. Crisp yet cooked and with just enough of the curry flavoring to know that it was there without overpowering the succulence of the fresh veggies.

And an amusing pirate theme to boot. The place could use at least one more waitress it seemed, but otherwise I would go there again. At least after I'd tried several other restaurants in Stillwater. :)

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