Random Taste for Thursday 2/25/16

[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the SEVENTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

HONORABLE MENTION BEST OF 2016 MAIN

Establishment:  Smoke BBQ
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Coca-Cola (in a can)
Appetizer:  Sweet Cornbread Loaf
with cinnamon butter
Main:  2 Meat Combo Platter 
Smoked chicken and 12 hour pulled pork
Side(s):  Seasoned tots and steamed broccoli
Dessert:  not applicable
Server:  not applicable/counter style
Website:  http://eatbbqnow.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SmokeBBQFortLauderdale/

Since regularly vacationing here before making the big move, bbq has been the southern Florida food of choice ... and there are at least nearly a dozen such establishments that have been sampled in the last few years.  True to this concept, though, Smoke (with a 'k' ... not to be confused with Smoque with a 'qu', a quality bbq joint back home in Chicago) was a brand new place to try in 2016 ... and seeing as how it only recently opened near the beach as an extension of an established brand farther to the north, that makes a lot of sense.  Here's the bottom line -- separating out the old school bbq places (where you just know that some black mama [African-American mama?  mama of color?] had a role in making your food) for which Tom Jenkins bbq ranks the highest in that category -- Smoke is *the best* modern restaurant style bbq in the area.  It's most deserving of my highest score to date in this series, as calculated below.  And apologies in advance for the quality of the photos ... but I was so mesmerized by my meal that I didn't get as many good shots as usual ...

AMBIANCE:   10/10 (sure it's a small space, but it's well organized with the line toward the food station and checkout, followed by a few picnic tables with the perimeter taken up by separate sauce [red sweet and a yellow mustard] and "wrap up your leftover meat" stations ... and, like any bbq joint, a quality smoky smell fills up the room)
FOOD:            10/10 (yep, that's a perfect score ... from cornbread to meats to tater tots, everything was fresh and hot and tasty ... rubbed just right and cooked to perfection with straightforward sides that didn't try too hard to be something they weren't ... and the best part may have been the chicken, which had the extra taste of being quickly deep fried and was chopped up in just the right pieces ... plus, while walking to the car afterwards, I realized that I had a pleasant tingle on my lips from all the flavor) 
SERVICE:      10/10 (one point lost since so much of the experience is self-service BUT that same point comes back because it makes complete sense for the space as this is NOT their full service restaurant a few beaches to the north ... and especially because of all three individuals behind the counter who were friendly, personable and conveyed a confidence in their craft)
BACON:         8/10 (there may not have been any bacon on the menu per se [although it might have been available to add to sandwiches], but they did sell shirts that said "I like pork butts and I cannot lie" ... and if that's not worth almost all the points in this category on its own ... I don't know what is)
BONUS:         10/10 (+3 for being the best of the "restaurant" style bbq eateries in the area, +3 for letting me sample a hunk of meat whilst waiting in line [I said, "thanks for the meat hunk", and then turned red and explained that there was no comma and that I was thankful for the hunk of meat and not calling the guy who gave me the meat a hunk], +3 for falling on the decidedly unpretentious barely hipster side of the modern bbq continuum and +1 for being a place to which we will most certainly return)

TroyScore:  48 out of 50 -- aka 96, a high A (the highest score given to date)

Random Taste for Thursday 2/18/16

[My new series for 2016 continues ... with the SIXTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Havana's Cuban Cuisine
Location:  Cooper City
Meal:  Too late for lunch, too early for dinner
Drink:  Coca-Cola (in the Santa can)
Appetizer:  Sopa de Pollo (and warm garlic bread)
Cuban style chicken noodle soup
Main:  Chicharrón de Pollo 
Tender chunks of chicken breasts marinated with garlic and onions and deep fried
Side(s):  White rice and black beans and puré de papa casero (mashed redskin potatoes)
Dessert:  Dark chocolate bar (bought from a tiny patron)
Server:  Rafael
Website:  not applicable
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HavanasCubanCuisine/

Funny story ... this place was visited during the time company was here (those two weeks filled up my "taste bank" until March), and it was completely a fluke.  We had planned to eat at a local Cubano stand, but got rained out on that day ... and a few days later, we were out running errands, and turned to Siri to find a place near the intersection where we were ... and *this* Cuban restaurant (potentially one of three in the area, although rumor has it that one may have closed) was in the strip mall just beyond the light (in Florida -- EVERYTHING is in a strip mall -- I'm actually shocked that it took six weeks to feature an eating establishment inside one).

AMBIANCE:   9/10 (straightforward room with outside seating available and banquette cushions that were very well broken in, but a point lost for a large group next to us that included children who get progressively louder because no one was paying attention to them)
FOOD:            9/10 (hot garlic bread and hot homemade chicken noodle soup [with potatoes and large chunks of chicken] to start the meal? -- yes, please! [even if I opted out of squishing the traditional latin lime into it] and the garlicy cuban chicken nuggets were juicy and flavorful, but a point lost for cold potatoes
SERVICE:      7/10 (one point lost for not having a system to know which one of us ordered what, and one point lost for a server who seemed a little ho-hum about the whole encounter, and one point lost for waiting until a conversation at the end of the meal to disclose that there was a secret menu whereby a cubano sandwich could have been ordered)
BACON:         6/10 (those black beans had a smoky bacony flavor [reminding us of the BEST beans we had in San Juan, Puerto Rico many years ago], and a few points for having ham as a topping on multiple dishes [not quite bacon ... but getting close])
BONUS:         6/10 (+3 for serving enough plantains that the whole table could join in in eating them, and +3 for letting one of the little kids from the aforementioned group sell his fundraising candy bars table by table at the end of the meal)

TroyScore:  37 out of 50 -- aka 74, a solid C

Random Taste for Thursday 2/11/16

[My new series for 2016 continues ... with the FIFTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

ADMIN NOTE:  This location is now closed.

Establishment:  Maguires Hill 16
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale
Meal:  Lunch
Drink:  Guinness!
Appetizer:  not applicable
Main:  Shepherds Pie
Ground beef and vegetables in a gravy sauce topped with mashed potatoes.

Side(s):  not applicable

Dessert:  not applicable 
Server:  Bianca G
Website:  http://maguireshill16.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Maguires-Hill-16-Irish-Pub-and-Restaurant-145197152202578/

To start with a summary -- It was a rainy day with company in town ... and the Irish coffee hit the spot.  Interestingly enough, this was not our FIRST choice for lunch that day, but with the Cubano stand up the road having only outdoor seating such that it wasn't suitable for the atypical "winter" weather, this restaurant filled in nicely.  There was a little bit of apprehension in that it was the site of an off duty police officer shoot out a few months back (but in the wee hours of the morn ... not at lunch time), but no one was harmed in the eating of our meal.  

AMBIANCE:   8/10 (lots of options with an outside patio, a big bar inside and booths all around and a great collection of assorted unique tiffany style lights everywhere, but a point lost for being able to hear the chef yell while we were in the dining room, and another point lost for having to shuffle us over to the "warm wall" away from all the windows)
FOOD:            9/10 (mine was very delicious and very hot and had just the right ratio of ingredients (even peas!) -- and I liked the fact that it came with a soup spoon so as to get more of the deliciousness in each bite, although there is a point lost for the appearance of a tomato on the sandwich of someone at our table that simply shouldn't have been served -- the tomato, not the someone)
SERVICE:      9/10 (one point lost for being out of bangers, but otherwise the service was prompt and attentive)
BACON:         3/10 (the menu promised special "Irish" bacon on multiple items ... and then we found out that the kitchen was out ... so sad ... although they still had American bacon, so it wasn't a complete bacon bust)
BONUS:         9/10 (+3 for the server going out of her way to enable the table to taste a slice of pastrami to help us settle a bet as to what it was in the first place, +3 for having the Guinness harp, and +3 for having authentic Irish customers speaking in brogue at the end of the bar, day drinking as you would hope to see in this kind of setting)

TroyScore:  38 out of 50 -- aka 76, a solid C

Random Taste for Thursday 2/4/16

[My new series for 2016 continues ... with the FOURTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays.  All.  Year.  Long.)!]

Establishment:  Old Heidelberg
Location:  Ft. Lauderdale (Marina Mile)
Meal:  Dinner
Drink:  Coca-Cola (actually the third choice because they were inexplicably out of their "beer flight" AND bitburger that night)
Appetizer:  German Potato Soup and Sausage Sampler Platter
Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Kielbasa
Main:  Jaeger Schnitzel
Mushroom Gravy
Side(s):  Spaetzel and Red Cabbage
Dessert:  Homemade warm Apple Strudel and Black Forest Cake
[Strudel] Topped with Vanilla Sauce
Server:  "Bearer of Bad News" Maria "Gabor"
Website:  http://www.heidelbergfl.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OldHeidelbergFortLauderdale/

Having spent a semester abroad in Cologne, Germany during my college days (well, *west* Germany, seeing as how it was during the fall of 1990), it was bound to be early in this series that one of the local authentic German restaurants was featured.  Company was still in town on the night we all went to sample the meal, and no one could dispute that the foods tasted authentic -- from the first bites of the German potato soup to the last bites of homemade black forest cake.  However, it was the three strikes of being out of three different featured items that put an immediate damper on the evening (and it was only 7pm on a Monday).  In shock, I was prompted to ask our server Maria whether the establishment was going out of business.  In her defense, she who was repeatedly the bearer of bad news was sweet about it and did her best to comfort us (she had a habit of referring to the table as "my dahlings ... my loves ... my dears", so I assumed she was of the Gabor bloodline, hence the bonus points for her below).  Despite the deliciousness of the very authentic food (see photos), and with at least two more German restaurants in the area to try, the initial thought though is that this is one in which we are in no hurry to return.

AMBIANCE:   8/10 (roomy place with that Bavarian feel replete with soccer banners throughout, but one point lost for not having music on that night [we were looking forward to a bit of "oompa" to accompany our meal] and one point lost for the server not knowing any German [a fact that was even more disappointing to the actual German speakers one booth over from our party])
FOOD:            8/10 (one point lost for split pea soup being the soup of the day [who likes split pea soup?] and one point lost for the oddest of house salads [not pictured, as I had soup] made up tiny piles of lettuce, canned green beans and pickled cucumbers and shredded carrots)
SERVICE:      7/10 (one point lost each for being out of the beer flight, the bitburger and the ghoulash that night)
BACON:         3/10 (just one item on the dinner menu included bacon -- the German Beef Rouladen -- which someone in our party ordered and thoroughly enjoyed)
BONUS:         9/10 (+3 for the server making the best out of the menu outages, +3 for the huge huge portions, +3 for the oh-so-authentic flavors)

TroyScore:  35 out of 50 -- aka 70, a C (the lowest in the series to date)