The Smoke BBQ

I’ll be hitting the gym hard tomorrow. I had one of the share platters: BBQ beef ribs (some parts too dry), pulled pork (has some kick!), pork belly, creamy green coleslaw, and crispy fries. This is a classic fixture in Merthyr Village, and worth a visit. Service is always good. Bring a large appetite.

This is American BBQ done right, food wise. The atmosphere, not so much but if it’s a genuine sample of American Texan BBQ, step right in. I had the buffalo wings (small) and pork belly. A complimentary corn bread with spicy butter arrived with it. Very tasty, couldn’t finish it all.

Pretty good effort with buffalo wings and the ribs. If your looking for a decent representation of USA version of food pretty good. Location and restaurant ambience lets it down.

Bring your extra stomach or at the very least, wear stretchy pants, for the portions at The Smoke mean business.
I guess you could order a salad. But that’s like going to a seafood restaurant and having a steak. That’s like going to Dreamworld without hopping on the rides. That’s like… going to The Smoke and ordering a salad. Yeah.
American eats are cropping up all over the place and that suits me just fine. I’m an Aussie, a country boy living in the suburbs. Forever nostalgic for my days out in the bush, my pursuit of western movies, country music and good ol’ fashioned BBQ dictates my leisure time as an adult.
That’s where The Smoke comes in.
I can’t say it’s the best southern yankie grub going. But I can say it’s the best I’ve had. I mean, how wrong can you go with beef brisket smoked for 12 – 14 hours? How about beef ribs so tender you can pull the meat off the bone with your fork? How about pork ribs so succulent they make my fiancé do the foodgasm face? How about slappin’ down a generous serve of cool, creamy coleslaw right next to your slab of meat?
If it sounds like the only thing missing is chowing down on a plate of buffalo wings (go the blue hot if you like a bit of kick to ‘em, stranger) and washing it down with a beer (of which the selection is generous and predictably American) then they’ve got you covered there, too.
Even though the portions are generous, you can still modify your food coma level. There are a few combos that mix up some of their mains should an overly hungry indecisiveness get the better of ya. But if you’re feeling all sure footed and slightly less hungry then there’s no harm in ordering some pork belly in a southern rub. That’s some good eating. Although damned if it ain’t a bit dry if you get a bit without the fat on it. Guess that’s why they accompany it with a sweet and tangy BBQ sauce.
The pulled pork’s another winner, although be warned, it is vinegar based, so your enjoyment may vary. I also have to give a yee-​ha to the Mac & Cheese. It’s just like the home made stuff my daddy used to make. Finally, desserts. There are 3. A brownie, and peanut butter pudding which is closer to a dense moose, and last but certainly not least, a big ol’ hearty serving of pumpkin pie.
To cut this long story short, ya’ll need more than one visit to hit all The Smoke’s good stuff. Like I said, just remember your stretchy pants.

All in all great food with succulent pulled pork and excellent shrimp.
The service is very attentive with a wide variety of menu options to share.
It feels like more of a café unlike an American diner or restaurant.
The only reason I voted this slightly down was the penny pinching price for a soft drink in a glass $ 4.20 for HALF A CAN.
I would expect if I were to pay $ 4.20 for a coke id at least get a can at my table with a glass of ice.
Wide variety of beer, American import was more expensive than the European.
If the beer price was cheaper I would of certainly enjoyed a lot more!
Truly American food it’s a shame they don’t offer a post mix machine for free refills just like America does.
It certainly is a tasty meal though

I went back. I’m an idiot. Pork ribs are so dry, no fat on the pork belly. Who wants a fatless pork belly? Sigh.

Tried this place last weekend and considering I have a fond affiliation with American BBQ I was hoping for good things and it didn’t disappoint.
The pulled pork is delicious as is the beef brisket and the fried shrimp where delicious.
The service was good although it gets really busy so definitely recommend booking.
Although a little on pricy side I will be going back I would say the best American BBQ I’ve had in Australia the only reason they only get4 stars is because I’ve personally been spoilt with some great authentic American BBQ when traveling through the USA.

Highly recommend the North Carolina Pulled Pork platter, Big Rib Platter, Pork and Chicken Platter. They do what they do really well.

I love the staff here, some off the best service I’ve ever had.
We booked in advance and the chef made me the most delicious salad. The rest of the table had ribs and burgers, chips and fried onion rings. Delicious.
I don’t think this is particularly an exceptional american rib experience for the price — but with the service and happy party it’s a happy afternoon of food and laughs.

I’ve elevated my score due to a perfect early afternoon repast of wings, rub platter and spinach salad and service!

I have a weak spot for American food and am always keen to try out the new restaurants popping up around Brisbane that spealise in it. It took me quite a while to get to The Smoke (formerly Blue Smoke) though. Luckily each time I was smart enough to think to call ahead to try to make a booking, most times they were completely booked out. Several times they simply got out booking wrong though and we only found out when we called to confirm. I found this incredibly frustrating, and left me half relcutant to try them and have determined to try them. My partner and I finally managed to get in though (despite booking previously, we almost had to beg to be ‘squeezed in’).
The menu was very overwhelming, simply because everything looks so good. We opted for a platter that included several different things, because I prefer to dine in a way that lets me try a bit of everything instead of being forced to choose between tasty food items. Even with a platter, which apparently was only for 2, the portion sizes were huge and we struggled to get through it. The pork belly was simply amazing, though I felt as though the pulled pork had a bit too much vinegar in it. The ribs were very good, though I can’t say they’re the best I’ve had in Brisbane. The platter came with fries and coleslaw which helped in between the bites of meat.
As with most American food places, you don’t come here to eat healthy. Luckily I had parked far away and was able to walk it off. Best to come here with a group I think. There was a fair bit of Ben and Jerry’s advertising around the place as they stocked a few tubs and I was a little sad to be too full to event want to think about more food.
The service here was so nice, despite the initial struggles to even get in the door. The girl who served us helped two very indecisive people choose a meal that would be best for them and came back to check if everything was okay.
Not a restaurant you’d want to go to every week, due to price and greasiness, but well worth a visit.

We went for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Service was wonderful, food great. Am already planning our next trip back!

Great wings and the BBQ looked good too! Can’t wait to try it!!!

The Smoke BBQ is an All-​American, artery-​clogging BBQ joint. I’m a vego and even I like an occasional trip the The Smoke! Not for the meat, obviously. I can’t comment on the quality of the meat, but damn do they have some good corn bread. I just love corn bread. It’s definitely the best kind of bread, am I right? And sadly hard to come by in our neck of the hemisphere. But The Smoke has corn bread. And excellent chips. And onion rings. And just about everything that Texans love to eat but shouldn’t. Even walking past The Smoke can make me a little weak in the knees. I suppose it could be my cardiovascular system warning me, but I like to think that it’s the intoxicating scent of crispy fried potatoes and warm corn bread.
It’s perhaps not the most relaxing dining affair, what with the packed tables and plastic-​enclosed footpath tables right on Merthyr Rd., but by the time your faced with some good American BBQ, you’ll be too busy munching down ribs and chips to pay any attention to much else.
I must admit that I feel like a bit of a traitor to the vegetarian cause when I eat at The Smoke BBQ, but even vegos have their weaknesses and mine happen to include corn bread and chips.

Meat! Soooo much meat! Homer Simpson must have shares in this place. Perfect restaurant for blokey blokes. Price is above ave and you have to book weeks in advance but its worth the wait. Corn bread, spicy chicken wings while you wait, the ribs are soooo huge. I’m booked in for next week!

It’s great to be health conscious and aim for five serves of fruit and vegies a day — or is it seven serves of fruit and vegies? My body is a temple and occasionally it requires sacrifices of meat. Meat. Meat. Meat. I mean, so much meat that your sweat smells like meat for days afterwards.
This happened the last couple of times I went to The Smokehouse BBQ (Formerly called Blue Smoke). Now I’m a big fan of Asian style honey soy chicken wings so I was intrigued by this South American style of smoking chicken wings. The prices seemed a little expensive but I went for their half price buffalo wing deal available at Tuesday to Friday at lunchtime.
My friends and I gorged ourselves on their signature buffalo wings marinated in their secret smokey BBQ sauce and served with a blue cheese dip and celery. We ordered original and blue hot but I knew enough of my chilli tolerance to stay away from the ‘third degree burn’ option.
As someone accustomed to Asian style chicken wing, it’s hard to describe the taste of these Buffalo wings. The flavour was smoky sweet and sour at the same time. The blue cheese dip was fantastic for quelling the heat.
I was impressed enough with the meal to go a second time. This time we went all out and ordered Pork and chicken platter and Texas Ribs. These dishes definitely show off their slow smoke cooking technique The pork pulled apart off the bone, the chicken was melt in your mouth and the ribs were packed with flavour.
The prices are a little expensive but given the platter and the ribs could easily be shared between three people, I think their prices are fair.
The next time your body craves protein, visit the SmokeHouse BBQ at New Farm.

Oh woooh wwooooh woooh for the longest time…
I have waited for the best rib joint in Brisbane. Ribs done the American way, meaty on the bone, tender oh so tasty, homemade BBQ sauce.
You definetely need to book before you head here, I’ve tried going there off the cuff and no sir. They just don’t have the space for stragglers. Probably a good thing, I had my tracksuit pants on.
The onion rings are to die for melt in your mouth orgasmic, I can’t even write a sentence there that makes sense because it’s making my drool just thinking about it. The beef ribs, forget about it. You can’t get any better. They are tender, and sauced with that homemade BBQ sauce, you just die. The buffalo wings… very spicy… thank god I got the mild ones, even they were a bit kick you in the guts peppery. My husband ordered the hot ones… yeah, I can handle it. Yeah right. There was no more ice in the ice bucket.
So if you want ribs done the right way and want to try your hand in the American Buffalo Wings experience, this is where you need to be.
Oh, and don’t forget to starve yourself beforehand, it’s a lot of meat. Not for the vegetarian and not for the faint hearted… literally.