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Five Spice Pork Bánh mì

The Bánh mì and it’s soup cousin phở are the new stars of the not fast food, fast food revolution… or something like that. Quick, fresh and full of options they seem to be popping up everywhere in Charleston. Bon Bánh Mì is a relative newcomer to the Charleston food scene and one of if not the first shops specializing in  Bánh mìs. Their menu offers 5-6 different fillings to go in the  Bánh mì including five spice pork or tofu, curry beef short ribs, Vietnamese ham country pâté, ginger lemongrass chicken and egg and Canadian bacon. They also offer tacos and salads with the same options. This is the Pork N Whiskey blog so I of course I had to go for the five spice pork for my first visit. Quite tasty and worth having again. However, my next trip I went for the curried beef short rib and well. Damn. I get in ruts occasionally when it comes to lunch food. This is a rut starter. The combination of the Bánh mì pickled veggies, perfectly crusty but soft bread, the crunchy fried shallots, with the slow cooked warm funky sweet chewy short-rib.

sigh.

Curry Short Rib Bánh mì

My point is, go there now. Try everything. Make sure you get their house brewed jasmine iced tea, it is a perfect accompaniment for the sandwiches and I’m sure the tacos and salads, I just haven’t gotten there on the menu,  yet.

On my way back from a long week of working in Norfolk, VA I made a detour to go by what is widely considered the premier example of Eastern North Carolina style whole hog BBQ, Wilber’s BBQ. Located on Hwy 70 in Goldsboro, NC Wilber’s just celebrated 50 years of serving BBQ to the masses. The building, and frankly many of the employees, look like I imagine it looked back in the 60′s. The clientele is exactly what you want in a BBQ joint: black, white, brown, rich, poor, young and old.

I ordered my standard first time BBQ visit order, a pulled pork sandwich with slaw hush-puppies and this time fries (which was a mistake). The pork lived up to its reputation, slightly smokey, juicy, tender and dressed with a classic eastern vinegar and pepper sauce, “It’s Spicy Good!. It really might be the best eastern NC BBQ I’ve had. It is no wonder that Wilber’s is often the first place mentioned when someone asks about people’s favorite NC BBQ stops.

The slaw was pretty standard fare and the hush puppies were sweet and light. The fries were completely inedible, but who cares. I don’t go to a BBQ joint for its fries.
If you’re in east NC and have time, or even don’t, head to Goldsboro and stop in Wilber’s for the definitive example of the style. But do it soon, from what I understand when namesake, owner and pitmaster Wilber Shirley passes on his restaurant will have to convert from wood to gas to come into compliance with Goldsboro’s air quality standards (Wilber’s was grandfathered in when the law was passed).

Solid que. Good smoke, not drowned in sauce, big ass sandwich. The pork is long pulled like i like it and not chopped into oblivion. Sauce is Lexington style with a slight kick.

Fried okra and hush puppies were excellent but the fries, while hand cut, were well undercooked.

This is well worth the stop and is only about 5 mins off I 40 between Raleigh and Durham in Morrisville, NC.

Smokey’s BBQ Shack

Stonewall’s in Braselton, GA claims best BBQ in Jackson county 2 years running. I come to Braselton for business fairly often and have only seen one other BBQ place nearby so not sure what that says .

I guess im just not a fan of this style of GA que. The sauce is too sweet and overpowers the meat to the point I can’t even make a comment on the smoke. It was ok but just not anything special. Has this overriding feeling of eating BBQ at a non BBQ restaurant. But again, I think this has a lot to do with my dislike of this style.

The sides, mac and cheese and potato salad, seemed like they came out of a plastic container.

But it is the only BBQ near where I work down here…

The duck club at the Tattooed Moose has made a well deserved name for itself in Charleston. A must try. You can’t go wrong with duck-confit, bacon, Hawaiian bread, smoked cheddar, garlic aioli and some of that rabbit stuff. “Said to be the best sandwich ever made!”

The brick and mortar World HQ of Charleston’s favorite BBQ food truck, Hello My Name is BBQ, and their signature sandwich, the boss hog. If you haven’t caught the truck you can now hit their stationary BBQ haven at 616 Meeting Street in Charleston right next to the off ramp from the Ravenel  bridge.