Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

It's been long enough since we last tried Cobblestone Farms that my mom completely forgot we tried it before and bought a box of  Fully Cooked Pork Back Ribs in Honey & Garlic Barbecue Sauce on sale. This time I decided to be more careful about documenting everything. First off, if you compare the front and the back, you'll see that the six minute time is only if you microwave and that's after 15 to 20 minutes of defrosting, minimum. I'm not sure I'd recommend re-heating this cooked product in the microwave though. In any case, read the instructions and set aside extra time. Packaging says 680 grams but you of course don't get exactly 680 grams of meat and bones. Our package came in overweight while frozen at around 800 grams but there was around 2/3 cups of barbecue sauce weighing 250 grams, so it was 550 grams. That's not bad, and definitely an excess of sauce for whatever cooking style you are using and your personal preference in how much ...

The concept is pretty simple: A BBQ meat sandwich that uses round burger buns and gives you roughly the same amount of meat as a patty. For $4 more you can get twice the amount of meat (the "II" option on the sandwich menu). Quiet, shady place that's quite big. Looks simply decorated on the inside, but take some time to look around and you'll spot some curious things like vintage cameras. Mostly tables and a curious mix of chairs all spray-painted white. Plus a low table with couch! Tables look easily movable, so this place could probably accommodate fairly large groups. It's planted in a residential area, but only a 35 minute walk from the nearest Skytrain. Plus there's parking. Price for portion is decent at mostly $9 per burger. Despite the interesting descriptions, it isn't really a gourmet burger, but it is tasty enough. Considering most dedicated burger places are charging about $12-$15 for a supposedly gourmet burger, this is OK value. ...

Railtown Cafe is offering their Tailgate Summer Barbecue Series . They've already done three but there are two more to go: September-12 and September-26. With the BBQ there are two options: Meat-Lovers ($16, $18.85 after Eventbrite fee and GST) 35-hour Texas-style beef brisket Applewood-smoked pork shoulder (pulled pork) Beer-brined Fraser Valley Chicken D'Original Sausage Haus Brats Tabatha's Jalapeño Cornbread Corn on the Cob Choice of two sides: Carolina Coleslaw Creamy Potato Salad Classic Caesar Salad Farmer's Market Field Greens Gluten-Free option available!  Skip the cornbread and the sausage and you are basically safe. Still, best to double-check by calling ahead . Vegetarian ($10, $12.09 after Eventbrite fee and GST) No meat, obviously. You get the cornbread, grilled corn, and all sides For $18.85 including tax but excluding tip (which you basically could get away with not paying), you got a pretty heaping plate of stuff. It s...

Where do Atkins / Paleo meat-eaters go for straight-meat without sugar carbs from tasty sauce? Well, there's Peckinpah. To be honest I'm still not a fan of Peckinpah's particular BBQ style , but pounds for price they are still good, and when my no-carb friend wanted meat-meat-meat and we were both still stinging from Wildebeest , Peckinpah just naturally seemed to suggest itself. OK, not really -- the front runners for me were Hog Shack (but Burnt Ends seemed to have fallen off the menu and they didn't respond to my e-mail about it), Memphis Blues (same problem as Hog Shack -- sweet BBQ sauces all over the meat), then Peckinpah in third place. The menu is different since the last time I was there. No more sausage in The Divorce, for example. And no looks-like-swamp-weed Southern Greens as a choice of sides anymore. The Divorce ($59.95, serves 3-6) One half serving of Pulled Pork, Pork Side Ribs (3), Beef Brisket, Chopped Beef, and Chicken Wings (3?), plus fo...

Lots of good deals at No Frills this week, including 454g sticks of Lactantia butter at $2.97 -- and (as of Sunday morning anyway) no limit on the amount you can buy. I also picked up at $5.97 Cobblestone Farms Fully Cooked Pork Back Ribs in Honey & Garlic Barbecue Sauce . It's a big box with a big bag that has a generous amount of barbecue sauce. My pack had a total of 7 ribs. The box is definitely way bigger than it needs to be. Give it a shake and you will know just how deceptively big it is. What I liked about this product was that it was hard to mess up since it's already cooked. In the worst case, you can just heat it up and eat. I have a small electric grill and a Cookina Barbecue Mat , so I gave it a go with those but the instructions allow microwaving and using an oven. Cooking instructions were simple and good enough. And with the excessive amount of sauce, you have plenty to spare after you account for loss from dripping off the grill. The Barbecue Mat...

There are different BBQ styles in the US, so even if two BBQ houses look like they are serving the "same" thing, they may not be. Not exactly, anyway. For starters, Hog Shack should definitely not be compared to the not-slathered-in-bbq-sauce Carolina style served at Peckinpah . Their "Kansas-city style" is much closer to Memphis Blues , but I'm going to be cautious about making direct comparisons. It looks pretty big on the outside, but Hog Shack is not that big on the inside. Reservations are recommended as they sometimes close earlier on slow days. Online menus don't necessarily match the actual menus for the price of items, so if a couple dollars more upsets you, call first I guess, or swing by and have a look at the menu. Trying to make reservations online (e.g., through Facebook) can result in complications, so talking to a live person is preferred. I tried reservations online and even though I had two communications with them, my reservation did n...

Smoken Bones is a rather large restaurant that apparently specializes in BBQ meats. Nevertheless it has a fairly substantial menu of choices. Decor is simple and spacious and has televisions. The only thing to watch out for is the location of the washrooms. Large signs attempt to point you past the passage to the kitchen, but because these signs are both to the left and right of that corridor, sometimes people see only the one that points right at the corridor. Various condiments are available. The house blend of spices is pretty decent -- not too salty, and it actually has a slight sweetness to it. Strangely, they did not provide a change of utensils between appetizer and main. $20 Dine Around Menu 1st Course Smoked tomato soup with creme fraiche or Beet salad with Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese Main Flame-grilled pork buckeye with reduced demi and oven-roasted vegetables or Pork belly & beef meatloaf with a potato croquette Dessert Bread pudding with honey ...

So I finally got around to trying Peckinpah last Friday. It's a tight no-reservations place that saw line-ups at the door and people waiting at the bar. While we were waiting for the last two of our party, we placed our orders. Which was a good thing because some of the orders can take a little while (like the Baked Mac'n Cheese), which is annoying in a room with passive pressure to eat and go because of other diners waiting patiently for their turn. The other stand-out BBQ places locally are Memphis Blues Barbecue House and the Hog Shack Cook House . Before you start comparing them, you should first know that not all BBQ traditions look alike, and Peckinpah is very different. Mijune Pak of Follow Me Foodie has a great primer on this in her review of Peckinpah . It's hard to avoid comparisons when it comes to whether it was tasty or not, you should at least recognize that you can't get/expect the same type of barbecue at Peckinpah -- Just as you can't take poin...