“If
more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a much merrier
world.”
--- J.R.R. Tolkien
BONEYARD
BISTRO
13539
Ventura Boulevard
Sherman
Oaks, CA 91423
4:30
PM to 2:00 AM weekdays. Late nite menu
starts 10:00 PM
12:00 PM to 2:00 AM weekends. Late nite menu
starts 10:30 PM
Late nite menu?
Yes, the Boneyard Bistro is not your typical barbeque place. Not many barbeque places have a, properly so
called, Executive Chef or a Chef de Cuisine.
The fact that it is more upscale and trendy does not detract from the
que at all. Usually when you see a menu that does not concentrate on the
barbeque it raises a warning flag. Not
so in this case…they know what they are doing.
One side of the menu (You have to go to their somewhat
quirky web site and download the .pdf menus to believe them.) has contemporary
bistro style food with a few surprises.
(Chili Filled Donuts, for example) It has appetizers, salads, entrees, and burgers that range from basic (If burgers
that are all made with American Kobe style beef can be considered basic.) to the “Burn in Hell” burger (The menu says, “WARNING! EXTREMELY SPICY! NO MERCY! NO REFUNDS!”) I have not tried anything from this side of
the menu, (yet) but I know people that I trust who have and I hear no
negatives. We came here to try the
barbeque.
Physically, it is a storefront location in the high rent
retail district on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Parking is limited, but they have a
valet. Inside the décor is contemporary
casual with exposed brick walls and a glassed in, “sidewalk dining” area in the
front. Space is about evenly divided
between bar and dining area. Food
service is available in the bar. The interior is about a quirky as the web
site. You don’t often find art work on
the ceiling. With all the glass, mirrors
(You can see who is in the room even if you are facing the wall in the dining
area.), and a display wine cooler wall, all hard surfaces, at the height of the
dinner hour the noise level makes it hard to carry on a conversation across the
table.
I have to add a word about the bar. I don’t drink. Sharon is the designated drinker and she had
choices. The night we were there the
drink menu had forty-two custom beers, a page of cocktails, three pages of
whisky and spirits, a page of Zinfandels, and a page of other wines
available. They were having their Monday
night beer sale, twenty-five percent off.
Sharon’s beer cost eight dollars, but they can go as high as thirty-six.
Good que is not cheap anywhere, but watch your bar tab here.
We made no reservations and coming in at 7:30 on a Monday
evening they told us that we would have a twenty-five minute wait, but seated
us in five minutes. The table had setups
with real cloth napkins with two forks, knife and spoon. No sauce bottles on the table here. Our server, Drew, arrived promptly to take
our drink orders. Service here redefines
prompt. The only time we have
experienced faster, more attentive service through an entire meal was the full
silver service at the old Perino’s on Wilshire Boulevard many years ago. This seems to be their usual way of operating
since we always walk in anonymously to any restaurant we write about in this
blog.
The barbecue side of the menu explains that the meats are
slow smoked over a red oak fire. They
also have the options of serving the meat dry, wet, or with a chipotle
glaze. Since we are reviewing the meat,
we, as usual, ordered dry. Food arrives
with presentation here. It’s a casual
presentation but deliberate none the less.
The bread was two small slices of rustic style bread and four miniature
corn muffins served in a small, rectangular bowl with a butter server. The combo plates we ordered had the food artfully
arranged with the sides in a double linked server on the plate. We each ordered a Three Way Combo to get a
good representation of the food.
Sharon’s was All Three Ribs, with baby back ribs, St. Louis spare ribs,
beef ribs, with French fries, and fried mac and cheese bites for sides. Mine was Any Three Meats, with pulled pork,
tri-tip and sausage with cole slaw and collard greens as sides.
Bread
The rustic bread, French style, had a nice, thin, crisp,
shiny crust, and was soft and flavorful on the inside. There was just enough of it to get a taste
and it was good.
Corn Muffins
You know by now that we are very particular about our
corn muffins. These are exceptional, as
good as corn muffins can get. It’s
fortunate that they are as small as they are because if they were larger you
would make a meal of them.
Fried Mac and Cheese Bites
No jalapenos, a plus for Sharon. These are actually large enough for two
bites. They are relatively light and
fluffy, not too wet inside, and the Panko breading is not at all greasy. They have a very good flavor without the
obnoxious heat that we have found in versions that we have experienced with
peppers at other places.
Fries
Just good fries, thin, crisp, hot, not oily, and no
annoying flavor from the oil.
Cole Slaw
This is a chopped slaw, crisp, with a good flavor for a
creamy style dressing. It was slightly
too wet for my liking.
Collard Greens
My standard for greens is Mom’s Barbeque in Van Nuys. Their greens are what I came to expect in the
South. The greens here are definitely different. I found the flavor surprising at first taste,
a bit intense for greens, but found that I liked it. I would rate these as good as any greens I
have had.
Back Ribs
Smoke flavors the meat.
Each kind of wood imparts its own flavor to the barbeque and red oak, as
used here, is very distinctive and intense.
Ribs have to have enough meat on them to stand up to slow smoking
without being dried out or having the flavor of the meat overwhelmed by the
smoke. My first taste of these ribs made
me think that they were overwhelmed by the smoke. I had picked a very thin rib from the tail of
the slab. When I had another, from
farther in, I realized what had happened.
These ribs are quite meaty and the flavor is enhanced by the smoke. Even so, most will probably prefer these wet
or with the chipotle glaze.
St. Louis Spare Ribs
These are meaty and hold up to the intense flavor of red
oak smoke. The meat is not falling-off-the-bone tender, but is by no means dry. One I had as a cold leftover, after a couple
of days in the fridge, still impressed.
Beef Ribs
Not the most meaty beef ribs I have had, but very
satisfying. They are full of real beef
flavor and do extremely well with this style of preparation. I don’t think they need any sauce but the
sauce that comes with the combo simply complements them.
Sausage
In this presentation it arrives sliced up on the plate,
not something you see often. This does
not detract from the flavor. This is one
of the great sausages, spicy, but not hot.
Try it dry or dipped in the sauce.
It’s just as good either way.
Tri-Tip
This is not sliced too thin so you get juices and more
flavor, released when you chew it. When
you order the server will ask if you want it rare, medium of well done. With meat like this well done would be a
crime. I had a leftover piece that I
sliced up to make an especially savory burrito for lunch the next day.
Pulled Pork
Great pulled pork is one of my joys in life. This one didn’t make it. I don’t know just what it was here, but the
meat and the smoke didn’t mix well this particular night. The flavor was not quite there, it was a bit
dry, and needed the sauce. It probably
would have done well with a “Caroline Gold” style mustard based sauce.
There you have it.
Even if the pulled pork was not the greatest, it was still better than
average, and the rest of the que was outstanding.
This is not your typical barbecue place. Maybe it’s a notch up in price, but the
kitchen reaches for high standards, and the atmosphere is casual and unpretentious. (OK, it’s a bit noisy.) We rate it a solid nine.
