MUDDLE & TWIST

“If the weight comes from bacon you can so deduct it off the scale total to get your true weight. #science”
― Michelle M. Pillow

MUDDLE AND TWIST   

“BBQ Bar & Grill”

(Formerly Kansas City Barbeque Company  - see Jan 2013 post)

10863 Magnolia Boulevard

North Hollywood, CA 91601

Hours:

Mon-Fri 11am-2am
Sat 11am-2am
Sun 11am-9pm
Kitchen Closes at 11pm Mon-Wed, 12am Thurs-Sat

http://www.muddletwist.com/

Driving down Magnolia Boulevard I noticed that this place had been renamed again.  They had a banner hanging that announced “YES, we still serve BBQ!”  Since this is the third incarnation of a barbeque bar at this location I though it deserved a re-review so, last night, Sharon and I gave it another try.

It looks as though they have found the right formula for this venue.  It’s been redecorated, again.  Gone is the faux roadside stand ordering station and the log cabin wall paper.  The décor is entirely casually sophisticated bar.  Sharon gave them a plus mark for the redo because she noted the purse hangers under the bar.  If you didn’t know they had a kitchen you would think that it was just a slightly trendy neighborhood bar.  Of course, the rick of split hickory logs in the front window might be a clue.    

There are a few tables and an upholstered bench with facing tables and chairs on in the room with the kitchen behind the bar and more tables in the other room along with the small, outdoor, patio area.  They clear out some of the tables in the all bar side to form a small dance floor.  On Friday nights they have a burlesque show there and on Saturday night you can dance.  On Sunday mornings they host a “Boozy Brunch”.

Our bright and eager server, Keven, informed us that the kitchen staff was retained from the previous incarnation.  This was a favorable indication.  The menu has been revised with many more selections in other areas but a bit shorter on the barbeque side.  There are meats by the pound, rack or half and whole chickens but only one combo plate.  Sharon and I decided to share a Combo Plate which was ¼ pound of Beef Brisket, ¼ pound of Sliced Pork, 3 Baby Back Ribs and two small sides.  We chose Mac & Cheese and Coleslaw as our sides.  While, admittedly, there were only a few other people in the place (we were early for a Saturday night) our order still arrived with amazing speed.

Mac & Cheese

We both sampled it and found it a good but not spectacular mac & cheese. The elbow macaroni was al dente and it had a real cheese sauce, not Velveeta®.  It did seem to have a little too much flour in the sauce almost bordering on a mealy texture.  An acceptable side but could be improved.

Coleslaw

As I said the last time I tried it this is more than simply competent coleslaw this is definitive coleslaw…or would have been.  It is a simple two cabbage plus carrots shredded slaw with a creamy dressing, totally conventional, but the cabbage was fresh, crisp and flavorful, the dressing was sweet.  If your preference is a creamy style dressing coleslaw this would be the one.  The problem last night was that the dressing was a little timid and too dry.  Anyone following this blog knows that I have issues with coleslaw being too wet, this time I encountered the opposite. The apparent timidity of the dressing may have been because there wasn’t enough of it.  I had to add a bit more salt and pepper than usual to make it acceptable.  I’ll try it again, anyone can have a bad night.  (Besides, I want an excuse to come back for the burlesque show.)

Sliced Pork

This is actually improved over the last time.  It isn’t pulled pork but thinly sliced.  There is definitely a better flavor and the flavor stands up to the sauce. Not outstanding but worth having.

Beef Brisket

I’ll repeat my previous opinion of the brisket, it is tender and well smoked this is a properly flavorful brisket.  It is served in very thin slices and once on the table tends to get cold quickly.  I suspect it is sliced so thinly because they also put it in sandwiches.  It was not overdone this time.

Baby Back Ribs

They did not disappoint the last time and were just as good, even improved, this time.  While small they were meaty, flavorful and fall-off-the-bone tender.  They seem to have used a double dipped technique, dipping the ribs in sauce and putting them back on the heat for a while but this did not make them at all chewy as sometimes can happen.  Really good ribs!

 

Apple Pie

Keven thought they were already sold out of desserts but when he checked with the kitchen found that they still had apple pie, which got a “Thank you, Jesus!” out of him. We shared a slice of the pie which was served with whipped cream on top.  It turned out to be a Dutch Apple Pie that was in the “Goldielocks Zone”, not to sweet, not too tart, but just right.  We just enjoyed it with absolutely no complaints or criticisms.

I was disappointed that we could not get a combo plate with beef ribs, chicken, burnt ends, and spicy links on it so that we could have sampled the whole range of que.  Noting that the meats we sampled seems to have improved we would guess that they are probably in line with what we had.  It was a good experience that we will definitely repeat.  They still get an 8 but with a plus.

BARBEQUE WHERE SMOKE IS NOT LEGAL

BARBEQUE WHERE SMOKE IS NOT LEGAL

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

This includes a re-review of DR HOGLY WOGLY’S TYLER TEXAS BBQ.

DR HOGLY WOGLY’S TYLER TEXAS BBQ

8136 Sepulveda Boulevard

Van Nuys, CA 91402

818-782-2480

http://www.hoglywogly.com

Sharon and I went to Dr. Hogly Wogly’s for our regular Friday lunch last week.  (She has to get out of the office once a week.)  I had been intending to re-review Dr. Hogly Wogly’s anyway since my last review was in 2012 and the last couple of times we went there for lunch were disappointing.  (More about that later.)  

As I was paying the check for this visit, I looked up and saw the SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District) permit displayed on the wall behind the register with all the other required business licenses and permits.  I wondered, aloud, that there must be stiff requirements for that permit.  Our server replied that this was the reason that they were stuck in this small location.  They can’t get a permit to build another barbeque pit in another location.

I went home and Googled the AQMD rules to see what they were up against.  As with most regulatory agencies the rules were rather labyrinthine but I found the rules for wood burning devices and found that while there are rules that would prohibit me from using my barbeques at home on “no burn days” there seems to be exemptions to these rules for restaurants.

(1)    The provisions of this rule shall not apply to wood-fired cooking devices designed and used for commercial purposes.

This would seem to apply to the rule stating that no one can install a new wood burning device in any new construction permitted after 2009.  So, her remark was puzzling.  I checked the county and city requirements for barbeque restaurants and could not find any air pollution rules that applied to wood burning barbeque pits and stoves that would keep this restaurant from moving to a new location.  One reason is that, apparently, there are no practicable engineering solutions to reducing emissions from a wood fired barbeque.  A bit more research revealed another reason for the exemptions. 

Back in the 1990s the AQMD tried to enact rules that would have required barbecue restaurants to install expensive exhaust scrubber equipment or change to using gas fired grills or pressure cookers and liquid smoke.  Barbeque restaurant operators were faced with citations from the AQMD and some installed expensive equipment that broke down and caused more fines from the AQMD.  It seemed that the temperature and grease from wood fired barbeque pits were more than conventional restaurant charbroiler filter systems could handle.  The AQMD attitude was that there was one rule for restaurants and since these are restaurants they will be covered by it.  When the AQMD put out figures that the 50, or so, barbeque restaurants produced as much pollution as thousands of cars the barbeque restaurant owners called them on it. The AQMD had to admit that they really had not quantified how much the barbeque restaurants contributed to the air pollution in the area.

Then it got really political.  Many of the barbeque restaurants are operated by African-Americans.  The discussion became about discrimination against ethnic cuisine.  Is barbeque an ethnic cultural cuisine, regional cuisine, or American cultural cuisine?  Is it barbeque if it isn’t smoked?  The AQMD drew protests from African-American politicians.  The debate raged, back and forth, between environmental controls, race relations, and what constitutes barbeque.  Finally, a state assembly person, Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles), sensibly said, “It is crazy that they're even going to all this trouble, for 50 little companies. Just think of how much money and how much time is going into doing this. It's regulation for regulation's sake, with no real impact."  That seems to be where it ended.  Which still begs the question, why did the server say they were stuck at that location because they could not build a new pit barbeque anywhere else?  I’m going to call the SCAQMD and inquire myself.

DR. HOGLY WOGLY’S  BBQ --- Again!

I did say that the last few times we went to Dr. Hogly Wogly’s were disappointing.  The disappointment was that lunch time portions seemed to be smaller than they had been. This time the portions were what we expected.  Sharon ordered a Two Beef Ribs lunch and I ordered a Pulled Pork Sandwich.

Beef Ribs

One rib was all that Sharon could finish.  The rib was tender, tasty, very meaty, and not the least bit stringy, just as we had experienced in 2012.  The other rib and some of the steak fries that were with it came home as leftovers.  Sharon was still full after work so I had the other one for dinner.  I microwaved it along with the steak fries and it was great.

Pulled Pork

It occurred to me that I had never ordered Pulled Pork at Dr. Hogly Wogly’s.  The sandwich arrived on one of their fluffy buns with coleslaw on it.  The portion was more than enough.  In fact, it overflowed the sides of the bun.  And, it was so wet that I could not pick it up and eat it as a sandwich!  When I pointed it out to the server that what I had was a knife and fork pulled pork sandwich she told me that they put a big splash of the cooking juice on it before they put it on the sandwich.  She said that many people order the bun on the side and assemble the sandwich themselves.  Really?!!  The other thing was that the pork was not as flavorful as I expected.  Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but not what I expected compared to the other meats here.  I have had better pulled pork. 

What happened here?  My guess is a change of generations, a new generation of servers and a new generation in the kitchen. Dr. Hogly Wogly’s is still destination barbeque, but considering the pulled pork we are going to have to down grade them from a 10 to a 9. 

Sharon and I are getting back into the barbeque groove.  There are at least three places we intend to visit and review (or re-review) in the next couple of months.

THEY'RE GONE!

They’re Gone!

Unfortunately, (or fortunately, as the case may be) not all of the barbeque places we have visited have survived.  It’s sometimes a shock to be visiting an area where we have enjoyed good “que” and find that the place we had enjoyed is gone.  Other times we were not surprised at all.

THE BARBECUE COMPANY

3807 Santa Claus Lane

Carpentaria, CA 93013

This is an unfortunate loss.  Our conclusions on the experience here was:

“Is this the world’s best barbecue?  Well, no, but it is a contender, and not at all what you would expect to find in what is essentially a beachside strip mall.  It stands with much more expensive and much more famous barbecue restaurants and definitely comes under the heading of a destination barbecue restaurant.  We give it between an eight and a half and a nine.”

We think we know what happened here…location, Location, LOCATION!  It was visible from the 101 freeway, in the daytime, just after you passed it!  You had to really be determined to go there to come back around and find the Padaro Lane off ramp in the daylight let alone at night.  Too bad, the que was great.

CENTRAL TEXAN BBQ

10500 Merritt Street

Castroville, CA 95012

Our feelings on this one were mixed.  They had good “que” but the whole experience was not that great.  We concluded:

“The experience is authentic and kind of fun, so it’s a bit hard to be critical, but considering that there are lots of barbeque places that are fun and have authentic que, that don’t look like they are standing because the termites are holding hands, we are.  Taken as a whole, the experience doesn’t rate over seven and a half.”

Upon further reflection that conclusion was a bit over generous.  The meat was very good but the rest of the experience was acceptable only because of the company we had.  Guess the termites stopped holding hands.

BABY BLUES BBQ – WEST HOLLYWOOD

7953 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

This was a complete shock!  We did not see this one coming at all.  Our original conclusion was:

“Baby Blues is a small chain.  They have another location in Santa Monica.  It will be interesting to see if the owners can keep up the exceptional quality of food and atmosphere if the expand it further.  Make no mistake, it is exceptional.  They seem to take pride in using what they feel is the best method of preparation for each style of meat regardless of the barbecue style.  You can’t pigeonhole it.  This is a barbecue destination.  Taking it all in, I gave it a nine, Sharon a nine point five".

The other location is still open and we will visit it for a post.  One of the local restaurant reviewers wrote that it could not compete with more trendy restaurants in the area.  Really!!!  What do they want?

SMOKE CITY MARKET

5242 Van Nuys Boulevard

Sherman Oaks, CA 91401

No surprise here, we did not enjoy this one.  Our original conclusion was:

“I suppose the problems we had with the Smoke City Market were that we had expectations.  With great reviews, recommendations from acquaintances, and experience with Texas barbecue, we were probably set up for a fall.  Regardless of our expectations, we would have been disappointed anyway.  We would really have to find a good reason to give it another try.  This one gets a five."

The marketplace (barbeque lovers) has spoken.

MY BROTHER’S BAR-B-Q

21150 Woodland Hills, CA 91364-2103

818-348-2020

This is another one we don’t really miss.  This was strictly coffee shop barbeque which was unfortunate since they were really nice people.  Our conclusion was:

“There is a definite nostalgia value to My Brother’s Bar-B-Q.  When I was a kid, this was barbecue.  It does not come from the barbecue tradition but from the restaurant management tradition. There are barbecue places in this area that are nearly as venerable as My Brother’s that come from the regional barbecue tradition, and they have continued to refine their product in the contemporary barbecue mode.  This is what we have come to look for in barbecue.  A couple of steak houses in the San Fernando Valley live on their 1950’s nostalgia.  It works with a steakhouse, but not for a barbecue restaurant.  I really hate to have to say this because all the people there are so nice, but we give it a five.”

I don’t really know what happened.  Perhaps the older patrons that had the habit of coming here moved or died off, or maybe they just moved on to other places and there was nothing to attract new customers.  Or, as will often happen in the restaurant business a principal retired or died and no one wanted to or was able to continue the business.  Whatever it was it’s gone.

WILLY’S BBQ & GRILL SMOKEHOUSE

(Soon to change its name to TAVERN 101 BAR AND GRILL)

24834 Roadside Drive

Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Well it did, and as Tavern 101 seems to have somewhat of a different vibe.  This requires a visit for a new review.  We will sneak in the next time we drive out of the west end of the Valley.