Boyfie and I don't really go out for dinner very often, especially since Covid struck, but we each had a day off on Friday and so we thought it would be great to go out for lunch for a change. During the day, working from home, we just spend our breaks indoors eating sandwiches or I'll nip out for a run, come back, shower and get dressed again. But by the time I've done all of that, my break is over :( so we decided to make some time for each other and we did that over a series of smoked meats, chips and rather delicious coleslaw!
Hickory's Smokehouse is located in Nuthall, Nottingham, although they have numerous locations scattered around the UK. I wouldn't really class them as a chain, as they started off with one restaurant then branched out to other cities, but I must say, it was an absolute pleasure to have lunch there and I'd do it again, for sure.
So let me take you through what we had, the atmos and our thoughts on the experience as a whole. Obviously, you know already that it was a positive visit, but let me go into more detail for all you meat lovers :)
A burnt ends starter
I know you're wondering what on earth that thing is in the picture below; it's a battered piece of beef, basically. These are bite-sized burnt ends, which I love, but we weren't actually aware that they came battered, although I'm sure it's in the menu somewhere and we just didn't read it, haha. Let me give you some more info about these battered burnt ends...
"Burnt End 'Popcorn' Bites - bite-sized chunks of 16-hour smoked brisket, tossed in our secret blend of spices"
They were actually delicious little things, but I think it would have been better if they weren't battered and then fried. I don't really understand what that adds to the dish as I think it would have been just as tasty tossed around in their "secret blend of spices" and then served up without being fried, if that makes sense? Either way, they actually added to the overall meal, but I'm not sure if I would buy them again. Also, the sauce in the pot is a rich BBQ sauce.
Sharing platter for one & a brisket banquet
For our main courses, I went for the brisket and Tom went for the sharing platter for one that came with a load of different meats to try. My brisket was absolutely divine. It was dry-rub as opposed to meat that had been slathered in BBQ sauce, like some smoked meat places do. It was super tender, almost falling off my fork. It was like eating a piece of roasted salmon, it all just fell away - remarkable. It's something I haven't experienced since we took a trip to Nashville and Memphis three years ago. You can read about our trip
here and
here (Memphis), haha.
Tom seemed to absolutely love his dinner -cleared the plate practically other than his chips and the side of coleslaw. In fact, I couldn't finish all of mine either. I ended up taking some of the brisket home in a box! Anyway, included in the sharing platter for one was chicken, pork sausage, beef short rib, baby back ribs and brisket. I'll detail it all below for you, straight from the menu.
"The Smokehouse Platter - Can't decide? Don't decide. Allow us to bring you a platter filled with all the smokehouse classics. Served with skin-on fries, house slaw, pickles & Tennessee bourbon gravy. Grain-fed Texas-style beef brisket, Memphis-style baby back ribs, BBQ baby back ribs, smoked pork, jalapeno & cheese sausage, barbecue hand-pulled pork, eight-hour smoked Jacobs Ladder, bourbon glazed slow-cooked chicken wings"
"Texas Style Brisket - There's no messing around with our grain-fed beef brisket. Cooked low 'n' slow for 16 hours, each brisket is served warm rather than piping hot (just like they do in Texas) with house-slaw, skin-on-fries, pickles and Tennessee bourbon gravy"
A slice of America in Nottingham
This restaurant has only just opened in Nottingham and we were wanting to go for some dinner one time, but they're actually all booked up until December this year, so everyone else has come and realised that they really do serve expertly smoked meat and there are even veggie options available as well.
The owners of this establishment ended up travelling the States some years ago and picked up a lot of different techniques for smoking and barbecuing different types of meat. You can read all about their story
here, if you're interested.
Having been to Tennessee myself, I can definitely say that going here is like sitting down and having smoked meats over in Nashville or Memphis. They even have to decor and atmosphere right, not to mention the dry rub hype that's not really been done before here in England. Either way, if you're a meat lover, then you'll absolutely love this place, so give it a go if you're ever in the area :)
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Have you been here before or to any one of their other locations? Let me know in the comments below. For now though, I'll see you again soon with another blog post!
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