Epic Smokehouse, 1330 Fair Street Arlington, Virginia 22202
The name suits it well. It’s pretty epic. This place is what you would call, upscale bbq. Bacon is a key player in their menu, and I am appeased. On one our date nights, the boo and I chose this place because, after the Bacon Shortage scare, I wanted to consume as much pork product as possible. Lucky for us, there was plenty.
The Appetizers
We chose the bacon app, and the kahlua pig roll.
The Verdict
The bacon appetizer is just a slab of pork belly, smoked and cooked, topped with sprouts and their fig and mustard sauces. Delicious and fatty. The kahlua pig roll was something to write home about. It’s pulled pork and kimchi rolled in an egg roll wrapper, with a lemongrass coconut dipping sauce. I don’t like kimchi on the regular, but the way the flavors presented itself in that rolled up bite worked really well. Top it off with the cool, creamy coconut dipping sauce, it made me sad when the appetizer was over. But at least the entrees were next!
Entrees
We had the filet mignon with the crawfish hollandaise, with fried asparagus and an extra side of bacon sprouts. Also the applewood smoked baby back ribs with fries and an extra side of sauteed portobello mushrooms.
The filet was perfectly seasoned, and you could cut it with a butter knife. I ate it with a bite of mushrooms and it was amazing. Making my mouth water just thinking about it. I love asparagus. But battering and deep frying it was a bad idea. There wasn’t really any flavor to the batter, but the asparagus was perfectly cooked. They topped the steak with two crawfish tails, which was pointless and didn’t bring anything to the meal. Our hollandaise came out later and had no flavor. It literally just tasted like egg and butter..no salt. Nothing. Disappointing.
They don’t say how many ribs on the menu. It’s just “Ribs”. Its a full rack. I got mine with a side of mushrooms, it also comes with fries. These were smoked to perfection. I loved it. It was quite intimidating when it came out, there really was no right way to go about it, so I just dug in. I really enjoyed it. But I like things extra saucy, so I might ask for more ‘cue sauce on the side next time.
Overall, I had a great meal and would love to go back again! Who doesn’t love a bacon dominant menu? If not for food, then at least for dessert!!!