The Smoke Shack - Stony Stratford

There are so many things wrong with British BBQ that I get angry just talking about it, but since you brought it up let's start with the fact that what most of us think of as BBQ isn't actually BBQ at all, it's grilling. It can be delicious, beautiful grilling, but it is grilling nevertheless. BBQ on the other hand is an amazing blend of sweet and savoury, smokey, soft and crusty. Pork, beef, lamb or chicken, they all become something much more when laid in the 'pit and kissed with smoke over the course of the day. 

So shouldn't we have some of that magical witchcraft of cookery in MK? Certainly the Smoke Shack is looking to ride the crest of a UK wave in restaurant quality BBQ cuisine that can only bring a much needed improvement to back garden grills and impromptu Summer parties. Based in Stony Stratford (which along with Wolverton is fast becoming the go-to location for much needed independent restaurants in the immediate area). It certainly looks fantastic, with character bulging out of every nook and cranny (so long as you look past the hilariously ridiculous brick effect wallpaper) and the smell coming from the kitchen is amazing but something just felt... off.

We started with nachos, we seem to be eating a lot of nachos at the moment and these ones were... OK. The guacamole was creamy and mild and the sour cream was as sour and creamy as the name suggested. The sauce was heavy with sugar and the jalapeños were warming and tart with pickle. The nachos themselves were suitably smothered in cheese and the portion size was absolutely fine, so what's the problem? The thing is; was it any better than anything that would come from a supermarket shelf? I'm afraid that I am unconvinced.

Then came the mains, it was a rib fest as Mrs P went for the baby backs and I had the beef long rib (although I'm not even going into the question of how long do long ribs need to be to be considered long?).

Unfortunately, Mrs P's ribs were dry with very little in the way of the deep, mix of flavour I was hoping for. They were chewy but not in a good way and alongside the huge portion of chips the coleslaw was just too mild to be anything short of a small bowlful of crunchy 'meh'. I was expecting something with a bit more oomph to stand up to the meat, but instead, it didn't fulfil anything other than the standard UK restaurant BBQ checklist:

Lots of meat - check
Wooden chopping board instead of a plate - check
Token salad garnish - check
Bottle of overly sweet 'Smokey' BBQ sauce - check
Bowl of coleslaw - check

My beef ribs on the other hand were certainly moist and tender but they just didn't taste of very much. I don't know if they used a rub on the meat before cooking but if so, I would suggest they look to change it. Otherwise my checklist was similarly in place.

We also had a side of the tampura onion rings as they are Mrs P's Achilles heel and they were again, consistently standard but also as much of the meal before it, didn't throw anything crazy at us. To be honest, by the end I was crying out for something to make us go 'wow', 'ooh' or maybe even 'eh'?.

We saw a couple of the puds go past to other tables, and they did look tasty but by then we were happy just to pay up and move on which is perhaps when considering Mrs P's penchant for the sweet stuff the most telling indictment of all. 

The Smoke Shack has a massive fan base, so much so that booking to get in here is certainly recommended. The place was packed out on the Wednesday night that we visited but for me, Smoke Shack is OK and not much more. Go to Bodeans, or look up The Rib Man and you'll see that it is flavour more than presentation that makes for real BBQ.