It’s amazing what the mention of an ingredient or dish can do to provoke a reaction. There are food memories that stick with you for years and still have the power to steer your choice of dishes when you see them mentioned. Soused mackerel is a good example of that for me and the decision to visit Baby Blues BBQ was driven by another.
I did my Ph.D. as a step to opening new possibilities but I had no absolutely idea about what the next step was likely to be. Luckily, attendance at an international conference in Bordeaux provided the opportunity that shaped our next few years. The job board advertised a postdoctoral position in Research Triangle Park and even though I had no idea where North Carolina was, it sounded interesting enough to go for. A few phones calls and a visa application later and we were set, scheduled to fly into Raleigh-Durham airport a week after Hurricane Hugo hit the Eastern seaboard. Our transatlantic flight touched down at Charlotte and following clearance through immigration the next step was a quick flight to Raleigh-Durham in a boxy Shorts prop-plane.
One of my colleagues met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel. The post-doc position was a government funded so our initial accommodation was only ever going to be rough and ready and the Red Roof Inn on North Carolina Rt 55 became our home for the next three weeks. Not surprisingly, we were starving by the time we checked in and there were two dining options either side of the hotel. We went for the 1920s Deli, now sadly defunct. Thirty minutes later, an obsession was born. The menu was a mix of the usual burgers, sandwiches, salads and fried foods. However, there was a section that listed Carolina foods so it was the obvious place to choose from and I went for the barbecue pork plate. The plastic basket of shredded pork, coleslaw and fries was heaven. More accurately, the slaw and fries were minor support acts to the heap of bliss that was the vinegary pork, a speciality of the eastern part of the state. The 1920 Deli became a regular lunch spot and we tried other menu items but the pork was really special every time. We also found good sources of pork BBQ in Greenville and Duck on the Outer Banks and the experience of eastern North Carolina pulled pork has spoilt my perception of pork barbecue ever since. If it’s not vinegary then there’s something lacking for me.
Trips to North Carolina have been few and far between but the craving remains. While checking out the menus of a number of barbecue restaurants in Philadelphia I stumbled across the magic words on the Baby Blues BBQ website. There they were in print - Carolina-Style Pulled Pork - so it was obviously somewhere we had to go to.
Come the Sunday evening, we walked to Baby Blues, a stone-built restaurant on the quiet dimly lit Sansom Street in University City. The decor inside is predictably rough and ready with bare wood flooring and exposed brick walls. Tables are scattered throughout the ground floor with the option of sitting at the open kitchen. We were guided to the back end of the restaurant and passed a number of diners en route. The ribs seemed to be popular and looked really good. Consequently, the thought of getting close to proper vinegary pork barbecue really was getting really exciting. We sat at our table, opened our menus and busily plotted how many different meats we wanted to try because everything sounded enticing. This all came to a shuddering halt when we were told that an exceptionally busy weekend in the restaurant meant that they were out of Memphis ribs, Texas beef rib, beef brisket and worst of all the Carolina pulled pork. I may have become a bit emotional at this point by stating that the pulled pork was the sole reason for us being there and wondering out loud if we should leave. Luckily for the restaurant it was too bloody cold outside so we had to make do with choosing something from the disparate remnants of the menu.
I did my Ph.D. as a step to opening new possibilities but I had no absolutely idea about what the next step was likely to be. Luckily, attendance at an international conference in Bordeaux provided the opportunity that shaped our next few years. The job board advertised a postdoctoral position in Research Triangle Park and even though I had no idea where North Carolina was, it sounded interesting enough to go for. A few phones calls and a visa application later and we were set, scheduled to fly into Raleigh-Durham airport a week after Hurricane Hugo hit the Eastern seaboard. Our transatlantic flight touched down at Charlotte and following clearance through immigration the next step was a quick flight to Raleigh-Durham in a boxy Shorts prop-plane.
One of my colleagues met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel. The post-doc position was a government funded so our initial accommodation was only ever going to be rough and ready and the Red Roof Inn on North Carolina Rt 55 became our home for the next three weeks. Not surprisingly, we were starving by the time we checked in and there were two dining options either side of the hotel. We went for the 1920s Deli, now sadly defunct. Thirty minutes later, an obsession was born. The menu was a mix of the usual burgers, sandwiches, salads and fried foods. However, there was a section that listed Carolina foods so it was the obvious place to choose from and I went for the barbecue pork plate. The plastic basket of shredded pork, coleslaw and fries was heaven. More accurately, the slaw and fries were minor support acts to the heap of bliss that was the vinegary pork, a speciality of the eastern part of the state. The 1920 Deli became a regular lunch spot and we tried other menu items but the pork was really special every time. We also found good sources of pork BBQ in Greenville and Duck on the Outer Banks and the experience of eastern North Carolina pulled pork has spoilt my perception of pork barbecue ever since. If it’s not vinegary then there’s something lacking for me.
Trips to North Carolina have been few and far between but the craving remains. While checking out the menus of a number of barbecue restaurants in Philadelphia I stumbled across the magic words on the Baby Blues BBQ website. There they were in print - Carolina-Style Pulled Pork - so it was obviously somewhere we had to go to.
Come the Sunday evening, we walked to Baby Blues, a stone-built restaurant on the quiet dimly lit Sansom Street in University City. The decor inside is predictably rough and ready with bare wood flooring and exposed brick walls. Tables are scattered throughout the ground floor with the option of sitting at the open kitchen. We were guided to the back end of the restaurant and passed a number of diners en route. The ribs seemed to be popular and looked really good. Consequently, the thought of getting close to proper vinegary pork barbecue really was getting really exciting. We sat at our table, opened our menus and busily plotted how many different meats we wanted to try because everything sounded enticing. This all came to a shuddering halt when we were told that an exceptionally busy weekend in the restaurant meant that they were out of Memphis ribs, Texas beef rib, beef brisket and worst of all the Carolina pulled pork. I may have become a bit emotional at this point by stating that the pulled pork was the sole reason for us being there and wondering out loud if we should leave. Luckily for the restaurant it was too bloody cold outside so we had to make do with choosing something from the disparate remnants of the menu.
First of our starters was a basket of hush puppies, the deep-fried cornbread balls that we’d originally encountered at the long defunct Landlubbers in Chapel Hill when trying out Calabash cooking for the first time. The hush puppies were served with a cinnamon, honey butter and were a perfectly palatable way to kick things off with a good crunchy exterior and dense core. It became apparent how flustered the wait staff were when a second basket of hush puppies came to the table. We let them know that we’d already had our order and they were taken away. Five minutes later a third portion turned up and it seemed churlish to send them back again so we dug into the extra portion. These were slightly less cooked than the first batch and better for it.
The list of appetisers was fairly brief but there was no way that we were going to pass on trying the chicken wings. Described on the menu as 1 lb of smoked, grilled chicken wings, we went for the hot option. This translated to a portion of 11 wings that weren’t challengingly spicy but benefitted from being succulently juicy with a good subtle smoky flavour. The only complaint was that with four of us eating we didn’t get very many each to eat.
Choices for mains were the a la carte or platters featuring a single main ingredient with 2 sides as well as cornbread. Within the platter listing were the “Big Blue” offering 3 meats or the “Blue Devil” plate offering 4 meats. My choice for the Big Blue, bearing in mind the limited options, were smoked baby back ribs, Marion county slow-cooked smoked chicken and grilled BBQ shrimp. As expected, the ribs were delicious with tender, gently smoky meat falling away from the bone. However, I actually preferred the other options. The shrimp were plump and juicy and their superb flavour was nicely enhanced by the drizzle of Creole remoulade that topped them. The chicken was also superb. Again the meat had been treated very sympathetically so it was juicy and full of flavour. The sides were adequate at best with the coleslaw much better than the chicken smoked rice that did nothing for me.
Overall verdict
Despite the disappointment of a large part of the menu being AWOL, the barbecued food that we had was really very good. Service was all over the place and the staff still seemed shell-shocked as a result of a busy weekend. I really didn’t like the use of plastic plates either but that was relatively minor.
Would I revisit Baby Blues BBQ?
Seeing as I never had a chance to try the Carolina pork BBQ, a return trip is inevitable. The dishes we sampled definitely justify thinking of Baby Blues BBQ as a standby if we’re looking for good quality basic food.
Despite the disappointment of a large part of the menu being AWOL, the barbecued food that we had was really very good. Service was all over the place and the staff still seemed shell-shocked as a result of a busy weekend. I really didn’t like the use of plastic plates either but that was relatively minor.
Would I revisit Baby Blues BBQ?
Seeing as I never had a chance to try the Carolina pork BBQ, a return trip is inevitable. The dishes we sampled definitely justify thinking of Baby Blues BBQ as a standby if we’re looking for good quality basic food.
Return to the Blues - 8 March 2013
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Three weeks later, another trip to Philadelphia and it seemed that this was the time to try out the pulled pork. We booked for Friday night so we’d beat any weekend rush that might happen. This time we ended up in a booth by the cooking area. I hadn’t appreciated before that the “open” cooking area was actually glassed off so seating at the dining bar would make for a fairly odd experience although we didn’t see anyone eat there. It was more a stopping point for the wait staff while they wrapped cutlery in napkins and did other similar tasks.
Rather than pile straight into the mains, we decided to try a couple of starters first. The wings had been a success last time so were an obvious choice again. We opted for the hot wings and they came out looking very different from our previous visit (we could have sworn we ordered the hot version before too). No matter, they tasted great. Splendid crispy skin covering wonderfully moist, juicy meat and we ended up fighting each other for the last one, which I would think would count as something of an endorsement.
Rather than pile straight into the mains, we decided to try a couple of starters first. The wings had been a success last time so were an obvious choice again. We opted for the hot wings and they came out looking very different from our previous visit (we could have sworn we ordered the hot version before too). No matter, they tasted great. Splendid crispy skin covering wonderfully moist, juicy meat and we ended up fighting each other for the last one, which I would think would count as something of an endorsement.
The wings were accompanied by a portion of “Suicide King”, more descriptively grilled shrimp on cornbread with cotija cheese. Benefitting from a sprinkle of fresh lime juice, the shrimp were plumply delicious once more demonstrating the kitchen’s skill with the grill. The cornbread worked well with the shrimp but there was far more than the overall dish needed so a fair amount back went back to the kitchen with our finished plates. I had been relatively unimpressed with the coleslaw before but it worked perfectly here and had me regretting not ordering it with my main.
And then it was time for the main event. I ordered my “Get Down Miss Brown” consisting of a plate of PULLED PORK! with mixed fries and stewed tomatoes. The sides were great with the fries benefitting from a sprinkle of the pepper vinegar supplied in a bottle on every table. The plum tomatoes had been stewed with whole garlic cloves and olive oil for a lusciously comforting dip. But what about the PULLED PORK!? Sorry to say it was the worst thing I ate in the two visits to Baby Blues and I don't believe this was because I had built up any sort of expectation. What arrived was a pale limp shadow of its feisty Southern cousin and it had no apparent personality. One of the servers suggested (twice) that it was really good if you splashed on the pepper vinegar. This definitely helped but there was only so much the vinegar could do and it was ultimately incapable of revitalising the lacklustre main event. I know this because I tried pouring on vinegar on in several stages to see what it did. Colour me extremely disappointed.
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Revised Overall verdict
I still think that Baby Blues is somewhere well worth visiting. I just know now to avoid the PULLED PORK! Anything barbecued or grilled seems to be a good option. We will go back.
Overall Rating (Both Visits) - 3/5
I still think that Baby Blues is somewhere well worth visiting. I just know now to avoid the PULLED PORK! Anything barbecued or grilled seems to be a good option. We will go back.
Overall Rating (Both Visits) - 3/5
