Monthly Archives: February 2022

Extra Credit:Hogs and Hops and a Healthy Olive

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Today was a fine spring like day and after doing a little work on the plant bed this morning I decided to investigate a downtown Seneca area, Ram Cat Alley. It’s a couple of blocks long leading to Main Street and an old train depot. I knew there were a couple of restaurants in the area and I figured I’d make a decision once I got down there and see what struck me. What struck me was Hogs and Hops with it’s outdoor seating on such a wonderful day.

The non-BBQ special of the day was chili and cornbread which I almost bit on but figured here was a chance to add just one extra joint to my BBQ database. The other customers and the owners knew one another and didn’t mind chatting while the work got done. To me that was a good sign if people are coming often enough to get to know one another.

BBQ sandwich plate it was for me. For sides I went with the mac and cheese and Brunswick stew. My sauce selection was unorthodox for a southern BBQ sandwich, peach habanero sauce. Hogs and Hops has, hands down, the most interesting selection of sauces of all the spots locally. They also had a pineapple habanero that I almost went with but the pull of the peach was stronger. Speaking of pineapples there was also pineapple upside-down cake. Oh and a diet coke to wash it down cause I’m watching my figure. I was happy to come off the 11 bucks and change for this meal.

The BBQ was smoky and moist and the sauce added a really nice sweet kick of heat. The Brunswick stew also was a fine tasting example of its genre of stew. It had more vegetables than Cole’s that I raved about in a previous blog but I was just fine with that. The mac and cheese was the best of any I’ve had in the area and better than most I’ve had anywhere. The consistency was good and the cheese was just stringy enough to know you had real cheese in this mixture. Really nice. The cake was a little dry except where the pineapple had added some moisture. That didn’t keep me from knocking it out though. I was very happy with my decision to spend the afternoon dining al fresco.

You may have noticed nowhere did I mention hops other than the name. Well apparently they have some deal with Brews on the Alley, a coffee and craft beer bar and if you want to dine indoors you can just cross the street and dine in there and get your beer on. That explains the hops but what about the Healthy Olive I know you’re wondering. Let me tell you.

It’s a little boutique store with way too many cool olive oils and vinegars plus other gourmet type stuff I didn’t know I needed until I went in. I don’t know how many different varieties she has of each but if you can’t find something that intrigues you, you are dead inside. There are little tasting cups so you check them out before committing to a significant purchase. I tasted 2 and bought 2. A blood orange infused olive oil and an aged cinnamon pear balsamic vinegar. Both amazing. Plus a little applewood smoked sea salt and a fancy Italian dinner, just add boiling water.

I will definitely be visiting again. If I bring the bottles back she knocks $1 off the price and there’s a punch card program too.

It’s been a great day already but on the way home I noticed there were two baby goats in the pasture next door. They were just gamboling all over the place. That just leveled up the day.

And the BBQ Was OK Too

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I collected my last Seneca data point on the BBQ front from a relatively new BBQ acquisition spot. I don’t call it a joint because Cole’s Southern BBQ is a food trailer in a semi-permanent spot. They do catering but 3 days a week they park at the same place on Sandifer Blvd. They have plenty of parking and some picnic benches so you can eat on site. You get the food truck experience of ordering at the window and standing around talking to other folks (or not) as you wait for your food.

The day I went was beautiful, blue skies and low 60’s. I didn’t even mind when Random Stranger #2 waiting on his food too decided to start chatting. He did affirm one of my side choices as the best he’d ever had other than his own. That sounded promising.

I did chat with the owner / smoker a bit about his sauces based off the sign below. I knew I’d want a couple for the ribs and wanted to make sure we were cool.

He told me to get what I wanted and that was for the abusers. He said a guy the other day got one sandwich and literally 10 little cups of mustard sauce. Turns out they sell bottles of the sauce and there’s one I’d actually consider, spoilers.

Staying true to the methodology I got 2 plates for 3 meals. I did get him to throw in an extra 3 ribs because the normal platter only comes with 3. I could have been fine with just 3. Let me just tell you right now based on the weight of the plates I was not going to be complaining about skimpy side portions.

With the sandwich I got slaw and Brunswick stew and with the ribs I got baked beans and potato salad. Sauces were Carolina Vinegar, Hickory & Cole’s Southern Sweet Heat.

He was quite generous with the sides as you can see. I just wish they’d all been great, they weren’t. The baked beans were fine, nothing you couldn’t get from a can. Potato salad tasted just like Food Lion deli potato salad, again just fine. The coleslaw continued the just fine trend and seemed like it came straight from a carton. Now the Brunswick stew was very much the best of the lot and was worth the trip. This was the one Random Stranger #2 said was the 2nd best he’d ever had. I have to agree it was pretty dang good. Sweet and smoky tomato based stew with loads of meat and some corn and lima beans thrown in for good measure.

I fixed my sampler plate and proceeded to judge.

I’ve already covered the side so lets talk about the meat. The sandwich had lots of well smoked meat that was probably the most juicy or moist of any sandwich I’ve had during this experiment. In fact it destroyed the bottom bun turning it into a soggy mess on the ride home. That didn’t stop me from eating all the pork with a load of the Carolina vinegar sauce. It was probably the closest to the eastern North Carolina BBQ sauce I grew up knowing was the “right” kind for BBQ pork. On the whole pretty good.

The ribs were quite large and meaty but also the fattiest of any I tried. You could tell visually they were well smoked but there was actually fairly little taste from the smoking. That made a neutral pallet for the sauces if that’s your favorite part. The pork itself was tender but firm so you had to put in a little effort pulling it off the bone. To me that was good. The sauces I tried with the ribs were very different but good in their own way. The Hickory Mild was thick and sweet with a molasses and hickory flavor combo. The Cole’s Southern Sweet Heat seemed like a combination of the vinegar and hickory with a doubling down on the black pepper. To me it was the best of the lot and maybe my favorite of the local sauces I’ve had.

Overall I liked Cole’s and when I crave BBQ and the day is nice this is probably where I’ll head.

Actually after all that I’d say in general Little Pigs is my go to but in certain circumstances I’d recommend Black’s Smokehouse and Cole’s Southern BBQ. I think Black’s has the best tasting ribs and for a beautiful day and a bowl of Brunswick stew burn rubber to Cole’s. As a BBQ place Heavenly Hog is a hard pass for me.

Not so Heavenly Hog

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The Seneca BBQ data collection continued last weekend when I made the decision to try Heavenly Hog. Turns out it happens to be the closest BBQ joint to my home. The outside looked promising; a stand alone building kind of out in the middle of nowhere, screened in smoke room built on to the side, some pig silhouettes on the front of the building, and customers at 11:15.

The inside gave some indication the original look was a good old cinderblock building. The inside block walls are painted a dark color with heavy wood furniture, plastic table cloths and a kind of divey décor. There were a few people eating and another waiting to get a carry out order. So far, so good. Judging by the menu boards they seemed like more of a diner that featured BBQ rather than a straight up BBQ joint. They were really showing off the meat & two options. Well I came for the BBQ and that’s what I got. From the friendly staff I used the same logic as Black’s and got 2 plates to go so I could sample and split. I got the BBQ sandwich plate and a 1/2 rack plate.

They had a decent number of side options and I went with some southern staples to go with the sandwich and ribs. Initial impressions were mixed. The little containers they put the sides in made the portions seem a bit skimpy except for the okra which was plentiful. The BBQ in the sandwich and the rib portion I thought was good for the money. The sauces, both mild and hot, looked kind of ketchupy so I wasn’t overly excited. The proof would be in the pudding, or in this case the pulled pork. I made my sampler plate and plated the rest for future meals.

Let’s get the sides out of the way first. Fried okra competently done and plentiful, number 2 out of the 4. The green beans were right of the can and no seasoning, I think they may even have been the low sodium canned variety. Definitely bottom of the heap, which made me sad because I love green beans. Mac and cheese was again OK, better than Black’s but nothing to get excited about. Number 3 on the side parade. The sweet potato soufflé was by far the standout in this quartet. Nice sweet potato flavor, the brown sugar was prominent but not dominant and the nuts were just the right amount. On to the BBQ.

The pulled pork in the sandwich was, as I mentioned, a decent portion of lightly seasoned and smoked meat. OK by itself but definitely benefitting from sauce. The hot sauce was at best medium and almost a mild spice level to me. It was a little sweeter and tangier than ketchup so the initial impression was overcome a bit. The mild sauce just had no spiciness at all and should just have been called plain.

The ribs had possibility but by the pale look I knew I was going to be disappointed. I do feel like the portion I got for the price paid was more than competitive to other places I’ve been. The meat pulled away from the bone but in the way that seemed to indicate they’d been boiled first before going on the smoker to tender them up. That would have been ok but they weren’t on the smoker long enough to get a really good smoked flavor. The rub was good but if you didn’t get a piece with a fair bit of rub on it the whole thing felt kind of washed out. Dredging it through the sauce helped and on the whole it filled me up.

I think I will go back and try one of their meat & two options because I liked the atmosphere and I want to like the place. Overall though of the 3 local BBQ spots tried so far they are number 3 for BBQ for me.

I think one more new spot and I will have the majority of the Seneca spots covered for BBQ.