Out for Barbecue last night!

I was invited to meet up with Linda, La Reine du Barbecue who is the proprietrix of LJ's Barbecue in Providence to try out a new place in Mattapoisett called The South Coast Local. Now both of us are barbecue fanatics and when she said there was a new place to go for Barbecue within an hour of the Cape I said "lets go!" and we met there last night. The place is a classic diner with the sunburst-patterned stainless steel walls, the swivel stools at the counter and a few booths. The first thing I noticed was that it was sparkling clean. That's a big plus when venturing into a new place, especially a diner. The waitress, Yolanda, was very friendly, and gave us plenty of time to review the menu and as we hadn't seen each other for a while, gave us plenty of time to catch up without hovering over us. I do like that.

Now to the food...

As a southern boy I rarely get a chance to enjoy grits and when I saw New Orleans-Style Barbecued Shrimp with White Cheddar Grits I knew I had to order them. The shrimp were cooked perfectly. They were tender and not at all overcooked as barbecued shrimp often are. The sauce had a wonderful "tang" to it and a finish of Worcestershire that I found very delicious. The grits were also very well done with plenty of cheddar and fresh corn off the cob mixed in. A little pitcher of additional sauce was served on the side but was not required by me.

This dish is absolutely delicious. I did add a dash of salt to the dish, after tasting it of course, but I like my food on the slightly salty side, more so than most people. Very well done Chef! Linda had Lump Crab Cakes with a Lemon-scented Tartar Sauce for her appetizer. The cakes were sauteed in butter so they had a lovely buttery finish on the palate and were nicely crunchy on the outside while the inside was very moist and delicious. There were beautiful lumps of crab in the cakes and not a lot of "filling" which can make a crab cake just plain nasty. The tartar sauce had just enough lemon in it to give it a brightness that made it very good with the cakes.

For dinner we both opted for pork. "La Reine" had the Baby-Back Ribs with a side salad and I had "The Full Sullivan" which is a pulled pork sandwich with Potato Salad for s side.

According to the "Queen of Barbecue" the ribs were perfect. The rub had a nice little "kick" to it but not so much as would put off someone like me who does not care for very spicy food. The accompanying sauce was the restaurant's "if you don't specify what kind of sauce you want you get this one" which was quite nice with a little spice and tang, tomato-based, with a wonderful complexity of flavors. The ribs were well cooked and "pull off the bone" tender. Very nicely done. She also said that the dressing on the salad (homemade) was quite tasty. The Pulled Pork sandwich was just  plain great. It was a "heapin' helpin'" of pulled pork dressed with some of that terrific sauce and topped with cole slaw on a buttery toasted bun. Oh my goodness was that tasty. The potato salad was nicely done as well. One thing I will mention was that the potatoes were perfectly cooked. When I saw the potato salad in the "monkey dish" I noted that you could see clearly defined edges on the cut potatoes usually signaling that the potatoes are slightly undercooked, but not this time. It was just terrific.

Neither of us ordered dessert or coffee as we were both stuffed at the end of dinner. I did, however, order a full rack to go for a little nosh this evening.

I would heartily recommend this place to anyone that is looking for delicious food, prepared to order by a chef who really knows what he is doing.