Meat Sweats from Memphis Blues - Robson Grand Opening

Back towards the end of July, I was fortunate to be invited to the Memphis Blues Trade and Media event at their newest location on Robson Street. Centrally located near the Westin Liberty Grand, the Centre for the Arts, Rogers Arena and BC Stadium, this is a great pre-game dinner spot. The event was called Meat Me in Memphis and Meat is what you'll get here. If you're a vegetarian, you can always have a salad while your friends chow down on various meats. 

Yes, BBQ - that is what they excel at here. To be considered authentic, the meat is smoked over a low heat for hours to prevent the meat from drying out. The end result should be moist and tender to pull apart with a fork (or just your hands) but it should not mushy at all.   First of the party trays that we tried was the BBQ Chicken. To maintain moisture and flavour, they stick with the small fryers, usually less than 3lbs, and whenever possible, local and free range are used. Even the white meat as moist! On the right you have the Smoked Pork Sausage, but it's not just smoked once, nor twice, but a total of three times. Even before arriving at Memphis Blues, these pork sausages are smoked twice. Upon arrival, they are place into the pit and smoked just before serving. These are pork sausages afterall, so expect them to be a little fatty. But even then, it's true, you can't just have one! This next tray is probably my favourite, and if I didn't have to move on down the line, I could have grabbed another whole plateful of both of these. I really love Pork Rib Ends. It's the boneless part of a regular rack of ribs, so all you have is meaty goodness. They serve these on their own but they can also make this into a sandwich, slathered with their Signature BBQ sauce (more on this in a bit). Oh, and if you are feeling especially healthy, they will even put it on a Tossed Green Salad for you. On the right are the Pork Side Ribs. When I used to make ribs at home, in order to speed up the process, I would boil them before basting and grilling. I now know how sacrilegious that was. These are just dry-rubbed and smoked slowly. The meat doesn't quite fall off the bones, but they can be pulled apart by hand easily.  Next you have what started the whole love affair for owners George Siu and Park Heffelfinger, who discovered Pull Pork Sandwiches while on a stopover in Memphis. This is their signature dish and rightly so. The pork butt is slow roasted for 14 hours after getting rubbed with their All-Purpose Rub. 14 hours, people, that's some patience! The result is juicy shreds of pork, filled with a smoky flavour and the meaty texture is undeniable. Not to be outdone by the pork, on the right we have their Beef Brisket, made with a beef shoulder. There has to be a fat cap as well as great marbling on this cut so as not to dry the Angus Beef out. As great as all the meats were on their own, on the left we have a vat of their All-Purpose BBQ Sauce (yes, this is available for sale so you can imitate these delicious flavours in your backyard). A concoction based on tomato and molasses, this ooey sauce is further enhanced with hits of honey, mustard, garlic and onions, along with other spices. I think you could put this on anything and make you look like you slaved over the BBQ all afternoon. The right side feature the Pit Beans, but vegetarians beware, these beans are made with their brisket rub, the sauce on the left, as well as some pork, brisket and rib ends. The richness of the ingredients really come through to make these beans amazing. And one good thing, they come with almost every order of meat, sandwich, or platter!   Honestly, I'm not a connoisseur of Corn Bread, but I'd always that it was dry, crumbly and rather tasteless. Fortunately, this one was worth a try, with a bit of honey and creamed corn, the whole thing worked. But with all the meatiness around me, one square of this was all I could manage.  As much as I'm not a fan of Corn Bread, I do love a good Coleslaw. I like it in my fish tacos, and as a side with my Church's fried chicken and "the Spot" burgers. This one was really well executed; it had the tang you wanted, but also the slight crunch from the veggies. They serve it with their Pulled Pork Sandwiches and I can see how this would work.
Lately, I've been craving Nachos and I find that most places only serve chicken with their nachos. Whatever happened to crumbled ground beef? That's the way I make it at home! But not to worry, on my next visit, I will be ordering the BBQ Nachos from here, with pulled pork! Can't wait!
Take note:

• Small on the inside with a few tables on the patio (no alcohol allowed though)
• Limited reservations available, delivery available
• Sauces are for sale if you'd like to build up your brand as a Weekend Warrior
• Eat with your hands