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Hog Island BBQ, a closer look
Aloha!
6/11/09 - Unlike wifey, whose favorite types of foods are never set in stone (outside of sushi, that is, which is always top's in her book!), but are called, rather, according to whatever she enjoyed during her last meal, I, myself, favor a more objective approach. While I love her exuberance and passion for the moment, the older I get, the more I strive for an empirical analysis, the more I trust an Aristotelian mindset, the more I respect a non-partisan logic over the valleys and mountain-tops that rule the ever-changing emotions of the heart, whether it comes to food, politics, nature, mechanics, or anything else in life.
I say this only because, as a semi-regular contributor to Yelp, which is that massive database of opinions from regular Joe's like you and I, not just professional critiqe'rs, and I see all kinds of thoughts and opinions on restaurants. Once in a while there comes along an eatery where particular views are so different, you wonder if everyone's even talking about the same place or not. Hog Island BBQ is just one of those spots.
Some trash it, some swear by it, but instead of seeing a lukewarm 3 rating (out of 5) there, you'll more often see either 1's and 2's, or 4's and 5's. I don't like using a ratings system like that, but I guess I kinda understand the reasons for such a disparity, as you tread haphazardly or cockily intrude into the world of American bbq like a drunk white cowboy into a local bruddah bar (or a drunk local bruddah into any cowboy or lumberjack bar!), and you're surely asking for trouble! In other words, there is a pride and passion with this particular style of cooking that runs as deep as there are family clans from the Rockies to the Appalachians, and people just don't take these things lightly, is what it is!
Because I have only a textbook knowledge of the differences between Kansas City, Texas, Memphis, and North/South Carolina styles of American bbq, not to mention all the in-between's, having never actually been to any of these locations myself, I'm not even gonna try to begin rating authenticity, lest I be the drunk cowboy (or drunk local bruddah!) bound to get cold-cocked from all angles. At the same time, though, I've never been to Thailand, Vietnam, France, nor Hong Kong before, but I still know what a good pad thai, beef pho, foie gras, or dim sum should taste like, so I won't under-estimate myself, either. Sure, there's no substitute for first-hand experience concerning your own proud background and history, but I also know that the universal aspect of food quality oftentimes transcends, to a great degree, any amount of cultural division. And what I appreciated about Hog Island BBQ was a good degree of quality, and perhaps even more so, a certain angle they seem to take that distinguishes them from other bbq houses on the island. Not that they're better or worse, but they do take a certain angle, carry a certain style, have a certain personality that gives them just the tweaking that, for me, keeps the entirety of the culinary landscape out there so lively and interesting. As always, I will explain myself eventually...
Hog Island is located at the Atrium Shopping Center in Kaimuki, alongside such popular eateries as Kim Chee 2, Verbano's, and Happy Day. There used to be a big sign posted, but not today, so just remember the two glass windows left of the purple-rimmed door (pic above), which constitutes just about the entire front-house of the store.
Yep, it's standing-room-only at this simple shop, but not to worry - if you continue through the alley-way, passing the store, there's a set of stairs on the right that leads you to an open veranda, with several tables to dine. You may need lotion, though, unless you figure out how to open those giant red umbrella's.
To your left is the cool-little Japanese restaurant Bozu, while on-top also sits the New Himalayan/Indian restaurant, Himalayan Kitchen (I'll be there soon!)
The owners, Marci, who is always manning the front, and Wayne, always busy in the back, are super-engaging and cool, always taking the time to explain every detail of the operation, and taking a pride in their craft that is both tangible and refreshing.
The menu is a bit on the small side, with only four meats and four sides, along with sandwiches and mixed plates combining these different choices.
Actually, I bought every single item on this menu in ala carte form, as you'll soon see. At $11 per pound for any of the meats, except for baby-back ribs, which are sold in either half or full-racks (sorry, forgot to get the exact price!), I found the prices not bad at all. Plates, which are also very reasonable, come with any preference of meat and your choice of two sides, from $7.45 for chicken, $7.95 for pork, $8.25 for beef brisket, $13.95 for a half-rack of baby back's, and $24.95 for a full-rack - and lemme tell you, these things are huge, so don't let the word "baby" throw you off!
We'll start with the sides, beginning with the one I enjoyed most:
These home-made, thin-sliced potatoes had no cheese whatsoever, but the way they spruced it up with cream and a blend of 23 different spices, slow-cooked over a period of two hours, was pretty amazing! Scalloped potatoes without cheese? In what will become a recurring theme throughout this closer look, the taste was clean and simple, done perfectly with no frills but all in a delicious, home-style manner that was very satisfying. The very fact that cheeses are not used, despite their gooey, sharp, and flavor-laden tastes, is indicative of the kind of approach taken here.
The cole slaw was also great, in a healthy kind of way, coming as a simple mix of roughly-cut green and red cabbage, carrots, and dried cranberries. They use no mayo at all, instead relying on a creamy, house-made dressing that gave it a slightly-sweet, slightly tangy finish. What? No mayo on a slaw...?
While I loved the first two sides, I wasn't so excited about the next two. The rice was labeled "premium short white grain rice," but as soon as the lid flew off of the container, the smell of Jasmine rice filled the air, and it was obviously of the long-grained variety. Not that I'm complaining, however, as I do luuuv Jasmine rice, but it was a bit on the mushy side, perhaps cooked with a little too much water. Hey, as Marci stated, it's supposed to be a local addition to the menu, so we can't be too harsh here - I just find it cute that Jasmine rice is taken as local... It still works, though - no worries, brah!
The beans were kind of a mixed bag - I loved the simple taste, with its flavorings of bbq sauce and shards of smoked beef brisket and pork, but couldn't help noticing how soft the beans themselves were. For leftovers the next day, I threw some in a sandwich along with the meats, almost as a kind of spread!
But meats are where I believe Hog Island really excells. The owners here learned their craft from one often labeled as the greatest Pitmaster of all time - John Willingham, who has actually won more bbq competitions thoughout the country than anyone else in sum-total, with a collection of smoke-induced awards that'd dwarf even Paul Kirk's, Bobby Flay's or Steven Raichlen's collections.
They also have a successful smokehouse in San Francisco called Iron Wood, where they employ much of the same techniques and ingredients gleaned from the Master as they do at this humble location in Kaimuki, and that's including using the very smoker designed and built by Mr. Willingham, himself.
As you can see, that little bag contains the wood pellets of Arkansas Oak that help smoke the meats. Oak is one of the more widely-used wood types, having a sturdier flavor than the milder, sweeter woods like apple, cherry, and maple, but mellower yet than the strong, bitter smoke of hickory and mesquite. Choices of woods are very important, especially when certain meats are left in the smoker for up to 12 hours, as they are here! Championship Pitmasters often use a specific combination of different woods, balancing the various types to produce their own flavors, depending on the kinds of meats used and cooking times employed.
As you know, there are many styles of bbq throughout the country, and Memphis is what they do here. This version is perhaps best-known for the use of dry rubs, which are used to form a flavorful crust around the meats, while bbq sauces are only added afterwards, on the side. True to form, here is the first of their four meat choices, a pulled pork, shown next as a sandwich, open-faced and with a large, white bread bun. Just FYI, there's no mayo, no lettuce, no onions, no nothing else, just bun, meat, and sauce, that's it!
Memphis-style bbq sauce is tomato-based and usually comes a wee-bit sweeter, as this one was. I really loved this surprisingly light sauce, which is made without any table sugar at all, actually, instead using molasses and a pouring of good ol' beer! Now I know why it's so good! It may be a bit light for some, but I find the lightness, along with the natural-tasting qualities, both of which clearly separate it from the thick, super-heavy sauces found at inferior bbq houses (and grocery stores), a perfect match for the meats, which are themselves not overly-flavored nor over-done, the smell of smoke being the most resonate ingredient outside of the meat itself.
Here's another shot of the pork, this time coming in a one-pound, ala-cart style and covered with that delicious sauce. Though labeled pulled pork, they weren't nearly as pulled as, say, kalua pig, but came instead in larger, bite-sized sections as well as smaller shreds.
For top dog of the day, I had a hard time picking between the next two varieties, chicken or brisket. The first, chicken, came not quite as I expected, in whole or half-birds, but what was obviously breast meat. Personally, you'll never, ever see me order chicken breast, as I find it the worst meat section of the entire chicken, but this one was soft and tender, the super-clean, white meat coming as quite a pleasant surprise! Now, being smoked, you're not gonna get the moist juiciness of quicker methods of cooking, but it wasn't the least bit dry, either, and had a kind of sweetness, almost, a pure chicken taste that allowed me to happily skip the bbq sauce, even!
If there's any dish that can be described as delicate in the world of smoked meats, I'd say this'd be the ticket! I mean, throw a few pieces over a garden or Ceasar salad, and we're talking uber-healthy, ultra-trendy, urbanite female territory, for sure! For the next three days, both from the microwave oven as well as cold, straight from the fridge, it strangely kept its consistency and taste better than any of the other meats. As stated, I am, without a doubt, more of a dark meat/skin type of chicken fan, but these slices of white meat are definitely the exception to my position.
My other top choice, beef brisket, came in rough slices that often fell apart into irregular chunks, revealing a mix of beautiful pink smoke rings, a charred outer crust, and a fatty marbling, all of which combined for a delicious blend that, again, was great even without bbq sauce.
The final meat type available is perhaps the King of this particular genre, and the one picture we most often think of when alluding to American bbq.
This half-rack of baby back ribs were also fine with or without sauce, maintaining a deep, smokey flavor and meat that wasn't fall-apart-soft, nor tough and chewy, but somewhere in-between. I know some people often consider falling off the bone a sign of quality, and the whole subject is open to interpretation and a healthy forum of opposing views, but American-style bbq is not the same as using a crock-pot or braising. A certain amount of structural integrity is needed here, and it should hold its shape and form respectfully. When it starts getting tough and chewy, of course, that's a bad sign and obvious red flag, but like all the meats here, they were very consistent in finding a healthy medium that was never dental-floss-inducing and laborious, yet not so soft that your fingers stayed clean because only a fork was needed.
As I said in the beginning, this particular smokehouse has a certain style that separates it from other bbq joints on the island. Love it or leave it, according to your respective tastes, but Hog Island BBQ is, to me, the minimalist zen, the progressive chic, the San Francisco/Seattle of the American bbq world on the island, even despite the Memphis style. It's somehow simple, somehow sophisticated, and somehow, comparatively speaking for this genre, healthy in its approach. Whether it's from the no-mayo slaw and no-cheese scalloped potatoes or the beef brisket and baby back ribs, there's a more subtle nuance here, a simpler, healthier (if you can say that about smoking!) angle that seems to counter the brutish, extremely Man-ly, get down-and-dirty kind of personality that American bbq inherently carries.
The taste is more indicative of the meats or vegetables themselves (in the case of side's), and is not reliant on heavy sauces, too-strong flavors, and that always memorable fall-off-the-bone perspective (in the case of meats!), which is somehow always impressive in its own right. If it's bolder flavors you want, with the use of more familiar, more convincing ingredients like cheese, mayo, and deep sauces, try Molly's in Wahiawa or Smokin' Bob's Barr-BQ in Kaneohe (both are great!), both listed in the Southern/American bbq section, but if the mold I described above suits you better, then all the more power to ya.
So while there are many angles and approaches to take when visiting Hog Island BBQ, whether from an authenticity-side, a quality-side, an economical side, or whatever approach you may favor, be sure to try it out for yourself, and you be the judge. Noone's gonna eat for you, and you're not gonna eat for anyone else. Stake your opinion and hold fast, as you are the owner of your own preferences, after all...
I'll leave you with a couple more shots from a plate I fixed for myself, with every single item on the menu included on this single Styrofoam platter, except for sandwiches, that is.
Sorry for the long delay in putting out a page. Believe me, I've been super-busy with the surprise I mentioned roughly a month ago. It's coming, you'll see...
Happy Kamehameha day!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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