10
May

postedbyYousef

smoke-house

Reading Intlxpatr & Mark’s posts about the newly opened restaurant, Smoke House, was enough to make me want to go there and experience it myself. Before going I asked a couple of friends about the place, and they all said it’s Ok. Nothing more and nothing less, the place is just ok. But I went anyway.

The place is small and had around 7 tables only. It’s in a hard to come across location location and is partially owned by an american (cool factor & authenticity factor). Unfortunately my experience wasn’t a good one. And Here is why:

The food was mediocre at BEST. Nothing special about the food at all:

1- The chicken wings’ (which is considered a specialty in this restaurant) presentation was horrible. The wings looked and tasted like they were cooked a couple of hours ago and then heated up in an oven then served.

2- Their smoke house burger was nothing special. The patty was too dry and the bun was too thick. Even my friend who had this burger a month ago said that it isn’t the same anymore.

3- The ribeye steak, my order, was recommended by the waitress as the house special dish, turned out like a fridays’ steak. I ordered it medium and got a well done.

The service:

The waitress was very nice, but I can’t say the same about the waiter nor the manager. The waiter couldn’t care less when I told him that the wings weren’t fresh, and when I told him I ordered a medium steak not a well done, he just smiled and left.

On our way out me and my friend had a little chat with the manager that went like this:

Friend: The chicken wings was different this time than the last time I was here.
Manager: No it’s the same.
Friend: No, I was here and my friends ordered the wings and it was different.
Manager: No, Thats what you think. I know it is the same.
Me: The wings weren’t fresh.
Manager: No they’re fresh. they were cooked at around 6pm only. (we were eating the wings at 8:30pm)
Friend: The food is different this time, even the burger! I ate here a month ago and everything was good!
Me: see this is my first time in this restaurant, so I don’t know if the way you cook has changed or not, but I just want to say that most of the food wasn’t good.
Manager: (in a very careless tone that lasted throughout the conversation) Listen, I know that my food hasn’t changed a bit, because I cook here, I made the recipes and the dishes and everything… I do everything here.
Friend: and we ate the food, so we know..
Manager: Yes the food I made.
Me: You know, you have an amazing way of arguing with the customers.

Thats when he retracted a bit, realized that he shouldn’t have argued so much, and said the ‘I will try and see what went wrong.. I appreciate your opinion..’ bla bla bla. Too little too late.

The hype surrounding this place was big, and the disappointment I felt, after eating the food and dealing with this disrespectful manager, was bigger.

Their location

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 at 12:16 am

18 Responses to “Smoke House Southern BBQ Restaurant”

  1. Mark says:

    Hey, I have to agree. I was there this weekend and the burger is NOT the same anymore. It was dryer and lacked the bbq sauce that made it special when I had it. I should probably update my review.

  2. […] that I thought made the burger the last time. I didn’t think of this much but I just read the post by SOME contrast on Smoke House and it seems I am not the only one who noticed the burger has changed. What the hell happened? Why […]

  3. reyazi says:

    Tadree shino baradt chabdy lama girait il article..

    Let me tell you my story in a very brief way.

    I also heard alot about the rest. and how great it is. We had 2 orders of ribs, 1 burger and some appetizers.

    the ribs were actually not ribs.. they were big pieces of FAT, astaghfor Allah shay ilawe3 il chabd, we called the lady and told her that we are having trouble finding any piece of meat on the ribs its all FAT, she went to the chef and came back with, and I’m paraphrasing here “sorry sir, thats the way it is. somtimes it comes with fat” I told her I understand it may come with a little of fat, but I expect SOME meat. She replied with a smile “Why did you order ribs? you should have ordered Burger.”

    Smoke House ==== a big X !!!!

  4. ktdp says:

    gotta love managers with loyalty ….. the fuckers will even try to break your teeth to get their food in and tell you that you like it ……

  5. Khalid says:

    reyazi: I expected your comment 😛

  6. Marzouq says:

    Thanks for the post! Now I don’t have to bother with arguing with the guys about dinner there! That place sucks! And now the manager with this type of attitude really sucks!

  7. 1001Nights says:

    There are other burger places with much tastier burgers from my experience. BUT I have to mention the cookies there. They have this one kind of cookie that’s like a “hajeeen” between a cookie and a brownie 🙂 It is DELICIOUS!

  8. Ansam says:

    I dont know how managers are hired here in Kuwait! Are they even trained to talk to customers and take criticism?

  9. Mix says:

    I ate there a couple of months ago and thought the wings were not freshly cooked and the manager made the same point (ie. that they were basically re-heated!). Also ordered the rib eye which have to say at that time was excellent. So its a shame to hear the standards have also slipped with the steaks.

  10. e7mood says:

    eshdaaa3wa eshda3waaaaaa kabeeeeeeeeeeeeer el salfa akthaaaar !!!

  11. okgo says:

    LOL

    I went there last month, and ordered the grilled chicken. Imagine, the waitress asked me how I wanted it cooked!!! I thought she meant with what sauce, but when I asked her what she meant, she was like “well do you want it cooked medium, well-done..?”

    ITS CHICKEN!! Of course I want it well-done.. LOL the servers there are incompetent..

  12. Camil says:

    my experience was hilarious, my friend ordered the grilled chicken breast and to our surprise the waiter actually asked us “how do you want it cooked?”
    my immediate reply was do you serve salmonella by any chance?

    Smoke House Southern BBQ Restaurant has been added to my black list of restaurants in Kuwait.

  13. Paul says:

    Ate there with a friend about 2 months ago….REALLY hard to find, but got there..He had the ribs and they were fatty but acceptable, with a side of Mac and Cheese…..the Mac and Cheese was HORRIBLE—dry and all stuck together like glue…told the waitstaff with no response. The manager and owner were outside when we left and even IN FRONT of the owner the manager was trying to say it was fresh. We said that he had missed the point and the opportunity to make it right. The owner agreed. Although I had the fish and a side that was good (presentation was lousy—GREAT big plate with a little fish for KD 5), I won’t bother going back….sooner go to the States to get REAL smokehouse BBQ cooking.

  14. AZ says:

    ahh!! another smalltime place with a horrible service i guess..they knw nuthing abt hospitality.Though he is getting a lot of publisity.. (azzpics.blogspot.com)

  15. Faris says:

    I was going to eat there tonight but after I read this post I changed my mind.

  16. Yousef says:

    I forgot to add that the manager was sitting while we were standing talking to him about the food. He didn’t bother to stand up while speaking to us.

  17. عبادي says:

    لو كل من جاء و نجر كان ما ظل بالوادي شجر
    هدت حصن البصرة

  18. […] SOME contrast Posted by root 18 minutes ago (http://somecontrast.com) Reyazi i expected your comment p 10 05 2009 marzouq 08 55 14 smoke house southern bbq restaurant has been added to my black list of restaurants Discuss  |  Bury |  News | SOME contrast […]