Sherman's Food Adventures: Russell Street BBQ

Russell Street BBQ

One of my favourite foods is good ol' BBQ. I'm talking about slow-cooked brisket, pulled pork and ribs. Mmm... ribs... So tonight, after a day of Grilled Cheese Grill and Voodoo Doughnuts, I was ready for a big plate of meat! The place I had in mind was Russell Street BBQ. As the name implies, it's on Russell Street in the Northeast of Portland. Honestly, I was a bit famished despite the aforementioned food I had eaten during the day. It was already nearing 8:00pm and I had to tear Viv away from her shopping at Target. My endless whining about being hungry finally saw us heading to dinner.

When we got to Russell Street BBQ, Viv did her best imitation of a bad Richmond driver and mashed the front tire against the curb. Luckily there was enough sidewall to prevent disaster on the rims. Still a bit annoyed, we crossed the street and headed into the restaurant. Greeted by the friendly staff, we were seated promptly. There was no doubt in my mind what I was ordering - The Meatapalooza! Choice of any 3 meats, cornbread and 2 sides, ah... gluttony on a plate... I wasted no time and decided on Pulled Pork, Brisket and Baby Back Ribs with Mac 'n Cheese and Fries as my sides. Viv wasn't in the gluttonous mood and only settled for the Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of Meaty BBQ Beans. Probably from being way too hungry, I foolishly chose the Killer BBQ sauce.

For $16.00, there was a good amount of food on the plate. As you can see, it filled the entire plate and most of it was meat. Our server placed a bottle of Killer BBQ sauce on our table just in case I needed more. Foolishly again, I doused my entire plate with it. Although it wasn't a pain-inducing spicy, the Killer BBQ sauce was indeed hot. Now onto the meats... Tender, yet still intact, each slice of brisket melted in my mouth (with a stinging sensation from the sauce). I've read a few reviews which complained that the pulled pork was dry. I'd like to say that yes, it's not the most moist pulled pork I've ever had; but with the right amount of sauce, it's excellent. I like my pulled pork this way because any softer, it would fall completely apart. I left the ribs for last because I have this inexplicable affliction which causes me to leave the best for last. The ribs were very good. They were tender without being mushy and plenty of meat was clinging to the bones. The only blip on the plate were the sides, the mac 'n cheese, it was gritty and tasted like flour. Looks like it wasn't mixed too well. Moreover, the fries were not as crispy as I would've liked

Viv's pulled pork sandwich was predictably good with crunchy coleslaw as a texture contrast. She loved the Meaty BBQ Beans, they were rich and smoky. Furthermore, the beans were all intact and retained a bit of texture. While we were devouring our food, our server checked on us and made sure our glasses were never empty. Although not mind-blowing, our meal at Russell Street BBQ was solid and reasonably priced.

The Good:
- Moderately priced
- Food is pretty solid
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Some of the sides need some work

Russell Street Bar.B.Que on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

KimHo said...

Coincidentally, I went to Memphis as a re-visit and had their combo plate. It is just as you said, gluttony in a plate, as I wasn't expecting that much food (it was expensive though, so, in the end, it sort of balanced out). I wished these BBQ places allowed smaller meat portions to be able to try more types of meat. And, since I brought Memphis, how does the BBQ in Portland compare to the one found here?

Sherman Chan said...

I would say that they are very similar. However, I like the ribs at Russell Street more because they are not the dry type. I know the ones at Memphis are authentically made, but as a personal preference, I do not like that style. It's kinda hard to eat the hard dry parts of the ribs.

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