Smoken Bones Cookshack 3.85/5

Smoken Bones Cookshack Restaurant Info

Summer weather, good company, and a craving for fall off the bone, tender, juicy meat brought us to the Smoken Bones Cookshack for lunch. We have heard many things about this place from friends and friends of friends so it was about time we did a review of our own! The Smoken Bones Cookshack is a restaurant establishment that is in the heart of Langford just off of Veteran's and Goldstream intersection area. It was previously a run-down Chinese restaurant that a few years back was taken over by a local owner and revamped into a now popular southern barbecue joint. Smoken Bones not only serves old fashioned barbecue foods but also does catering for events (i.e. Dragon Boat Festival) and they also sell their own dry-rub for local barbecuers.

From the menu Mr. Blue decided to go with something he has never tried before, Chicken Fried Steak. At first this was a debatable idea since it is a barbecue house and not a homestyle or family restaurant. Nevertheless, that was what he ordered as it is the only place in town (that we know of) that serves the dish. Chicken fried steak is a pan fried steak that is coated with seasoned flour and finally topped with a white gravy which in this case was made of sausage. The chicken fried steak was either pan fried or sitting under a heat lamp for too long as it was very dried out. The crust was crispy but it was beyond that and more into the realm of being too hard to eat. The steak tasted decent but it was hard to tell if it was actually steak meat or if it was a frozen beef cutlet patty. 

Miss Pink decided to have the pulled pork and brisket plate. This plate was actually fairly large and could feed either one really hungry person or two moderately hungry people. The pulled pork itself was fairly moist (we've had moister) and was packed with a moderate amount of flavour. The sauce was not overpowering, in fact, we wished the table had a bottle of extra barbecue sauce so we could layer some more on. The brisket we expected to be dry but it actually turned out pretty moist. The flavours were packed into the brisket more than the pulled pork surprisingly and it was more pleasant to eat because of that. 

Each of our meals came with our choice of side dishes. Mr. Blue had the cornbread while Miss Pink had the garlic roasted potatoes. The cornbread was an utter disappointment, being crazy dry and tasteless, it was like eating a block of warm, dry flour. We took a bite each and set it aside immediately. The garlic roasted potatoes on the other hand were much better, but then again, anyone could make these at home, without much effort, so they weren't anything special to us. 

Maybe it was just a bad day for the kitchen. We will likely be back at some time in the late future to give it a second try. Hopefully we will have a better experience then!

Rating:

Taste: 1.65/2.00

Value: 0.70/1.00

Atmosphere/cleanliness: 0.75/1.00
Service: 0.80/1.00
Overall: 3.85/5.00