Rich G
TVWBB Honor Circle
I had some time to spare on a business trip, and made my way to Post Oak Smokehouse in Irving, TX. The restaurant is located in a small strip mall, sharing space with Pizza Hut and various small businesses. The space is a decent size for a strip mall joint with seating for about 50-60 inside, and for maybe as many as that again in their covered, outside seating area. The menu is pretty straight forward featuring brisket, shoulder clod, ribs, sausage (homemade…..hot and regular), turkey, and chicken. You can order the meats in 1/2 lb portions, or as a combo with 1 or 2 meats and a couple of sides included (beans, fries, cream corn, chicken salad, mac & cheese, coleslaw, green beans, potato salad.)
I went with a 2-meat combo of juicy brisket and sausage, then added a couple of ribs, since I didn’t want to miss out on tasting any of my favorites. The gentleman behind the counter retrieved a brisket point from the smoker, and carved off some nice slices, then did the same with my sausage. The ribs, baby backs, got the same treatment. I chose beans and fries for my sides, and grabbed some of their regular and spicy sauces.
Here’s my plate:
….a rib closeup:
….a brisket closeup:
…a sausage closeup:
I thought the ribs were excellent. As near as I could tell, they were lightly seasoned with just salt and pepper, and had a nice mahogany color. The nice smoke ring added to the visual appeal, and biting into them, they were very tender, but not slide off the bone in one bite tender (which is a good thing, in my opinion!) I tried them with sauce, and without, and was surprised that I preferred them without….these were really well done ribs that didn’t need much other than to just let that porky goodness shine through.
The brisket was also very, very good. It was seasoned a bit more aggressively than the ribs (appropriately), but not overly so. Again, it appeared to be just salt and pepper treatment. When sliced, the brisket looked super juicy, though by the time I got to my table, the surface had dried a bit as brisket can do. However, it was perfectly tender, with the seasoning on the bark adding just the right compliment of flavor to the meat and fat. Since the slices did dry a little bit, I preferred the brisket with some of the “regular” sauce, which reminded me a great deal of the venerable #5 sauce that we all love so much. Not overly sweet, and a nice vinegar tang.
Of my three meats, the sausage was probably the third place player. I liked the flavor of it, but, for my taste, it was too crumbly, though it wasn’t dry (like my crumbly sausages usually are.) It was well executed, but really just not as much to my liking as a sausage that has a finer texture, or is emulsified. I think this was a pretty good rendition of a traditional Texas link.
All in all, I really enjoyed my visit to Post Oak. Hopefully, I’ll find some time on this visit, or another one to stop by some other places, but I’m glad I found this one (thanks Dwain Pannell!) I would definitely recommend it as a place to check out should you find yourself in the area and needing a good barbecue fix!
I went with a 2-meat combo of juicy brisket and sausage, then added a couple of ribs, since I didn’t want to miss out on tasting any of my favorites. The gentleman behind the counter retrieved a brisket point from the smoker, and carved off some nice slices, then did the same with my sausage. The ribs, baby backs, got the same treatment. I chose beans and fries for my sides, and grabbed some of their regular and spicy sauces.
Here’s my plate:
….a rib closeup:
….a brisket closeup:
…a sausage closeup:
I thought the ribs were excellent. As near as I could tell, they were lightly seasoned with just salt and pepper, and had a nice mahogany color. The nice smoke ring added to the visual appeal, and biting into them, they were very tender, but not slide off the bone in one bite tender (which is a good thing, in my opinion!) I tried them with sauce, and without, and was surprised that I preferred them without….these were really well done ribs that didn’t need much other than to just let that porky goodness shine through.
The brisket was also very, very good. It was seasoned a bit more aggressively than the ribs (appropriately), but not overly so. Again, it appeared to be just salt and pepper treatment. When sliced, the brisket looked super juicy, though by the time I got to my table, the surface had dried a bit as brisket can do. However, it was perfectly tender, with the seasoning on the bark adding just the right compliment of flavor to the meat and fat. Since the slices did dry a little bit, I preferred the brisket with some of the “regular” sauce, which reminded me a great deal of the venerable #5 sauce that we all love so much. Not overly sweet, and a nice vinegar tang.
Of my three meats, the sausage was probably the third place player. I liked the flavor of it, but, for my taste, it was too crumbly, though it wasn’t dry (like my crumbly sausages usually are.) It was well executed, but really just not as much to my liking as a sausage that has a finer texture, or is emulsified. I think this was a pretty good rendition of a traditional Texas link.
All in all, I really enjoyed my visit to Post Oak. Hopefully, I’ll find some time on this visit, or another one to stop by some other places, but I’m glad I found this one (thanks Dwain Pannell!) I would definitely recommend it as a place to check out should you find yourself in the area and needing a good barbecue fix!
