My buddy and I caught the new Harry Potter film yesterday and we grabbed some "cue at Hill Country before the film. It's in the Chelsea section of NYC on W. 26th Street (near Broadway). I thought it was closed at first as they were painting out in front and doing some signage work. Thankfully they were open. There was a real nice smoky smell upon entering. The hostess explained to us the process. She gave us our tickets and said to hold on to them. We would buy our food and the staff would mark what we had gotten on the ticket and then we would take the ticket to the register at the end of the meal to pay. I forgot to take pictures of the place, but when we walked to our table, I could see a huge stack of wood (post oak I assume).
We started with the meats. They're weighed and priced by the pound and served on butcher paper. They wrap it up and give to you to take to your table or to go over to the sides counter where you can get a tray for your food. The tables have paper towels, wet naps, silverware, Texas Pete sauce, and Hill Country BBQ sauce on them. The Hill Country BBQ Sauce was thin, tomato based (I believe), somewhat vinegary and really reminiscent of Heinz 57 sauced to me. It worked thougnh and I put some on my butcher paper to dip in if I wanted to. No use covering up the meat. I'm not very good at putting the pics in order so I've got them here in reverse.
A very refreshing RC Cola (with a mason jar of ice). Very few restaurants in NYC serve RC.
My full meal. I had the regular Kreuz sausage link, lean brisket, bread, White Shoepeg Corn Pudding, Cool As a Cucumber Salad and green bean casserole. The brisket was great! It had a substantial smoke ring without overwhelming the flavor of the meat and was very moist. I actually prefer it lean as most fatty or moist brisket I have end up being a battle with gristle which I don't care to do when I'm paying by the lb. The sausage link was glistening and looked delicious. It had a welcome beefy flavor and nice spice to it. However, I had an issue with the texture. They provide forks and knives at the table and when I went to cut into my link, the filling squished out of it. It was a butter knife, but I don't think it played a role in it. I really did expect a firmer sausage. Didn't stop me from eating it though. That being said, I think I'd try other menu items before the sausage next time. I'll talk more about the sides later.
My friend had chicken. I'm not sure if it was the Market chicken or the Beer Can chicken, but it was very moist and tender with a subtle smoke flavor. They offer saltines or slices of bread with the meats. We both went with the bread.
Another shot of the chicken and bread.
A shot of my friend's sides. He had the green bean casserole, Shoepeg Corn Pudding and the Longhorn Cheddar Mac and Cheese. He wasn't crazy about the mac and cheese, but I loved it. It was penne pasta and the cheese sauce reminded me a lot of Stouffer's mac and cheese that I ate in my childhood.
I loved the green bean casserole. French cut green beans, mushrooms, cream sauce (or cream of mushroom soup) and lots of french fried onions. They asked if I wanted extra onions on it, and not wanting to be rude, I obliged (no extra charge for it). That dish brought me back to many Thanksgivings at my Grandma's house and trying to secure my share of the crunchy topping. The corn pudding was rich, custardy and had a nice spicy kick at the back end. Not burn your mouth hot, but definitely a presence. The cucumber salad was very refreshing, like a palate cleanser. Crunchy and vinegary, but not so much that I couldn't taste the cucumbers. It had some onions in it as well.
A shots of my meats and bread.
The total for my meal (with tax) was $29.88 and I left the waitress a $5 tip. I thought it was a bit expensive for BBQ, but it is NYC. I think next time I would get less meat and maybe one less side. I would definitely go back as them rest of the menu looks pretty good and I'd like to work my way through it eventually.
