Dinosaur Bar-B-Que – Plate 54

For some reason, my jeans feel a bit tighter today. Go figure it’s the day after The Extreme Sampler at Dinosaur BBQ. I seriously don’t know how they charge what they do for so much meat. They get it from Lafrieda, so it’s just as expensive as any other meat in town and yet there’s about three pounds of it in the sampler.

I’ll get back to that. I meet Judith at the Cosi on 77th and Broadway and we go up together. She didn’t want to travel up there at night and I don’t blame her – she isn’t a 6’2″ 200 lb man (OK, OK – a 210 lb man). We get out at the 125th street stop on the 1 and walk west. 125th intersects all streets on the west side from 126 to 130 and to say that I was quite amused at this finding would be an understatement. If you’ve never stood at the corner of 125th and 126th, you need to experience this for yourself to understand what I am talking about.

The place is packed. I didn’t know that the line at Dinosaur in Harlem on Martin Luther King day would look like Olive Garden’s on Mother’s day. These guys do a great business. For drinks, Judith gets a Sangria, and after starting with a tea to soothe my sore throat, our waiter suggests that I order The Donkey Punch (pic). I don’t care what’s in it, the name is good enough. Judith was excited about the Fried Green Tomatoes (pic) since she got a recommendation from her friend, I wanted to try the Chicken Wings (pic); they were both part of the Swag Sampler. It came with Shrimp and two Deviled Eggs (pic). The tomatoes were great with the garlic aioli, and even though the spicy wings we ordered weren’t spicy, but they were huge and nicely charred. I wasn’t as psyched for the fried green tomatoes as Judith, but the wings: I’d get a whole order next time.

Judith notices the Icerberg Wedge (pic) and we get one of those, too. It was our favorite starter. They have this house dressing, it’s like a Thousand Island/Bleu Cheese ridiculousness; I need the recipe. The bacon was about four millimeters thick. Awesome.

For our main course, we know the Extreme Sampler will be enough for us. A Half Rack of Ribs (above), a Half Barbecue Chicken (pic), Brisket (top), and two sides; the Syracuse Salt Potatoes (pic) and the Macaroni and Cheese (pic). Quick Rundown #1) Ribs, #2) Potatoes, #4) Chicken, #5) Macaroni and Cheese #6) Brisket, but if you put chicken and ribs next to brisket anywhere, the brisket will come in last every time. I had a hard time deciding which one I liked more; the potatoes or the ribs. The potatoes: buttery salty new potatoes in an Italian-dressingy kind of sauce that I was very happy with. The ribs: here’s why they were some of the best ribs I’ve ever eaten; they were falling off the bone good but didn’t turn into mush or shred apart after they came off the bone. That’s how it’s supposed to be done.

For dessert, we had the Sweet Potato Pie (above) and the Key Lime Pie (pic). We demolished the sweet potato pie. I just closed my eyes to try to remember the details of the pie and smiled. Not too sweet, nice toasted pecans, whipped cream was an essential addition. I know you won’t do this here, but save room for the pie. The key lime is a pass.

I haven’t had better barbecue in the city. Granted it’s way up here, but it’s a quick train trip and it’s right off the train. Plus, the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que gets Three Mmmmms from Judith:

Guest Writer: Judith @ Foodista … Here’s her post

The IRL Arts Foundation and The Wandering Foodie thank Dinosaur Bar-B-Que for providing this meal.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
646 W 131st St
New York, NY 10027
(212) 694-1777