Fat Friday - Lou Dawg's

I like to theme our Fat Fridays, and before we decide to move on to a new theme,  we thought we should finish trying all the pulled pork spots in the area. We had already visited a number of restaurants, and I think we have already found our favourite (Stockyards), but since that one is a car drive away, we should try a more local one. There was one last place on our list to try: Lou Dawg's. The menu is pretty straightforward - Meat and Non-Meat (and a very cool website, actually), so the choice was pretty easy for us. Although, we were very close to just settling on Craft Burger for the night, since Matt left the decision up to me, and I wasn't really in the mood for pulled pork (I think I was tired of it from the large batch I made not too long ago that lasted us for at least 3 meals that week, plus one more for leftovers...).

In keeping with the theme of the night, Matt did order the pulled pork on a bun, and from the few bites I had, it was pretty good. The meat was tender, as most pulled pork is, but the sauce and spices were nothing extraodinary. What sold me on the sandwich was the bun! It was not a standard hanburger bun that tends to get soggy when the meat sits inside, but more of a submarine bun with a crustier outside. If the Stockyards meat were put inside this type of bun, that would be a real winner!! (In scanning through past posts, I realized I have not posted on Stockyards...I should remedy this soon!)

For me, instead of the pulled pork, I ordered up a pound of dry rub chicken wings. I was quite surprised when they put the for a bit of work getting at the meat. The dry rub was just ok... it actually had a more sweet flavour than spicy or savory, and personally, I don't like to mix my sweet with meat. I always lean towards the dry rub over the saucy, but each time I do, I remember that I don't particularly like the dry wings. But my mind keeps telling me that I don't like the saucey kind, either! But one bite of a saucy one, and I remember that I they are the ones that I prefer. So, note to self, "Beth, order the saucy!" Luckily, I have Matt to remind me (and to eat the dry rub ones when I'm finished with them). And luckily, there were sauces available for dipping in, so that helped partly with that problem.

Of course, what is a Fat Friday without french fries drenched in vinegar with a sprinkle of salt? And to wash down all that salty/sour goodness, a cold root beer of course (or black cherry, which we didn't ask if they had, but found it as we were getting ready to leave), and you've got a pretty good meal for Fat Friday. These french fries were probably one of my favourites - real potatoes cut into fries, skins and all. I like when they are a little bit soggy; they soak up the vinegar better...

I think Lou Dawg's wraps up the Pulled Pork category of Fat Friday. I think we'll be moving on to Mexican this week. I know nothing will compare to the Owl Bar Green Chili Burger, but we may come close to finding something equivalent. And speaking of burgers, the quest for the perfect one is still on... we have come very close, but there are still a few burger joints that have popped up in the area that we still need to try. We'll keep you posted on that one...