For several months, I've been watching carefully for the opening of a new location for Top Hog at Kanapaha Station in Gainesville just a couple of miles from my house. Their original location is in Jonesville, about 15 miles to the northwest. I hadn't tried the original location. I noticed today that the new one was open and had time to drop in for lunch.
I really should have known better. In perusing the website for the original location, I had noticed that most of the meats in their photos didn't have much bark and had very little to no smoke ring. And it didn't dawn on me until I was driving home from my fiasco of a lunch that I realized what was missing when I walked in to order: there was absolutely no smoke smell outside or inside.
At any rate, I ordered what was described on the menu they handed me as a brisket melt French dip. I swear the menu said it had provolone.
Here's what came:
No dipping sauce. Clearly not provolone. Clearly not melted.
And look at this pitiful meat:
That might as well be pot roast. In fact, I've had better pot roast. Why cook brisket to pulling stage? I mean, this honestly looks like pulled chuck roast, but there was absolutely no smoke taste to it at all. Worse yet, the meat was barely at room temperature.
When I was asked how I liked it, I was honest and said I wasn't impressed. They offered to replace the sandwich, but I said I really didn't think they could fix the meat and that I just wouldn't be back.
After getting home, I found that their menu online doesn't have the French dip but does have a brisket melt with gouda and cheddar. That would appear to be what they tried to do here. So maybe some of this is the new location starting up, but that meat was so bad I just don't see how this operation can be salvaged.
Part of the problem for me is that this location used to be a really high end chophouse that we loved. That chef has moved to a new location that fortunately is only a couple more miles away than this one.
Oh well, I'll always have the barbecue that I can make at home...
I really should have known better. In perusing the website for the original location, I had noticed that most of the meats in their photos didn't have much bark and had very little to no smoke ring. And it didn't dawn on me until I was driving home from my fiasco of a lunch that I realized what was missing when I walked in to order: there was absolutely no smoke smell outside or inside.
At any rate, I ordered what was described on the menu they handed me as a brisket melt French dip. I swear the menu said it had provolone.
Here's what came:
No dipping sauce. Clearly not provolone. Clearly not melted.
And look at this pitiful meat:
That might as well be pot roast. In fact, I've had better pot roast. Why cook brisket to pulling stage? I mean, this honestly looks like pulled chuck roast, but there was absolutely no smoke taste to it at all. Worse yet, the meat was barely at room temperature.
When I was asked how I liked it, I was honest and said I wasn't impressed. They offered to replace the sandwich, but I said I really didn't think they could fix the meat and that I just wouldn't be back.
After getting home, I found that their menu online doesn't have the French dip but does have a brisket melt with gouda and cheddar. That would appear to be what they tried to do here. So maybe some of this is the new location starting up, but that meat was so bad I just don't see how this operation can be salvaged.
Part of the problem for me is that this location used to be a really high end chophouse that we loved. That chef has moved to a new location that fortunately is only a couple more miles away than this one.
Oh well, I'll always have the barbecue that I can make at home...
"
Comment