Sushi-Que a blog for the BBQ and Sushi Aficionado Across the Globe: So Many Choices, What Should I Pick?

Sushi-Que a blog for the BBQ and Sushi Aficionado Across the Globe: So Many Choices, What Should I Pick?: This seems to be a question I hear a lot from family and friends when we go out to eat, be it Barbeque or Sushi.  Everyone who knows me , kn...

So Many Choices, What Should I Pick?

This seems to be a question I hear a lot from family and friends when we go out to eat, be it Barbeque or Sushi.  Everyone who knows me , knows I am passionate about both cuisines and will try and steer people to what I think they will like best.  Personally, my roots are a Texas style, where the wood and smoke flavor the meat, but sometimes I like a sauce, or the BBQ is so dry it requires sauce...lol, my Grandfather always told me, "Boy, sauce just covers up bad cookin",  and I gotta say that that is true a lot of times, but any good Que Master worth his salt has a couple sauce recipes up his/her sleeve. But I digress, back to my point...When you go out for BBQ and it is a new place you haven't tried before feel free to ask questions before you order...after all it's your money and you wanna spend it on food you are going to find appealing. Below are some of the questions I ask when I go to a place the first time.

1. What kind of Smoker do you use?(I prefer a wood fired Smoker)
2. What Kind of wood do you use to smoke with?
3. Is your "House" sauce sweet or spicy?
4. Is your sauce Vinegar based?(if yes, i will ask for my food to not be sauced as I am not a fan of Vinegar sauces)
5. Do your baked beans have onions in them?(I asked this because I have an Onion allergy, has nothing to do with BBQ...lol I am just going down my list of questions)
6. Do you have Sweet Tea?( if a BBQ joint doesn't have Sweet Tea, 99.9% of the time their BBQ Sucks! not sure what the correlation is, but it just is...lol)
7. Is your Mac N' Cheese homemade? (if not then neither is anything else, Mac N' Cheese is the most inexpensive BBQ side dish to make, if it isn't homemade then the owners are cheap and more then likely all their stuff comes from a can or frozen or pre-made and they get it from their Vendor)

I know you are thinking, "Holy Hell Deldon, could you be anymore of a BBQ Snob?...Yes, I could be...lol.  But I like what I like, and I have Trophies for my BBQ, so somewhere somebody likes what I like, right?  The Point I am trying to make is don't be scared to ask questions, and eat what you like....



In my next post I am going to go over the regions of the Unites States and what Kind of BBQ you can expect and where. Please by all means leave comments or email me at uncletykie@gmail.com with comments and suggestions. I am but one man trying to educate and entertain the masses all help is appreciated. Also if you would like to contribute as a guest writer please send me your topics and stories and I will post them.

Eat well my friends, 
Deldon

Sushi... Proving Provenance is the Key to Quality

Truth be told, I probably wont write as much about Sushi as I will BBQ, reason being, if a Sushi restaurant cant prove the provenance of the freshness and or origination of it's fish, I probably won't eat there, what I mean by this is that most places especially in the Midwestern part of the United States(not near an Ocean) have to buy their fish in bulk that to make it affordable then once they break down their fish it is frozen...the quality of fresh fish to frozen fish is like apples to watermelons, there is no contest..NONE. so if a Restaurant can't or won't provide you with a manifest or show you when the fish was caught and delivered, odds are it has been frozen. This is also why most Sushi houses don't offer the really Grade A+++ Top of the line fish like Bluefin Tuna, when I ran Ginza in Indianapolis we had Bluefin for brief periods here and there, reason being it is ridiculously expensive, I remember the first time I ordered it I literally choked when i got the bill,  the one we received was classified as "small to medium" it weighed 179 pounds and at $635 per pound, it gets a bit INSANE..yes you read those number correctly, keep in mind that was the price back in 2000 it is somewhere near $1000-$1200 per pound now. So anyway back to my point, most sushi houses that order such expensive fish will break it down and either sell it to other sushi houses near by but most will freeze it so as not to waste it.

Another thing I ask is where does your Uni(Sea Urchin Roe) come from? I will eat it if it comes from anywhere EXCEPT if it comes from Southern California more specifically San Diego...now you asking yourself what the Hell do I have against Southern California, and San Diego?...lol well it has nothing to do with their politics, I assure you.  One of the Largest Naval yards in the world is in San Diego...Now your wondering what do I have against the US Navy...Nothing I LOVE our Armed Forces and Service Men and Women, BUT... if you have ever ordered Uni and it had a mild, odd and peculiar aftertaste that you couldn't quite put your finger on....well that my fellow reader was the tiniest tinge of diesel fuel...yup, with all those old diesel ships in the area the local Sea Urchin have taken on the slightest petroleum flavor..I kid you not. So that is why I prefer not to eat Uni(Sea Urchin Roe) that is harvested from the San Diego area. Now 99.5% of sushi eaters in the United States don't really have a refined enough pallet to really distinguish this, but order it next time you are out and cleanse your pallet real well then try to focus and concentrate on all the flavors, you may be surprised.

Eat well my friends,
Deldon

Suggestions? Places to Go, People to See?

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!

Leave a Comment and make suggestions of places to try out PLEASE I BEG OF YOU...some of the best places are little hole in the wall joints that not everyone knows about and if they are awesome, lets let the cat out of the bag...if nothing else it's good for the economy...lol

What do I look for in a BBQ Restaurant? front of the house and back of the house?

The first thing I look at when I pull up is the parking lot, if it's full, that is generally a good thing, unless of course you are in Central Pennsylvania, they wouldn't know good BBQ if it bit them in the Ass!(a review on this place later...lol), I also kinda like to drive around the building and scope out their "stash" this is where all good Que joints stack their smoke wood, if there is no wood outside odds are they may use smoke pellets in an electric smoker, now that is not ALL bad, but not MY preferred method. If i can see their wood i personally enjoy a combination of woods like Pecan, Apple, Cherry, Alder, Mesquite and believe it or not Mulberry. I steer clear of any joint that has Walnut, Ash or Elm(to me and many others these ruin meat and smell like cat piss when smoked. Now I didn't mention Hickory but it is ok, not my favorite, but the most commonly used wood back in the Midwest where I grew up.

The next thing I'm looking for is the smoker unit itself, is it built into the wall or even outside of the restaurant itself(these most often times are real wood fired smokers and my favorite), if it is a giant shiny silver box it is more then likely a "Southern Pride" electric or gas fed smoker

Once I'm inside the decor doesn't mean too much too me unless the place is filthy, but if I'm greeted warmly and with a smile that's a damn good start. Another thing I don't particularly care for is the all too common Cafeteria style ordering in BBQ joint, I dunno why it bugs me but I prefer to be seated and have my order taken by a friendly member of the wait staff, I also don't like having to get my own refills and clean my own table...whats the point of going out to eat if I have to do half the damn work? Another thing I look for is the available sauces, are the readily available on the table or a "Hot Well" near by(my favorite) nothing worse then putting cold sauce on hot Que...well maybe there are a few worse things...lol.  I also look around and watch how the food comes out, I prefer it dry or lightly mopped then i can put my own amount of sauce on, another bad thing is if you order some que and it comes out drenched in a sauce you don't car for...

These are just a few of my "hot buttons" i am sure to follow up with more as this blog progresses

C'yas & thanks, for reading
Deldon

Top 5 Sushi & BBQ joints I have discovered so far

SUSHI

1.Oyshi Sushi 9.8 of 10

7775 S Rainbow Blvd, #145, Las Vegas, NV

(702) 646-9744

2. Yoko's 9.2 of 10

2878 SE Gladstone St Portland, OR

503-736-9228

3. Maru Sushi 8.8 of 10

4454 South Cobb Drive, Smyrna, GA

(770) 434-7799

4. Rain Premier Sushi Bar and Lounge 8.4 of 10

817 S Polk St, Amarillo, TX

(806) 331-1155

5. Osaka Sushi 8.2 of 10

11851 Bandera Rd, #101, Helotes, TX 78023

(210) 576-4333

BBQ

1. Sticky Lips BBQ 9.8 of 10

830 Jefferson Rd Henrietta, NY

(585)-292-5544

2. Salt Lick 9.4 of 10

3350 E Palm Valley Blvd, Round Rock, TX

(512) 386-1044

3. City Barbeque 9.2 of 10

8026 Burlington Pike, Florence, KY 41042

(859) 818-0003

4. Colter's BBQ 8.4 of 10

1322 N. Collins Arlington, TX

(817)261-1444 

5. Rudy's Barbeque 8.3 of 10

24152 W Ih 10, San Antonio, TX

(210) 698-2141

An Introduction!

Greetings and Salutations fellow Sushi and BBQ lovers. Thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog.  I will be posting A LOT, I will WARN YOU, I am sometimes Loud, Obnoxious & Brutally Honest...if your food rocks but your service sucks, I will praise the kitchen staff and blast your wait staff, i will also try and throw in some of my twisted whit and humor as well. so please check back often.

I feel i should introduce myself properly and give you some credentials before I just start making random post and giving out scores on how I rate both Sushi & BBQ joints.  I am Deldon Krueger or on the BBQ Circuit I am known as Uncle Tykie, I am an 8 time BBQ grand champion and have owned a BBQ concession shack and 2 BBQ Restaurants, and I am Lead Que Master of KCBS registered BBQ team of Uncle Tykie & the Mesquite-Oh's. I also was General Manager of Ginza Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar in Indianapolis back in 2000 and have been a die-hard sushi lover for 20 years.  I am currently not in the restaurant business but my career has me flying all over the United States twice a week and I recently moved to Atlanta, GA, I eat BBQ or Sushi at least 3 times a week while traveling and almost everyday I am home in Atlanta...still trying to get the lay of the land and locate as many good local joints as possible, unfortunately that is not going so well...lol

So please follow me and my adventure's across this great land as I discover the what good vittles America's Fine Eateries has to offer.

Deldon Krueger
"Uncle Tykie"