My first outing into Cambridge this year for a solo (early) dinner included meandering through the town square, through the market, buying some bread, looking at some fruit, and noticing that the choices of food isn't really that bad. I mean I suppose after living there for a while it might seem repetitive, but for the moment there is some glory. The Italian place Aromi really took my fancy with its stacked £4.5 pizza rectangles and gelato hidden in silver cannisters - but that will have to be for another time.
I decided to treat myself to a smokey dinner at Smokeworks instead. And I am very glad I did.
Upon wandering inside the Free School Lane branch the embedded smells of cooking meats are obvious. And then on to the food. I'm a bigger fan of beef ribs than pork ribs (a real turn around since Pitt Cue Co. in 2012-2013 had me the other way) due to the larger slabs of meat on each bone.
- Chilli cheese fries (pulled pork, jalapeños, spicy buttermilk sauce, cheese sauce, red chillies) £6 - crisp fries, tasty stringy chunks of pulled pork (some tender, some more stringy and wirey but overall good) with sauce and mild jalapeños and moderate heat red chilli. Very good;
- Smoked beef short ribs (700g) £19.25 - 3 short ribs with a large slab of caramelised sweet wet rub and some of the most obvious smoke flavour infusing the edges. It was outstanding in flavour and in texture.
The honey mustard added an extra variation although the BBQ sauce was much too sweet and the tomato sauce not necessary. I ended up only eating half the rib and saving the rest for a rainy day.
When I paid I noticed their business card advertising another branch near Cambridge Station. Lo and behold it's only a 5min walk down the straight road opposite the station. One evening I decided to get some takeaway. The order took about 25mins to make but the bigger problem is that due to signal failure (they can't handle the rain), the trains to London were delayed and I waited in the cold for 1 hour. By the time I ate on the train, the food was cool but still enjoyable.
- 6 southern fried chicken wings + 1 dip £7 - these wings were very well flavoured (brined perhaps) and had a crisp coating that even held up somewhat when cold and steaming in the box. Impressive;
- Pitmaster fries (smoky BBQ beans, cheese sauce, pulled pork, grated cheese) £6.5 - the BBQ beans were similar to baked beans and overall the dish didn't have the same impact as the chilli fries.
Smokeworks you have won me over. Ever since the new Shoreditch Pitt Cue (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/pitt-cue-london-06-2016) disappointed me, you have come through where Meatmaiden (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/meatmaiden-melbourne-10-2015) and Belle's Hot Chicken (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/belles-hot-chicken-melbourne-02-2016) have left off.