Ottawa - Meatings Barbecue

Meatings Barbecue recently opened a restaurant on St-Joseph in Orleans. Before that, they operated as a caterer.

We had dinner there on Saturday night. The space is cosy and well decorated with a rustic/hipster feel. Staff is very friendly and helpful.

We ordered two sampler platters (22$) which include three meats, two sides and one dessert. Altogether, we tasted the ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, mac & cheese, beans, coleslaw, tater tots, grilled pineapple and pecan tart.

The ribs were the big winners. The texture was perfect and the rub was delicious. They had a nice bite to them as they should. “Fall off the bone” is extremely overrated.

The brisket was tasty if slightly overcooked, but unfortunately was cut with the grain which made it a bit hard to eat. We ordered fatty, but what we got was sort of in-between. It was moist and tender, though.

The chicken had a very tasty rub on it. The meat was firm and flavourful. We got a weird piece of chicken back with a good amount of meat on it. It was the last piece and we had been warned, and we were cool with it.

The pulled-pork was a disappointment. The portion we got was mushy and wet. It seemed very overcooked. We didn’t finish it.

Two observations: All the meats were very lightly smoked. There were no obvious smoke rings or big smokey flavours on anything. I guess that’s a choice they made. I respect that. It doesn’t take anything away from the end result. It’s their style. The other thing is that their rubs are on the salty side. I didn’t mind, but my dining companion didn’t enjoy all the salt.

Sides were generally very good. The standouts were the mac & cheese and the tots. The beans were a bit too intense for my friend, but i liked them fine.

Desserts were delicious. The grilled pineapple with cinnamon sugar is a great idea.

We really liked our visit and would go back if in the area and craving barbecue.

This report was also posted on Ottawa Foodies

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Go Sens.

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How bout that Prime Rib…? (ex_Ottawan, still an OF).

How were the beans too intense? Baked beans with too much tang? Or southern green beans somehow too seasoned?

Haha! I loved that prime rib discussion.

The beans had a strong flavour of molasses.

It was a painful read…

Well, I enjoyed it. I was tempted to draw things out, but I realised I was probably the only one having fun.

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The captain can skate.

I’m very happy to see some Ottawa-area content!

I’m not a big meat eater so I’d take a pass on that one, but please continue to report on restaurants, food shops, public and farmers’ markets etc.