I love a restaurant that operates in a “niche.” I always favour one that does a few dishes superbly, as opposed to a huge selection well. Smokehouse, whose byline is “La Cueva del Carnero,” fits the bill perfectly.
Magdalena runs front of house and Juan looks after the cooking. Service is all done at the bar – you order your food and drinks, and then sit down, either outside on the patio, or in the aptly named cave, inside, which is cool and comfortable. After ordering, take your drinks to your table and within a few minutes, Juan will bring you your food.
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Everything is slow smoked at Smokehouse for around 12 hours, and I can’t begin to find the words to describe how wonderful the smell is as you walk in. On the day we visited, the options included pulled pork, bone-in Black Angus brisket, spare ribs and more. Choose your mains, and then go for a selection of sides, or extras like chicken wings. Everything is served on a tray, so it’s easy to share. Drinks include a selection of wines from Vega de Yuco, draft and canned beers, all the spirits and soft drinks.
We ordered some pulled pork and the Black Angus brisket, with sides of coleslaw and smoky vegetables. The pulled pork was absolutely perfect and served with an obviously home made barbecue sauce – we should have asked for more. The brisket was falling off the bone tender, and still had some red in the centre – wonderful, although for me, it could have taken more seasoning. The meat was served with two slices of toasted cornbread. The smoked vegetables consisted of onion, peppers, courgettes, aubergine and carrots, which were served in a vegetable broth, and ideal for breaking up all the meat. The coleslaw was the weak link – it was a little bland, and American style coleslaw, with some sweetness works so well with barbecued meat.
We enjoyed a bottle of Princesa Ico Malvasia Seco with our meal, and our total bill came to €46. Skip the wine, avoid the most expensive dish on the menu (the beef,) have a couple of beers, and you’re talking more like €30 for a delicious meat fest.
Smokehouse Guatiza is at Calle Albahaca, 9 in Guatiza – look out for the sign off the main road, and they are open from 1300 until 2300 on Thursday until Saturday and from 1300 until 1700 on Sundays. They don’t do bookings, so just rock up and enjoy!
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For Information, we don’t give reviews in return for free food or advertising and we never tell the restaurant we’re planning to review them. We simply rock up, eat our meal, pay the bill, and then write our review.
