Hill Country BBQ

A New York BBQ tour of sorts has commenced. Where there's BBQ, there's slaw, at least if the place has any respect for itself. Tucked into 26th Street, across from another BBQ joint, Hill Country serves it up Texas style. Welcome to eating to eat, not dissimilar from a churrascaria.Hill Country BBQ has plenty of food to go with the slaw, especially on Monday nights. $25 dollars buys an all-you-can-eat plate of brisket, chicken, and pork ribs. There's nothing more American than gorging. Brisket is an unappetizing word for meat but this cut was tender and flavorful, a surprise. As if the meat wasn't enough, four sides are included, namely coleslaw, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, and cornbread. The slaw, coarsely cut, heavy on the purple cabbage, with a generous number of carrot shreds, was light on dressing and a little light on taste. The barbecue sauce made everything taste better.
There were no draught beers but plenty of bottles, PBR, Tecate, typical eurobrews. There are drink specials before 6 and late night, but none when it really matters. After a few too many briskets, I bought Rolaids in the CVS down 6th Avenue.

Price: $36/person

30 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10010
212-255-4544

Picnic Slaw

This slaw, mayo based, dilled, and peppered, jammed to Animal Collective from a hill outside the blacked-out fence at Prospect Park on August 15, 2009.
Its ingestion was accompanied by prosciutto, tomato, and mozzarella sandwiches. Thank you Caputo's of Carroll Gardens.

Cabbage at the Cloisters

The Cloisters, in addition to containing some really old stones and christian art, has a diverse vegetable and herb garden, including these slaw plants.

A side of slaw

Sunday night cookout. Tomato basil pie, bruschetta, shrimp cocktail, a corona, a cheese burger, pink prosecco, peach clafoutis, blueberry pie, Washington bing cherries, and pellegrino. Everthing tasted better with the side of coleslaw.

Stop and Shop of Glen Cove makes a colorful slaw.

Cobble Hill Coffee Shop

I wanted to love it. Early on, the meal seemed to be running smoothly. I ordered a chocolate egg cream (not on the menu, but of course they make it) and a BLT, every sandwich coming with pickle and coleslaw. The egg cream set the stage.

Then it arrived. The miniscule cup of coleslaw was dull and waxy. It tasted sour, so unpalatable I couldn't finish it. The meal was redeemed by the BLT, but the coleslaw will never be redeemed.

Next time: "I'll have a BLT but hold the coleslaw."
"But it comes with it."
"I don't want it."
"Anything else?"
"No coleslaw."

Price (w/ tip): $10

314 Court St (At Degraw St)
Brooklyn 11231
(718) 852-1162

Hickory House

In the 700 Block of West Main Street in Aspen, CO you can get a pile of smoked pork, enough for three sandwiches, enough to bury the lower bun so you question whether it exists at all. The pulled pork that you can fit on the bun is generously drizzled with BBQ sauce. Alongside the Western (or maybe just American) sized portion of pork, I ordered the coleslaw and fries for $2. As for the slaw, the glistening white milieu was flecked with bits of purple cabbage and carrot. Excellent classic recipe which is always to fluid for my taste. The portion of slaw and fries was, like everything else, incredibly generous. I left some on my plate, and upon being trapped by a storm, I guzzled two glasses of ice water. The food was certainly enough to power me up Aspen Mountain, where I ducked under a building during a hail storm and thought my audibly pumping carotids were going to burst open. Thin air is no joke.

Price (w/ tip): $18

730 W Main St
Aspen, CO 81611
970-925-2313

Calexico tacos

Recognized in the July 19, 2009 New York Times, Calexico serves their tacos on a small bed (a twin?) of cabbage. There's a few crisp strands venturing out in this photo.
The few bites I had of someone else's burrito will have me ordering one of those next time, cabbage or no.
(pic from NYT.)

Union Street
Brooklyn, NY