Review of 'Deadwood Smokehouse'

Having heard good things about “Deadwood Smokehouse” and having enjoyed the chain Hickory's Smokehouse's restaurant in nearby Crewe we were very much looking forward to trying it. Of particular interest we were told were the chicken wings. The restaurant is located on the outskirts of the core area on Beam Street opposite several charity shops and beside a pub. When we visited early on a Friday evening the area was getting quite busy with young people and the pubs all had their security staff on the door. Things were busy at Deadwood as well with our pushing past several delivery drivers queuing up outside the door. Despite the weather being quite warm and a space outside the front window for seats, there were no tables set up so we were seated towards the back against the left wall.

Looking Out the Front

The small restaurant has a bar at the back, tables on the left of the room and booths on the right. The interior is, unsurprisingly, done in a bit of western American motif with a bit of industrial sheek such as light bulbs hanging from the ceiling by lengths of rope. To us it was quite welcoming so we settled down to look at the dining menu which is divided into “Whilst you wait”, “Showtime”, “S'wiches”, “Deadwood Platter” (only one option here), “Burgers”, “Get any 3 for £10” and “Sides”. For the heavy leaning towards meat dishes the prices were quite good with most starters below £10 and the most expensive burger at £16.49 (“Deadwood's Monster”). It is also nice to see the “3 for £10” options meaning you can control your spending quite easily.

We had done our research in advance, convincing ourselves that the “Deadwood Platter” at £48.99 was a good choice as it had a sampling of many items from the menu and, we reasoned, we could always take home what we couldn't finish on the day. The platter includes “1/2 St Louis ribs, jalapeno sausage, 1/2 smoked chicken, jumbo beef rib, low 'n' slow brisket, 4 chicken wings, BBQ pit beans, 2 corn on the cob, 2 seasoned fries & slaw”. When we placed the order with our friendly host she asked “so, you have seen the pictures on Instagram then?” Oh dear.

We accompanied this by two “American sodas” (£2.50 each) which we thought would be nice but turned out to be simply sweet rather than having any real amount of flavour despite ordering (the normally very strong) passionfruit and grape. A free pitcher of tap water with ice was also provided to help us out as well.

Deadwood Platter

The large platter arrived only a short time later and filled most of the table. Quite overwhelming. We got stuck in very quickly. It was nice to see four small containers of sauce included with the meal: Gravy, a sweet/hot sauce and two of BBQ sauce. The corn on the cob has to be some of the best we have had in the UK: Sweet, plump and perfectly cooked with just a bit of seasoning. The chips were tasty: Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside with a light dusting of seasoning. The bit beans were disappointing to me as I found them exceptionally bland (a theme that would occur often during the course of the meal): Simply two different types of beans in a light sauce. I would have wanted a bit of sweetness, smokiness and a richness to the sauce that was, unfortunately, missing. The “slaw” was very good with lots of flavour coming from the mayonnaise dressing.

Ok, so onto the meats…The “jumbo beef rib” was a large hunk of meat at the end of a long rib bone but was so tender it flaked off the bone. It had a good amount of BBQ sauce but I found the meat lacking any smoky flavour. The chicken wings were dry – a bit overdone – but the sauce was, again, quite tasty and the wings were a good size (though not enormous as we have seen elsewhere). The BBQ chicken was again a bit overdone but had a large amount of meat and covered in more sauce. The brisket came as four plain slices on the side of the plater that were very tender with a nice amount of flavour though not exceptional. The highlight of the meat dishes has to have been the St Louis ribs which had a good amount of flavour, a huge amount of extraordinarily tender meat stuck to the ribs that simply fell off as you ate. Unfortunately, again, I did not get a huge amount of smoky flavour coming from the ribs.

Towards the Back

The meal came to £53.99 without a tip though nicely the card machine allowed you to add a tip if you wished. So, reasonably priced for the two of us and we had a good sized doggy bag to take home as well for a later meal!

In summary, disappointingly bland food lacking, of all things, the smokiness you should get in a “Smokehouse”, though prepared well with large portions and friendly staff. It is a fun atmosphere and we very well might be back to try certain items on the menu but it would not be our first choice in Nantwich…

Rating: “A bit better than average”

Review Date: 2022-06-17


Cuisine: American/British

Address: 16 Beam St, Nantwich CW5 5LL ENGLAND

Location: Cheshire (England) - Nantwich

Map:

 

Show in Google Maps  Get Directions

Telephone: +44 (0) 1270 627589

URL: https://www.deadwoodsmokehouse.com/