Went to Bitterroot in Ballard last week. It has a great name, a good menu, and a beautiful interior. We ate a lot of things off the menu.
Cornbread, hush puppies, fries, pulled pork, nachos, ginger beer, mac n cheese.
All in all, it was good. But I would describe it as “white folks bbq.”
What does that mean, you ask. Well, it’s hard to describe – and it’s not really racially motivated – more like it’s cultural. The flavors were…subtle. Or you could call it lacking. I am used to bbq sort of hitting me over the head – or at least hitting me in the taste buds. Maybe I am biased, maybe I am a snob, but this is no Midwest BBQ.
I’m sure the lardoons (…um, it was bacon) in the mac n cheese were locally sourced and the corn chips in the nachos were organic, but it left me super homesick.
Food Breakdown:
fries = perfect
hush puppies = overcooked and boring
pulled pork = underspiced and dry, bun was great
nachos = good
cornbread = interesting and good, honey butter was great
mac n cheese = lacking in flavor, but ingredients and texture were great
house made ginger beer = amazing, light and not sweet
sauce = good, needed a bit more umph
culinary mercenary 