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Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 05 Aug 2014, 11:43
by PDC7
Has anyone been here? I'm going on Sunday so I will be posting a review, but wondered if anyone had any advice of what was best to get?

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 05 Aug 2014, 12:26
by TakingtheBrisket
Yeah been a couple of times. The usually catering for masses not much smoke. I usually share the platter which is alright, the hot linkz are spot on. Dont make the mistake of going for the burnt ends, cos they aint, just little pieces of beef deep fried in batter! The best way yo consume the free popcorn is with slashing of hot sauce(usually about 4 types on table) i found!! They got a good selection of sauces on the walls as you go in, good to browse whilst waiting for a table

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 06 Aug 2014, 07:58
by RobinC
Yeah I've been there as Chester is about 30 mins from me. I thought the meal was nothing more than OK. Like TakingtheBrisket I had the platter and alright probably sums it up fairly. Couldn't really taste much in the way of smoke and they seemed to smother things in too much sauce for my liking, family all said they preferred the stuff we cook at home.

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 12 Aug 2014, 12:30
by TakingtheBrisket
PDC7 wrote:Has anyone been here? I'm going on Sunday so I will be posting a review, but wondered if anyone had any advice of what was best to get?
did you go? How was it?

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 13 Aug 2014, 11:58
by PDC7
Well I finally went...

Overall I was not very impressed and wont be making journey back, but I will break down what we had and what I liked as follows:

We were in a group of 10 and table we were given was juts not big enough and the restaurant was steaming hot with no Air Con and no windows open.

For starters (with there being a group I got to try all sorts) I tried the hot links (good) Louisiana Hot wings (served just warm, they were not hot so obviously not fresh made and sauce was too powerful) and the suicide wings (they burn going in and coming out).

Mains : with the group having platters I tried: Smoked ribs (wet rubbed) which had no smoke ring, slavered in far too much BBQ sauce and were lacking in meat. BBQ Pit Beans (Very nice) Pulled Pork (Again very nice) More chicken wings (again just warm, and the sauce was far too thick and sweet), chicken skewers (nice) more hot links (nice) and the usual onion rings / garlic breads accompaniments.

Overall I would rate Hickories Chester as a 6 out of 10 with my overall views being:

Service: Excellent, Friendly staff, accommodating to large group and happy to help.

Restaurant: Nice location even if there is a lack of free parking (NCP 3 mins away puts another £8.50 per car on the bill). Far too warm, we couldn't open any windows, no windows in other areas were open and even if we opened them the smoking area was outside the windows and none of us smoke. Nice décor inside and the huge range of hot sauces.

Food: Hit and miss with the food, some items were good, some were average and some were disappointing. Overall the place was very busy so they must be doing something right, but for me it was a bit "mass produced", ive had better smoke rings on my burgers after only 20 mins.

Price: Expensive for what you get, I'm not tight fisted by any means but with a total bill of £30 per person I would expect better, there quantity was there though.

If I had to make comparisons I would say Hickories is Better than TGI Fridays, not as good as the average Chef and Brewer but if you've never been, take a trip there, but don't order the platter, the meals are more than enough food.

Peace!

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 19 Aug 2014, 14:29
by UKEgger
I travel to Chester alot and will often go to Hickories the ribs have never been that good and pretty much agree with all you have written. Burnt ends are awful.

The reason I go is that its a good place to take my team for drinks amnd thats for the location and the big TV room, I never eat there which says it all really.

You should try their other restaurant Upstairs at the Grill (also in chester), one of the best steaks I have ever had !

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 19 Aug 2014, 21:11
by RobinC
Would agree with you about Upstairs at the Grill

Re: Hickory's Smoke House - Chester

PostPosted: 23 Oct 2014, 19:55
by TakingtheBrisket
Well it appears it may be worth another visit after some feedback from a very recent visitor