Everyone talks about this place and everyone tells you this is a must try if you are in the Tasman area. I did go the same time last year with B1 and B2, but I only made it in the afternoon and they were only offering a limited menu. So I made it a priority to go again and I even manage to get B1 and B2 to come with me without their tamariki. The Smoking Barrel offers three different menus throughout the day a Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and their doughnuts are offered in the morning and apparently don’t last long.
BBQ Brisket, Eggs & Toast
12 Hour Smoked BBQ Brisket & local Free-Range Eggs cooked your way. Served with grilled Sourdough & our Secret house-made BBQ Sauce
I saw this on the menu online that I knew I was going to order it before I even arrived and when it came to my table I was a happy man. This was a fantastic dish of BBQ meat mixed with eggs on toast. There was a good generous amount of scrambled egg which was nicely cooked and seasoned with chives and pepper cracked on top. The brisket was really nice and really tender. I wasn’t entirely sure how much brisket was on the dish but once digging into it there was a good amount. The sourdough was nicely toasted and of nice thickness. The toast and lightly buttered which I liked. The winner though was the secret BBQ sauce. It tied everything together so nicely, it was slightly tart, had a nice kick to it and sweetness. Adding it to the egg and brisket and this was a bigger winner.
Custom Breakfast
House-made Bagel, Free Range Eggs; Scrambled, Hash Brown & House Smoked Salmon
Even though I could have ordered something off the menu. I wanted to try the other offerings that they make on site and just added scramble eggs for good measure. The home smoked salmon was unbelievable and was nicely smoked with a good light seasoning of pepper. The bagel was toasted and still chewy. It went really well with the egg and salmon. The hash browns were nicely cooked and nice and soft in the middle with good seasoning and went really well with the bonus sauce that came on the side. Overall this combination was a real winner.
Carnivore BBQ Platter
The Ultimate Selection of Authentic American BBQ featuring; 12 Hours Smoked Brisket, Pulled Pork Shoulder & Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wings served with 3 soft bread rolls, fresh butter, dippings sauces, jalapenos, & dill pickles
I came here to dinner and wanted to try this. I was actually afraid to eat this on my own and I was right. However, everything on the platter was fantastic. The Buffalo wings are just like you get in the USA except that they are juicy and cooked perfectly. The flavouring of the buffalo sauce was fantastic and I loved adding on the blue cheese sauce. The brisket was exactly the same as I had with the eggs and toast and so tender with a great smoky taste. The pulled pork was unbelievable and had a nice kick from the bbq sauce and went really well with the coleslaw and the jalapenos. The rolls were soft and the only really disappointing item for me on the platter was the dill pickle as I wanted more crunch and crispness to it. Overall a must try even though I didn’t finish it but you can always take it home with you.
French Toast
Everyone takes about the doughnuts at this place that I had to try one. So I went with the breakfast themed doughnut. Inside the syringe was maple syrup which I squirted inside. I then used a knife to cut inside and to my surprise, there were bits of bacon and banana inside the doughnut. The way this place makes this doughnut, it is a real winner. The bread of the doughnut was really nice and not too heavy nor oily. Then you add the banana and bits of cooked bacon inside and this is bloody glorious.
Banoffee Doughnut
I bought this one to eat in the afternoon. I manage to put in the fridge and it lasted for the whole day without the dough going hard. The banana chips were a nice aspect with the cream on the top. However, when eating this, I discovered inside the doughnut was banana, caramel and cream. I love the combination of banana and caramel and I also loved this doughnut and was surprised it was not sweet or too rich. Yummy!
Hokey Pokey Doughnut
Wow, what a doughnut and I can see why they make so many of this flavour compared to the others. In the syringe was caramel sauce which I squirted inside. The doughnut was fantastic besides the caramel inside there was crushed up hokey pokey mixed with chocolate. I can see why this is so popular.
Flat White
They offer double shot coffees here and it looked really good when it arrived with a very dark crema on it. The coffee was surprisingly really hot and had a bigger kick than I thought it would. However, I really liked it and had quite a bitter taste to it than other coffees but still really good.
Overall during my time in the Tasman area, I went to Smoking Barrel three times and each time the food was really good and the doughnuts are a must try. The food comes out relatively fast and the service in the morning was really good both times. When I went to dinner the service at the start was really good and surprised how the staff manage to memories all the specials, but it fell away once I got my meal. All three times I visit, this place was busy and many locals and tourist come to visit here. If you do go to Nelson it is well worth the drive to Motueka to try this place out.
Previous Visit: April 2018
Address: 105 High St, Motueka 7120
Facebook Page: The Smoking Barrel
Trencherman's Travels 