Gold Dig #55

When I saw that Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list included a BBQ place in Compton called Bludso’s, I tried several times to convince my vegetarian friend who lives in Compton to go with me. Unsuccessfully. I don’t suppose I can really blame her, given the meat-heavy BBQ menu, but I was crushed when I heard that Bludso’s had closed down before I ever had a chance to go. They have now reopened at a Hollywood location, which I have mixed feelings about, as I would have much preferred to check out the original Compton location but am also glad that at least I have a chance to try their renowned BBQ even if it is in Hollywood.

The Dish

Kevin Bludso is from Texas, so Bludso’s serves up slow-cooked meats with good smoky flavor. There’s an option on the menu called The Tray, which is a little bit of almost everything – brisket, pulled pork, chicken, pork ribs, rib tips, red hot beef links, a half pint of all the sides, pickles, cornbread, and BBQ sauce. I desperately wanted to get The Tray, but since we were only 2 people and the menu said it serves 6-7, we managed to exercise some self-restraint and just try 3 meats, 2 sides, and 2 desserts.

Brisket, Chicken, Pork Ribs, Collard Greens

We really wanted the beef ribs, but they are only available dinners Thurs-Mon, so we got pork ribs, brisket, and chicken. The chicken was juicy and the skin especially had great flavor. The pork ribs were best with some of the BBQ sauce added – they give you both a mild and a spicy version, of which I preferred the spicy. The brisket was my favorite, no sauce needed. It was so tender my lunch buddy commented that she almost wished it had a bit more chew to it. We also got a side of collard greens, which were passable but can’t hold a candle to the greens one of my friends home-makes.

Cornbread with Honey Butter

Of course we also had to try a side of cornbread. It was a bit dry, as cornbread tends to be. Nothing mind-blowing. Slathering on honey butter was the best part.

Peach Crisp a la Mode

And what is BBQ without peach crisp a la mode? The peaches were nice and warm, though I found myself wanting a bit more crisp, and as always could have used twice as much ice cream.

Chocolate Chess Pie

If you know me at all, you know that I’m obsessed with pie. But as I sat looking through the Bludso’s menu, I realized I didn’t think I’d ever had a chess pie. Obviously I had to rectify that, so we also ordered the chocolate chess pie. It was nice and chocolate-y, but sort of like a cake sitting in a pie crust.