Smokehouse BBQ in Tokyo — As Seen In Japan

Eriko and I spent all last week watching Barbecue Showdown on Netflix. It brought back fond memories of when I took her to Bludso’s in LA and introduced her to beans and cornbread. It also made us desperate for some American BBQ. Luckily, we live in Tokyo, where there are actually options available, the best of which is not too far from where we live.

Meet Smokehouse BBQ

Located in the middle of the Shibuya-Omotesando-Harajuku triangle, SMOKEHOUSE is an authentic American BBQ joint. The inside will feel comfortable and familiar to those from the states, with a bar and wooden tables, TVs with US sports on them, and an English menu. The bar sells beers and the menu offers burgers, wings, and other favorites. We ignored those because we were there for the slow-cooked BBQ, which includes pulled pork, sausage, brisket, and more.

The staff was helpful and the bathroom was clean, and the orange juice was delicious. It’s hard to find non-watery OJ in Japan, and the stuff at Smokehouse brought us back to Italy where we could have it fresh-squeezed every day. As we waited for our food, we checked out the array of sauces available.

The Smokehouse sauce roster

Smokehouse puts four sauces on the table, described here in order from sweet to spicy:

Carolina Vinegar: as the name implies, this is a vinegar-based sauce and the lightest of the bunch. It was Eriko’s favorite, sweet without being too sweet. Good stuff.

Porter Pepper: the name makes me think this is made with beer, but it didn't really taste like it. A mildly sweet sauce that offered tang without tasting like standard BBQ sauce, it was good on everything.

House Pit: this one had a little bit of spice to it, enough to satisfy those that aren’t crazy about spicy food. Another one that went well with everything, a good down-the-middle choice.

Voodoo Hot: basically a hot sauce, it was a bit too much for Eriko, but I loved it. Going back and forth between Voodoo Hot and Carolina Vinegar was fun.

I enjoyed all the sauces a lot and found myself shifting from one to the other throughout the meal. Eventually our platter came, and meat meat meat meat meat.

The Smokehouse BBQ platter

Ah, yes. That’s the stuff. We got a three-meat platter with brisket, burnt ends, and spare ribs. It comes with choice of cornbread or white bread (we went cornbread, obvs), some pickles we didn’t touch, and two sides, for which we chose jambalaya and mac & cheese.

The sides were okay but nothing special. The cornbread was a little dry and should have come with butter but didn’t. But that’s not why you come here. You come here for the meat.

Brisket: I wouldn’t say any of the meats had a super-strong smoke flavor, but this fatty brisket was so juicy and melted in the mouth. Perfectly cooked and satisfying. This is what we came for, and it did not disappoint.

Pork ribs: the meat on these was so tender that they fell apart in my hands. Bad ribs suck, especially when the meat is tough or the skin has the wrong texture. I thought these were great, with some good spice on the outside and a nice flavor on the juicy meat inside. Definitely would order these again.

Burnt ends: you should know that I ate burnt ends at Arthur Bryant’s in Kansas City in 2007, and have been chasing that dragon ever since. Any time I see burnt ends on a menu, I order them, and I’m always disappointed. “These aren’t real KC-style burnt ends,” I say like the absolute worst, as if I know what I’m talking about. As with all other times I’ve tried them in the last 16 years, Smokehouse’s burnt ends weren’t what I was looking for. They were basically cubes of tough overcooked brisket, and not worth the extra 400 yen or whatever it is we had to pay to get them.

The verdict - is Smokehouse worth searching out?

All in all, everything was pretty good across the board, but the brisket and ribs were delectable. I would absolutely return just to eat the brisket and ribs again. The staff was friendly, the place was clean, and the English-speaking group behind me provided some good eavesdropping.

One great thing about lunch at Smokehouse is that it’s on the second floor above a coffee shop, and if you take your receipt down to said coffee shop, you can get 30% off. We got iced lattes, perfect for a hot day and full of espresso flavor. It made for a great afternoon. If I ever get a hankering for some BBQ, I’m going back to Smokehouse, and if you’re in Tokyo and want a taste of home, I’d recommend you try it too.