Restaurant Review: Bobbique

Bobbique
70 West Main Street
Patchogue, NY

Around 3:00 pm yesterday, I got the chance to visit Bobbique way out on Long Island in Patchogue. I've heard about this place for awhile, with the exception of my friend Gary over at Pigtrip, I've never met anyone who actually ate there. They do advertise in the National Barbeque News, so I was very interested to check them out. (Sorry, no camera this trip.)

Bobbique is located right on the main drag of Patchogue, a town that's glory days are long past. Bobbique is a nice looking place with high tables, lots of brick and exposed pipes. Since it was 3:00 pm on a Wednesday afternoon, the place was deserted, so much so that when I arrived the waitress/hostess was out front smoking and I had to ask if the restaurant was open. This woman has the most unusual skin and hair color I've ever seen. She was almost completely a shade of dark mocha. Everything was monochrome, her skin, her hair, he lips, even her eyes. In the sunlight on the street, her coloring just seemed totally unnatural. But in the restaurant's lighting she was attractive.

The restaurant is laid out with the bar running on the left and the "restaurant" seating on the right. You order your food from a counter on the right, pick a seat and your food is brought to you. Maybe I was still stunned by the hostess's unusual coloring, but I found the ordering arrangement and menu a bit confusing. I finally decided on the two meat platter; ribs, sliced brisket (you can order it sliced or chopped), beans and potato salad. Traditional fries and sweet potato fries are also available, but not on the menu and they must be a money maker for the restaurant because the hostess kept pushing them. She asked me five times if i was sure that I didn't want fries with my meal. With a diet coke (free refills) my lunch came to $17.40.

After I ordered my meal, I noticed a sign for happy hour(3-7) specials. They included wings for 50 cents each. I tried to order a couple, but was told that the wings were only available at the bar. C'mon - I was the ONLY person in the restaurant.

Bobbique has the largest selection of beers I've seen in a NY barbecue restaurant, but it was the middle of the afternoon after all so I settled on my usual diet coke. The waitress brought over my drink and placed it to the left of me with a lecture that I was sitting at a table composed of two separate tables and that they didn't line up completely. "Watch yourself or you'll have your soda in your lap." she said as she left the soda. She reminded me again when she brought a free refill.

Another waitress brought my meal which arrived on a metal tray lined with red and white checked paper. On the tray were 3 decent sized St. Louis cut ribs, a nicely arranged deli-sliced TINY pile of brisket flat on a lettuce leaf, and two very small portions of potato salad and baked beans. Completing the dinner was a 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch by 1 inch piece of cornbread.

So how was the food - OK. The ribs were charred and over cooked. The brisket was OK and lightly sauced but a bit dry. The cornbread was OK, the potato salad forgettable and the beans likewise. I was disappointed that I could not detect any smoke flavor in any of the meats.

Would I go back? Only if I was in the neighborhood. I finished my meal unsatisfied and still a bit hungry. I think next time I'm out there with a craving for the Que, I'll probably hit the local Chili's.

Photo of Bobbique courtesy of Pigtrip