SmoquEH.

Evening ladies and gentlemen.

When I first started working in the hospitality game, I worked in the concierge department. People would constantly ask me where is somewhere good to eat. My immediate response should have been to recommend the in-house services but Lord knows there are so many good places around. You just have to seek them out.

Now that my family and I have made the move to Canberra, I thought I should start to document the places I have been and also try to throw in my own recommendations for places back in Adelaide. Any venue will be up for review from pubs to clubs, from Italian to Thai.

Each venue will have it's service, atmosphere and food critiqued and given a score out of 5. Why do I think I can critique places when there are far more qualified people out there? Because I can. But in all seriousness, any time I go anywhere to eat, I am always thinking about it from a hospitality viewpoint: How many staff on? What are prices like? What is done to enhance the customer experience? 

Tonight's venue was: Smoque (American)

Service:
We were greeted at the door by a nice, young lady who said we could basically sit anywhere we could get a sit. Fair enough and pretty basic. I did get the feeling that the staff were not position correctly. You ordered at the bar, which I have no problem with, however they had two people taking the orders on two tills. Why? You should have one person taking the orders so the kitchen doesn't get flooded with orders (not that that mattered but I'll get to that later). The other issue with having two people working the tills, it leaves one person in the bar to serve everyone there as well as get the order takers drinks when required. Another reason as to why you should only have one on the tills. All staff were friendly though which is what you want.

Atmosphere:
Very simple layout. Music wasn't loud so you can actually hear what your fellow diners are saying, which always what you want especially if they are breaking up with you. Décor was nice with a few American icons/flags around the walls. I do think they need to invest in chairs of the same style as I managed to find the smallest chair in the building.

Food:
This is where Smoque was let down. Tania (wife) and I ordered the BBQ Trifecta - Pulled Pork, Pork Ribs, Brisket with a Three Cheese Mac n Cheese and a serve of Buffalo Hot Wings (Regular heat). I loved the wings and thought it was the right amount of spicy that you want for an entrée. The blue cheese aioli that accompanied it was amazing. With the Trifecta, I would say that the winner of the dish was the ribs. They were beautifully seasoned and the meat fell of the bone. Both the pulled pork and the brisket were a major disappointment. Both items were a little cold. Whilst the pulled pork was flavoured really well, the brisket was just not nice. It seemed that everything was mass prepared. It is like they had a couple of bain-maries and just scooped out the pulled pork and brisket and put it onto the plates.

Dessert was a choice of pie or "home-made" ice cream. We chose a slice of Cheesecake and a slice of Apple Pie. We wished we hadn't. Firstly, when I ordered the desserts, I noticed they were on display at the front counter. I thought "Oh, they will bring them over." Nope. The person distributed the desserts onto a plate, then turned to a freezer they had behind the bar and got the ice-cream from there. I felt like I was at work carrying out my desserts. Secondly, the cheesecake left a covering in my mouth which was not pleasant. The apple pie had potential if it heated up but they obviously didn't give us that option.

Overall:
This place is bursting with potential. The staff seem to know what they are doing and with someone placing them correctly, they could become a well oiled machine. The décor doesn't need much work so that's handy. But the food... They promote "Slow food, served fast." I would prefer they took the time and prepared the dishes individually. And when you look at the rest of their menu, all their sandwiches/burgers that they offer seem to be something that the chefs can quickly whip up. Why? What's wrong with taking your time? I can understand if you are a busy lunch time venue and your goal is to pump out meals, but at 7:30 at night your customers don't really have to duck off to their next meeting.

Service: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Food: 2/5

Recommend: It is worth visiting, but only if you are craving ribs.

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Hope you enjoyed the read. Any feedback or recommendations for me to venture will be greatly appreciated.

- Josh