Hot Rod BBQ - Wharton, NJ

Hot Rod BBQ
175 N Main St
Wharton, NJ 07885

hotrodsbbq.com

Hot Rod BBQ

Hot Rod BBQ puts a lot of emphasis on this being "real pit" barbecue and using a "real wood smoker".  It's certainly the right place to start but a lot more goes into making good barbecue (much less great barbecue) than using sticks of wood.

The atmosphere is fun and inviting with a bar, scheduled events and late night hours but as many barbecue experts will tell you, that's not what makes barbecue great.

I must admit that the menu was impressively red-neckish.  Lots of comfort food options including chicken fried steak (I may have to come back and try that).

We started with Bacon Wrapped Burnt Ends, Deviled Eggs and Hush Puppies.

 The bacon wrapped burnt ends were actually quite good.  The burnt ends are often where the flavor lies and this was surprisingly well received.


 The deviled eggs are where things started to slip.  The yolk mixture was bitter and just not quite right. 



But the hush puppies got us back on track. Fresh, delicious and topped with maple butter.  They were spoon drops of heaven.

For the entry, we choose the 3 meat tray and got ribs, brisket and pulled pork with baked beans and cole slaw.  

Here's where the wheels started to fall off the wagon.  The ribs were smoked but had a sticky layer of sauce that had been cooked on.  While I don't reject that style out of hand, it just didn't enhance it.  The flavor of the ribs were fine but they obviously feel the sauce is needed to enhance the flavor meaning that they are hiding a lack of smokey goodness that should be there naturally.

The brisket was dry and flavorless.  It was more like a oven cooked Jewish brisket than barbecue.  They may have trouble getting the right cut being in the NE but it failed...badly.

The pulled pork....more shredded that pulled, just didn't work.  I actually have no idea how one can get something with so much sauce on it to taste so dry.  It was closer to canned barbecue that I've had from Virginia/West Virginia.  So that tells you a lot right there.

I have to admit that the cornbread was really...really good.  Moist, fresh and hot.

So if you find yourself in the middle of northern NJ looking for BBQ and stop in the Hot Rod, I recommend going tapas style with the apps.  Skip the entree meats unless you want a canned experience.