Bullock’s Barbecue

My next adventure in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill found me in Durham.  For the entire time I’ve known Beer Boor, he’s spoken fondly of having gone to Duke – which is in Durham – and of Bullock’s Barbecue.  Understand that while I am a Northerner through and through, I’ve often lamented that I am a Southern girl trapped in a Northern state & body.  I adore my southern cuisine along with all that it encompasses, which includes, of course, genuine ‘cue.  Holy smack, do I love my fried foods, butter, and… barbecue.  Yes’m.  So it was a no-brainer to me that I had to visit Bullock’s while I was “so close” (I discovered on my trip that while people refer to Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill in one breath like so [or they have in my entire time knowing about the area, which only dates back to 2003], driving from Raleigh to Durham OR Chapel Hill as I did was just under an hour each way… ); with Beer Boor’s declaration of love constantly for this place, and then his own review appearing the week I was away, it was on.  (Yes, like Donkey Kong.) 

I like doing things alone, so it was normal that I arrived alone early on a Friday afternoon and snapped this pic. 

Reminding myself that I was in the south, I ordered sweet tea to start, and was pleased that it wasn’t teeth-achingly sweet.  I don’t like that.  My server called me sugar, and this trill of happiness flooded all my senses.  This is where I wanted to be: a place where people called strangers “sugar” and the tea was sweet…

hush puppies look like mini chicken fingers and are brought to the table when you sit down…

along with something called honey spread…

that you then dip the hush puppies in and eat, enamored of all that is around you.  (I never even opened the book that I’d brought inside with me.) 

I knew there was no way that in my diminished capacity, I could eat ‘family style’ – especially alone; this is when I wished I’d brought a dining companion along to devour large amounts of food.  But my entire face lit up when I saw on the menu that I could order “barbecue” (pulled pork) with fried chicken (dark meat, of course), and cole slaw.  Those were three things I really wanted to eat here, after hearing so much about them.  I pondered the idea of asking if I could have a thigh, but then decided against it; come what may, I would enjoy it. 

And then the plate came, and I about fell over with shock.  I’d assumed I’d get ONE piece of dark meat fried chicken.  Ummm… nope, that’s two.  A thigh AND a drumstick. 

I like the way they do things in the south. 

The cole slaw was chopped fine, vinegary and sweet at the same time, and reminded me of Old Country Buffet’s version.  Based on the photo, clearly isn’t chopped fine at OCB (though I thought it was)… just perfect, though, to counter any fried chicken grease.  I love this, and could eat buckets of it (and it was the only thing I finished entirely that day). 

This pulled pork is what Beer Boor talks about lovingly constantly, constantly, constantly.  I LIKE what I make at home, and I’ve had his and it’s perfectly tasty (okay, I semi-begrudgingly admit his is a lot better than mine; mine is made in a crock pot and NEVER as flavorful as I’d like it to be, while his has a good smokiness and a nice flavor to it, though sometimes it’s too spicy for me)… but this is what I’ve been seeking in pulled pork.  This is pulled pork nirvana.  Each chunk was juicy in its own right, without any sauce dressing it.  It tasted of pork, of that sweetness that pork has when it’s been seasoned just right, and it had the slightest kick of heat to it.  It wasn’t vinegary, as some NC-style pulled pork is.  It was just… amazing.  Soft.  Delicious.  Happiness.  I gobbled up as much as I could, in between bites of cole slaw. 

And the chicken? 

Crisp skin.  Juicy interior.  Perfectly seasoned.  I cannot in good conscience say this is the best damn fried chicken I’ve ever had – I’ve certainly had other kinds that deserve their title – but this was pretty damn good.  I chowed into that drumstick like nobody’s business and dispatched it quickly.  Oh my stars.  I sat there, happily, dazed, in a stupor.  So good. 

As I said earlier, though, this is a place I want to be: where a ‘two vegetable’ plate is only $3.60, and ‘vegetable’ choices include deviled eggs and mac&cheese.  Okay, I was going to order creamed corn because I have an affinity towards creamed corn, but then I thought what the heck? and got the mac&cheese instead.  You already know I love deviled eggs.  Oh, and funny enough? I also want to be in a place where a girl alone can walk into a place like this, be seated, and start her order with “I’d like the two vegetable plate, deviled eggs and mac&cheese” and the server writes that down, starts to walk away without ANY ATTITUDE, absolutely zero, completely thinking that my entire order was going to be just that (and yes, that above is enough to sate a person of my current size)… and not exhibit a single sign of anger that my entire order would around $5.  She seemed surprised when I said “Oh, and the barbecue + dark meat platter, please,” but didn’t try to stop me, nor did she make any comments.  She just accepted it. 

I loved this place already.  My server was awesome. 

Unfortunately, the mac&cheese was not good.  Mushy, bland with weird spikes of cheese taste, and just… a very big PASS on that one.  Ah well. 

As for the deviled eggs, well, my family makes them in a very specific way to how we all tend to eat.  I like lots of textures in my food.  Deviled eggs can be made in so many different ways that there is no really ‘right’ recipe – it’s all a matter of personal taste.  I’ve seen some people refer to hard boiled eggs that they’ve sliced open and sprinkled salt/pepper on as deviled eggs.  I’m not going to tell them they’re wrong – I just prefer a little more work put into mine.  These were tasty, but mostly appeared to be hard boiled eggs with the yolks removed, then blended together with mustard, then scooped back into the egg white half.  I wouldn’t order them again, but because I so rarely see deviled eggs on a menu anywhere and there are SO many ways to make them, I really just ‘had to’.  I couldn’t help myself! 

Of course, as I sat there, fidgeting and staring at the mountain of food in front of me, my awesome server passed by, paused to look at me and asked if everything was okay.  “Fantastic!” I chirped at her.  She smiled and walked away, but returned a few minutes later with a box for me to pack up whatever I wanted.  She winked and said “I thought you might need this,” and when I responded, “You read my mind! The food is really good, but boy am I full!” she just smiled bigger and said “That was a LOT of food.”  Love.  She even walked away and didn’t seem in any hurry to kick me out of my table, as I was actually still eating a little bit.  Then I packed up the food… and I’ll admit it.  I still have the pulled pork in my freezer for a rainy day… and I ate the fried chicken thigh when I got back to New York, and it was still great warmed in the toaster oven.  Awesome. 

Yvo says: If I wind up moving to R-D-CH, it’s going to be as close as I can afford to this place.  Or maybe not, because then I’d be big as a house.  I want to eat everything on the menu.  I loved the atmosphere (casual), the service (wonderful and friendly), and the food was just so good, comforting and home-like, even though I didn’t grow up in a home where we often had these foods… I just felt so comfortable and happy here.  The best part of it all?  WAY over-ordering for myself, my meal came to about $13 with PLENTY of leftovers, and I left a “super generous” tip for the woman who’d made me so happy just by calling me sugar ($5).  Awesome, awesome place.  I would return in a heartbeat, and I know I’ll be back on my subsequent trips to NC.  THAT awesome – by which I mean, maybe not every single last dish here is incredible omfgwtfbbq fantastic, but the overall is just that awesome.  You really have to go here, if you’re in the area at all.  (Fried fish… chicken&dumplings… so much more on the menu for me to try!)
highly recommended