Beast Craft BBQ – Worth the drive for a Saint Louisian

Date Dined: November 7

Overall Rating: 4 Stars

I love BBQ and I’ve had everything from Bandanas to Bogarts. BBQ means something different to everyone. Some people love ribs, some are all about the pulled pork, some only go for the brisket. There’s dry rub lovers, wet  sauce lovers, ketchup sauce lovers, smoked bbq lovers, and the list goes on and on. No matter how you love your BBQ, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by Beast Craft. Heralded as a place that never expected to get this much publicity, gave me high hopes for the quality of the product.

Décor Rating: 3.5 Stars

The interior is what you can expect from a no frills BBQ joint. Please note that I pulled these images off the River Front Times website. I forgot to take photos myself. Cafeteria style, first come, first serve seating is comfortable enough for diving into plates of meat. Perfectly serviceable.

Price Rating: 4 Stars

The prices themselves are pretty run of the mill. A rack of ribs will run you $22.00. Most sandwiches (labeled “Sammiches”) run $7.00 to $10.00, and the larger servings $9.00 to $12.00. What puts the price solidly in the above average category is the size of the servings. You can easily purchase any item on the menu and walk away fully satiated.

Service Rating: 3 Stars

Now let’s get real. It’s a BBQ joint. No one is asking to be wined and dined. Upon entering you stand in a line waiting to have your order taken. The young lady taking orders seemed to know her way around the cash register and it didn’t take long at all. So step one, take your order, step two, sit down, and step three, meat arrives on your table as I by some magic meat fairy. The reason for the low rating? Multiple requests. I had to ask three times for my missing-side, and three times for my to-go BBQ sauce. Now that’s not a deal-breaker, and not even a reason to dock someone’s tip, but it does take my rating down.

Food Rating: 4.0 Stars

Beast Craft has put a lot of love into their food, and it goes to show. Jess and I decided to embody the American ideal and order waaaay too much food. Practically the only thing missing from our order was the wings, the turkey, the pork steak, the french fries, and the salad. So let’s dig in, shall we?

In the no-frills style there’s only two types of sauce: cherry chipotle and the standard. The cherry is definitely the hotter of the two, but like with all cherry sauces, I found it a little too reminiscent of cough syrup. That fake cherry taste is just a little odd. The standard was very decent, typical brown sugar taste, with what appeared to be chunks of meat in the sauce.

The ribs were definitely the highlight of the meal for me. Some people enjoy the Saint Louis Style cut, so they don’t have to deal with that pesky cartilage, but I say the more meat the better. The quality of the meat was superb as well. Full, thick pieces of rib, that were moist, dry rubbed, and mouth-gasmic. I’ve never been a huge fan of “fall-off the bone”. I don’t want a piece of meat that literally just comes apart when I’m eating a rib. I do want something where I can engage my primal instincts and rip it off with my teeth, and that’s what I got. If you’re a rib fan, definitely go for these bad boys.

Yes that's a mother freaking knife holding it together

Next up is the sandwich. Beast Craft has a rotating monthly sandwich and that one was up near the top. A large piece of pork steak, basted and broiled in an apple butter BBQ sauce. Sound delicious? Trust me, it was. The meat held together well, while being fork tender. Oh, and since this thing was half the height of my head, you’ll need a fork. The bun while being nothing special, added a nice container to hold the massive mountain of meat.

The sampler platter is definitely the way to go for the person who wants to try everything. Once again, I was happily surprised by the generosity of the portions. Unlike the usual pick two/pick three deal, Beast Craft just throws everything at you. Three ribs, a few strips of brisket, some pulled pork, smoked kielbasa and two sides. You’ve already heard me girlishly rave about the ribs. The brisket while tender, and just fatty enough, was a little lackluster taste wise. “Overly smoky” was the way I would characterize it. No hint of sweetness, savoryness, or anything else, it’s a meat that needed help from sauce. The pulled pork was similarly overly smoky, with a great consistency. The start of the entire thing was the smoke kielbasa. Even if you just go in for an order of ribs you would be doing yourself a disservice, but not adding some of these babies on. Salty, smoky, tender, lightly charred, and just in general delicious. I would love to take some of these home and eat them slathered in some home made mac and cheese.

Finally, a brief overview of the sides. The pit beans are fine, I felt they were smothered in almost too much sauce, but the tiny pieces of meat in the mix are nice. The potato salad contains actual chunks of potatoes and a lighter sauce which was refreshing from the usual heavy mayo fair. My friend got the salad and it looked like your traditional cafeteria quality dish. The clear winner was the charred brussel sprouts with pork belly. You’ll definitely want to snag some of these puppies. Lastly, the “homemade” fig newtons taste like a slightly better version of the packaged type albeit it with actual fig filling inside.

In Conclusion

Would I go back to Beast Craft? Absolutely. Is it better then what you can find in Saint Louis? Not necessarily. I would say that it’s different and not necessarily better or worse. The largest plus is the generous servings that you’ll get and the high quality meat that they use. Every single biteful of dead animal that passes your lips will make your appreciate Beast Craft’s selection of source material. My suggestion? Go check this place out before it blows up too big, and the quality possibly goes down (*coughshavedduckcough*)

Café Natasha – Some Ups, Some Downs, Some Weird Looking Stuff

Date Dined: Can’t remember, let’s say September 14, 2014

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Café Natasha has a lot going for it. The wait staff is friendly, the outdoor patio is very open, and the menu has a decent assortment of food. While not the most authentic Mediterranean food, it’s better than your local Pita pit. So why the average rating? Let’s dive in shall we?

Décor Rating: 3.5 Stars

 Nothing fantastic, but it’s not tacky. Think mom’s kitchen, Greek style, with a gigantic bar! The entire restaurant looks pretty tiny, but once you get to the back you notice an entire other eating area which is a little more fancy. I couldn’t quite get a picture of it since the owner was giving me strange looks, but it might be a nice place for a private party.

Price Rating: 3 Stars

Price is run of the mill, one might even say a little on the pricey side for some of the entrees. That being said, the gyro will only run you $6.50, the falafel only $6.00, and most of the kabobs $8.50. The entrees are where this place loses some marks for price. $18.00 for lamb chops? Maybe for quality chops, but… well we’ll get there.

Service Rating: 3 Stars

Average service, friendly, but a little slow. If you aren’t ready to order right when you sit down, they might make you sit for awhile. Not that that’s always a bad thing, but if you’re in a hurry it might become a time crunch. One thing, and it’s my big pet peeve if you’ve been following along, is the lack of a check back. After our food was brought out, the server didn’t check back for at least fifteen minutes. What if there had been hair in my food? What if my chicken was raw? What if the rice was secretly an alien waiting to strike and had begun to attack me? Just ask me how things are doing!

Food Rating: 3 Stars

So hard to rate! Jess got the falafel and our friend Chantal got a gyro and both were pretty darn good. I’ve had bad falafel before, and it makes you die a little on the inside. I’m unsure whether this was made in house, but it was still tasty. Crispy on the outside, nice and chickpead on the inside, it was really quite tasty. The gyro was likewise pretty good. Not, 3 am, on the streets of Barcelona, in a dirty hut, on a large rotisserie good, but good nonetheless. For the price, you’ll be satisfied. The ingredients blended well together, with the tzatziki acting as a saucy paste.

Now my entrée… the “famous lamb chops” was just… just plain disappointing. Look at the above picture. Look at that wonderful strip of meat. A little on the small side, but doesn’t it just make your mouth water? Well it did mine, until I started eating it. Half of that dish was fat, half of it gristle, and the third half bone. Wait… too many halves… but still, if you want to see just how much of it was inedible look below. That’s the remains from three of the four chops. For this price, shouldn’t the cut of meat be more tasty? I will say, what little meat there was, was good. Think sweetness of Teriyaki meets char-grilling Greek style.

As for the salad and rice, just eh. The rice was a little dry, really more of a filler than anything else. Could easily have been from a box. The salad was surprisingly good. They found some quality spring mix, and they didn’t skimp on the feta which I appreciate. The tzatziki was a nice touch. Now for the super weirdness.

The beef kabob. Now I don’t know if they have a regular looking kabob if you order it as an entrée, but what I got looked like… well… it looked like it had been dropped out of an end of some animals. However, you can’t judge a dish, but it’s odd appearance. I mean, this coming from the guy who loves chicken feet. But this thing was… just bad. Like a really greasy breakfast sausage, that was super salty, kind of dry, and made me a little queasy. It was… just plan bad…

I will say the most disappointing part of the entire meal was the lack of some free pita and hummus. It’s almost $6.00 to order an appetizer. I have a hard time believing their profit margins are so thin they can’t bring some out for the guests to enjoy. Come on people, a man needs his hummus!

In Conclusion

Stick with a wrap and you won’t be disappointed. The bar menu also looked interesting, but with the huge variety of fancy mixeries it’s not a main draw. I would say that if you’re craving Mediterranean then this place is certainly better than nothing, but it won’t wow, which is really a shame.

Melt – Maybe Just Grab Some Dessert

Date Dined: August 10, 2014

Overall Rating: 2.5 Stars

Sometimes things sound so delicious you have to go try it out. For example, a bacon waffle topped with scrambled eggs and cheese. Mmmmm, can you say decadent heart attack? But like the third Batman movie, things are bound to disappoint.

Décor Rating: 3.0 Stars

Melt is definitely trying to appeal to the yuppie hipster (I call them yupsters) crowd. The place is a mishmash of pinball machines, old random nostalgic items, with just a little bit of wear and tear on everything. The tables have that slightly sticky feeling to them, and the AC can’t quite keep up with the heat. You won’t find a single table with the same chairs, tops, or even salt and pepper shakers on them. Definitely a look, but in my advancing age not my first choice. For the right crowd, this might be the look they’re going for. The chalkboard menu is pretty cool though.

Price: 2.5 Stars

A little on the expensive side for what you get. Waffles range from $8.00 to $12.00 which doesn’t sound too bad except when you think about breakfast joints that also include sausage, bacon, and tator tots for the same price. I felt like you’re paying an extra buck or two for the novelty, which is fine, but after a beer and maybe an appetizer you’re wallet may feel it a little.

Service Rating: 2.5 Stars

I’m not the only one to complain about the service. As you see I’ve rated it a little below average for a couple reasons. One, the servers won’t try to interact with you outside of “what do you want”. I didn’t see a single server smiling at a single person in the place. I actually got sort of an intangible “just tell me what you want and let’s get this over with” vibe. Second, service is slow. About fifteen minutes to greet us after being seated and fifteen minutes until we were asked how our meal was. Again, in execution it was fine, but you might get a slight “screw off vibe” from the staff. Then again, it could have been because they were closing in an hour and they were just done.

Food Rating: 2.5 Stars

I’ll start off by saying, desserts are a yes, but the savory waffles are just meh. If you’re not getting something sweet then you might want to skip this place. First of all, a lot of the waffles will be sort of lukewarm. Not cold, but definitely not piping hot. Which makes me wonder how long they’ve been sitting out. Second, I think they were too invested in the cool descriptions reeling people in, and to some extent it works. Unfortunately, it’s not something that’s going to keep me from coming back. The waffles themselves are fine, but nothing comes together in the way it needs to.

I got a waffle with pulled pork, blue cheese, and onions baked into the waffle. Sounds delicious right? Well eh… You couldn’t taste any of the onion in the waffle, the pulled pork was kind of slimy and was really more like smaller strips of pork with a brown gravy, and the blue cheese was just sprinkled on top. This was just something you could have done so much with. Baked the pulled pork into the waffle and then melted the blue cheese on top, or they could have folded it over and brought it out like a sandwich.

Jess got the wake and bake. Bacon waffles with eggs and cheese on top. Again, unable to taste the bacon and the eggs and cheese were just piled on top. Why not try something new? Add those ingredients into the batter? Otherwise all you’ve done is pile my breakfast on top of my waffle. Likewise, the waffle fries were fine, but not something that I’d necessarily order again. Slices from a waffle baked and then served with ranch. Add some garlic to the fries or bacon or some unique seasoning to make it that much better.

Now the positive, the sweets. Jess’s brother ordered a cookies and crème milkshake and a chocolate waffle with bacon. The milkshake was pretty delicious. It was thick, well blended, and not too sweet. The chocolate waffle was likewise pretty good. Nothing above and beyond something you could easily make at home, but I enjoyed it.

In Conclusion

Don’t ditch your favorite breakfast spot for Melt, but if you want to give it a try then I wouldn’t blame you. You might be a little disappointed if you walk in expecting a mind blowing experience, but if you go in with little to no expectations you’ll walk away satisfied. If you’re going on a Sunday I’d recommend doing after noon.

Strange Donuts – Lots of Hype, Okay Execution

Date Dined: August 10, 2014

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Strange sounds like everything you could want. Unique twists on donuts, lots of variety, and baked fresh only minutes or hours before. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really deliver in the way I want it to.

A couple things to note. Go during the day if you can and not at peak morning hours. Otherwise get there right when they open at night. As you can see, the lines are kind of ridiculous for a Saint Louis eating establishment. Come on people, we’re not Chicago or New York.

Second, if you order a dozen they’ll be stacked into one box on top of each other. What, is there a box shortage? Make your life easier. Get six so that they don’t all get smooshed together. Finally, if you’re looking for a sturdier pastry then I’d skip this place. The donuts her in general manage to be a little mushy yet a little dry right in the middle. Overall they generally seem to use the same donut batter for most of their treats.

It’s not the donuts here are bad, they’re not (I mean my dog, Solo, seemed pretty interested in them). They’re just not as amazing as promised. For example the mint oreo donut is just a chocolate donut with mint frosting and oreo on top. The maple bacon donut is a regular donut with maple frosting and bacon on top. The rainbow pony donut is white frosting and you guessed it, sprinkles on top. I would have like to see a little more melding. Like putting bacon in the donut or a cookies and cream donut with mint frosting on top.

There were a few winners. The custard donut is pretty scrumptious with that creamy, thick custard that you know is homemade. The flava is also pretty tasty, it’s light and fruity. The apricot donut is likewise a nice change from the usual with the preserves not being too sweet.

Overall? Not bad, but not someplace I’ll be going out of my way to grab some deep fried dough from. I have heard from people that it’s either hit or miss here and I might have gone on a miss day, but first impressions aren’t super high. Go and try it out if you want to say you have, but otherwise there’s no need to rush.