A Visit To The Newly Opened Hickory's Smokehouse In Derby
Published On Wednesday 2 Aug 2023 by Sticky Beak
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The Man Bird and I were out again, this time to the ‘soft opening’ night of Hickory’s Smokehouse in Derby; we are so lucky, we really are 😊! There’s loads (and I do mean loads) of parking onsite so, having parked the jalopy, we walked over to the entrance and smiled as we caught a whiff of the kitchen team’s endeavours – if the food tasted half as good as it smelled, we were in for a treat 😊.
The front-of-house team greeted us warmly and ticked us off their reservation sheet, then invited us to go to the bar and get drinks sorted; from there, one of the team would take us over to the table. His Nibs had spotted Amstel lager so he was going to order that…but that was before barman extraordinaire Matthew got in the mix - this guy has got the patter down perfect! First, he was telling us about the Hickory’s Smokehouse Pale Ale (developed with Purity Brewery), designed to perfectly compliment the flavours on the menu, and then, quick as a flash, he got the Man a bit to try and that was it: instant convert.
Buh-bye Amstel! I didn’t escape either; I got talked into trying Hickory’s own Apricot and Clementine Gin with a Fever Tree Elderflower tonic. Folks, you seriously need this beauty in your lives; it actually does have distinct tastes of Apricot and Clementine – finally, a flavoured gin that does what it says on the tin 😊.
Whilst we were taking our first sips, we looked at our surroundings in more detail. Hickory’s has a distinct American Barn feel to it: there’s the red painted, slatted roof with beams, wood floors, and dining areas that resemble stables/mangers with pillars and half-height wood panels. I loved the lighting and it’s forgiving amber glow, it created a cosy atmosphere, and for practicality (i.e., menu reading!) there were spotlights above the table 😊. For kids of all ages there is a 13-seater cinema (eeeeeek!! 😊) where you can chill out and watch a film, along with a bag of popcorn – if ever you can’t find me, that’s where I’ll be.
Joe (the assistant manager) showed us over to our table and introduced us to our server for the evening: Nikita. Just gonna say that this young lady was an absolute trooper throughout our experience; not only was she super-polite and friendly, her product knowledge was phenomenal 😊. As we looked through the huge choice of dishes on the menu, Nikita went off and came back with dinky tester/taster trays of the signature Beef Brisket for us to try: wowsers that stuff is gorgeous!
Another member of the team, Adam, (aka Trainer Adam) came over with a bottle of chilled water for us and asked what we thought of the venue so far. I always love having a chat with people, so I told him to sit down and scooted over to make room. I took the opportunity to pick his brains for the skinny on the menu choices; I’m not as daft as I look. Armed with inside info, we were ready to order when Nikita returned a few minutes later.
I’m just going to say it: I’m an idiot! But, in mitigation, everywhere says that their portions are large, don’t they? Therefore, I feel justified in ordering 3 starters and two sides, as well as ‘The Smoke House Platter’ (£55 for two to share), which has all the smokehouse classics on: Brisket, Ribs, Smoked Sausage, Pulled Pork and Pit Beans, and Smoked Chicken Wings, accompanied by Fries, House Slaw, Pickles and Tennessee Bourbon Gravy. Yes, I know, you’ve all seen it coming…eyes bigger than belly; but I tell you what, we gave a blooming good go!!
However, before we got to eat, there was the not-so small matter of having a tour around the kitchen to see the star of the show, the Smoker itself 😊. Given the bamboozling volume of meat and poultry Hickory’s Derby will get through each week, this unit had to be big – and she didn’t disappoint. Shipped in from the US, this beast was so big it had to be craned in and double doors built specially to accommodate it! Chef opened the back so we could see the logs of Oak, Maple and Hickory woods burning away and producing the signature smoke that bathes the meat, sausage and chicken.
Going to the front of the smoker, Chef opened her up and rack upon rotating rack (laden with various meat) turned before our eyes; this was the ‘night smoke’ session, needed for the Beef Brisket, Pulled Pork and Beef Rib as they take 16-, 14-, and 8-hours respectively. A ‘day smoke’ is shorter and caters for the Chicken, the Chicken Wings, The Memphis-style Baby Back Ribs and the Pork, Cheese and Jalapeno Sausage. Smokin’ is certainly an art, as well as a labour of love and Hickory’s co-founder, Neil, had fallen under its spell whilst out in the US and determined to bring it to our shores 😊.
So, back to the starters…
Friiiiiiiiiiiiiickles!! Frickles.are.life. and priced £6.75 (I love a rhyme, don’t you?). As you may have gathered, I love juicy Gherkins/Pickles when they’re battered and fried; but I have to say that the thick, dense batter at Hickory’s is my favourite. This batter really coats the pickles and when it’s fried, becomes ultra-crispy and elicits a marvellously loud crunch when you bite into it – and there’s no residual greasiness either, boom! Inside the batter are hot, juicy, tart pickles that slam onto your taste buds with absolutely no apology, and there’s even a pot of tangy South Carolina BBQ dip to dunk them in 😊. His Nibs just looked on with disgust as I munched my way through these frickin’ (get it?) delights, tucking into the trio of Tennessee Brisket Tacos (£8.95) that he’d fancied.
The Tacos looked very pretty, topped with colourful pink pickled onions, crispy Shallots and Mojito Guacamole, and they proved more satiating than you would perhaps give them credit for at first glance. A whole 16 hours is how long the grain-fed Brisket had spent in the smoker, and you could tell: the meat was ridiculously tender, like, melt on the tongue instantly tender, with a superbly rich taste 😊. I predict that these are going to be one of customers’ faves at Hickory’s Smokehouse in Derby.
I’ve been to America numerous times, and to various states, so I’m pretty familiar with Pretzels. Hickory’s describe their Cheesy, oven-baked one (£6.75) as ‘giant’ and it is just that! A generous slathering in Roasted Garlic Butter and a smattering of Sea Salt elevates the humble bread snack into something quite glorious here, which is why I saved some of it to dunk in the Gravy’s and dips on our table…told you I’m not daft (just a greedy idiot!).
Nikita was also serving other guests, but every time she passed our table (which was the prime people-watching spot, may I just add) she glanced over to see that we were ok for drinks and checked that we were enjoying our morsels. Joe, who I mentioned earlier, came to have a chat - imparting a top tip to use the pickles and slaw on our platter as palate cleansers - (nice one, Joe) and then so did General Manager, Nathan; both of them took the chance to sit down for a couple of minutes on what was a very lively evening. Later on, trainer Adam and another team member (the very handsome Ryan) came to garner information from us, also resting their legs; seriously, none of the team stopped all night, but the smiles on everyone’s faces said that their efforts were worth it 😊.
Every sense of taste was stimulated by the Smoke House Platter: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami, thanks to the various herbs, spices and sauces that mingle through the meats and dips. I won’t wang on about how tender each bit of meat and chicken was; of course it was going to be, having spent time in the smoker, and they were all moist and full of flavour. The Chicken Wings were lovely and large, their sticky Bourbon glaze made both of us lick our fingers to get every scrap off; which reminds me…
On each table there was a holder and roll of kitchen towel for diners to freely use as-and-when the situation got, well, sticky! No faffing about trying to get hold of more napkins from staff, ‘cos let’s face it, one napkin ain’t gonna cut the mustard with this style of dining – this was one of the tips Neil got from the ‘States 😊. You do get a large wet-towel type item in a sachet, but we chose to use ours right at the end of the main course, to give our hands a really good clean (it also gets rid of any sauce that *may* have dripped onto chins, just saying).
Special mention does have to go, though, to the amazing thick, juicy Beef Short-Rib; this was just awesome. Literally, it just fell apart with no pressure from the cutlery, and you could see the individual shreds of the beef and the purplish rings on its outer edge from the smoking process (the sought-after ‘smoke rings’; they’re also pink in Chicken that’s been smoked). The short-rib and Pulled Pork were His Nibs’ joint favourites, mine was the dry-rubbed Baby Back Ribs – though their BBQ sauce-covered cousins were very scrummy, too.
Needless to say, we didn’t manage to finish the platter, so Nikita offered to go and box up the remaining meat for us to take home. I’d managed to make my way through most of the baby Cobb Salad (£5.25), savouring the Beans, Corn, Peppers and Spring Onion that were nestled on the Iceberg and Lollo Biondi Lettuce, which was drizzled in Ranch-and Blue Cheese- dressings and topped with a sliced soft-boiled egg. The Man Bird had given the marvellously crispy Cajun Onion Rings (£4.99) a fair effort too, and only a couple remained.
You’d think that we wouldn’t attempt dessert, wouldn’t you? Ha! Of course we did! I ordered the Sweet Texas Pie (£7.50) and The Man went for Alabama Chocolate Fudge Cake (£7.99), and it wasn’t long before the lovely Nikita was bringing them over to us.
My pie consisted of a buttery pastry case filled with a confection of blitzed Pecan nuts, Chocolate and Fudge that had a lovely fine texture to it with a wickedly rich taste that leaves you wanting more 😊. My eye was drawn to the generous swirl of cream that topped it, so I missed the layer of Blueberry compote that was sandwiched snuggly between the tart and the cream! Now, we all know that the folks in the USA love their sweet, syrupy fruit compotes, but the one at Hickory’s wasn’t at all like that – thankfully. The clear flavour of fragrant Blueberries flooded my mouth and it actually goes really nicely with the tart filling.
I’m not convinced that it was the Chocolate Fudge Cake that lured His Nibs in; I have a sneaky suspicion that the mention of homemade Rocky Road pieces was what sealed the deal! The served-warm cake itself was deliciously soft and moist, with a decadent wallop of cocoa, and the Chocolate sauce was moreishly thick and sticky – His Nibs was thrilled to see that there was plenty of it, too 😊. Thanks to the warmth of the cake, the Vanilla Ice Cream was melting nicely on the side, and protected the whipped cream swirl from the heat. As well as large pieces of Rocky Road, there was crushed, crunchy Honeycomb, so there was a wonderful textural element to this dessert too. Chocoholics will absolutely adore this minx!
All too soon, our time at Hickory’s Smokehouse in Derby was coming to an end, and I really didn’t want to leave! The team were pretty spot-on but they’d got just under a week to go until their official opening on Monday 31st July, and I’m sure that they’ll be even slicker with their service by then, legends that they are 😊! As we left, we saw Hickory’s Marketing Manager, Paula, enjoying a moment with some colleagues, so we popped over to convey our thanks to her and Ali for inviting us along, and also to say goodbye. Hot Wings (of all types!) awarded here.
To book your table ring 01332 978690 or visit www.hickorys.co.uk , hit the ‘select your restaurant’ button, then tap ‘book now’.
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