Food Truck - Up South Barbecue

July, 2017

Up South Barbecue

http://upsouthbarbeque.com/

Deep South barbecue is still quite young in Winnipeg, but it's starting to get a foothold.  Up South Barbecue looks to be one of the first to offer it from a mobile site.  To get a sampling of as many of their meats as I can, I opt for the 3 Little Pigs Sandwich on a pretzel bun. 

Looking at the picture, you get a beautiful-looking sandwich.  Now look closer and you can see a lot of bun with not very much meat, not considering the cost of $12.  Breaking down the sandwich, you see that there's coleslaw slathered on top of a big hunk of sausage.  Underneath, there's a slice of bacon.

As a barbecue Pit Master myself, I know a bit about Deep South barbecue, and this isn’t it.  The three meats in the 3 Little Pigs sandwich include pulled (pulverised) pork, sausage and a strip of bacon.  The pulled pork is the only true Deep South meat here and it doesn’t taste Southern.  Southern pulled pork involves having the pork butt sit on the smoker for many hours (usually 10-12); the absolute absence of smoke makes this pork tastes like it comes from a slow cooker.  Worse, the pork comes so overcooked that it has literally turned to mush.  Pulled pork should be stringy, not mashed.

They cook he sausage nicely, with some moisture remaining in the meat.  The problem comes in the flavour of the sausage, which tastes like refrigerator (like when you leave something in the freezer for too long).  Like the pulled pork, there’s no smoke on the sausage either.

Finally, using bacon as the third component of the pork triad is a cop out.  If I want to present Deep South barbecue, I would use a combo of pulled pork, thinly sliced sausage, and thinly sliced smoked ribs.  Alas, ribs cost a lot more than bacon.

I like the coleslaw on the meat.  It provides a contrast to the meat, as well as a texture with sauce.

Most of the food trucks around here sell canned drinks for $1.50 a can.  Up South charges and extra $4.00 if you want to upgrade to the meal, which includes a drink and fries; however, if you want just a drink, that can alone costs $3.50.  This is just an abject cash grab.

With plenty of good food trucks around, Up South ranks quite low on my ladder of places to visit--and if you just need a drink, walk on.

This is an unbiased, free public service that I am happy to provide.  If you enjoy these reviews, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads.  This is the only compensation I receive.  

For continuous updates, please follow me on Facebook @Ray Yuen's Winnipeg Restaurant Reviews or Twitter @food_winnipeg.  As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!