Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
424 Preston St., 613-422-7880, masondixonottawa.com
Open: Monday to Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight, Friday to Saturday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Prices: small plates $8 to $16, large plates $15 to $28
Access: stairs to front door, restrooms downstairs
There’s a saying among barbecue competition judges that savouring the ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken served at such events will ruin restaurant-made barbecue fare for you.
Typically at those competitions, cooks toil single-mindedly over a few racks of ribs or a batch of chicken thighs to select the absolute best specimens to be served, just as soon as they’re ready, to a small group of judges. Restaurants can’t be as perfectionist and need to be pragmatic. Their kitchens typically slow-cook barbecued meats in bulk and in advance, reheating meals for fans of smoke and spice.
All that said, as someone who’s judged at barbecue competitions, I try not to be too hard on usually too-dry, restaurant-made barbecue, especially if the care and cooked-in flavours tell me that an aficionado is in the kitchen.
But as a barbecue judge and ordinary eater, I’ve been frustrated by the food at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar, which opened in mid-October on Preston Street.
Ottawa native Henry Besser-Rosenberg is its chef and owner. He attended the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, was the chef at the Vancouver barbecue restaurant Buckstop and has competed in many barbecue competitions. So Mason-Dixon’s general manager, Casey Walsh, wrote me in an email last fall that put the restaurant on my radar.
Naturally, my hopes were raised. But at three dinners — one in late November, another just before Christmas, and one last week — those hopes were too often dashed.
Mason-Dixon’s menu is a mix of more chef-y, barbecue-influenced items plus two traditional meats — pork spare ribs, which we were told were smoked for six hours before reheating, and beef brisket, which we were told was smoked for 14 hours. Curiously, there’s no pulled pork on the menu, although it’s well liked and the easiest barbecue meat to prepare.
My impression, after having the ribs and brisket three times, as well as seven other items, is that some big improvements are needed regarding a menu that intrigues but, in execution, too often disappoints.
The most positive thing I can say is that my experience at Mason-Dixon has improved with each visit. However, the first two visits were seriously problematic.
At our first dinner there, both ribs and brisket (combos for $37 and $60) were dishearteningly bad.
The brisket was extremely bland, poorly trimmed, overly fatty and chewy. The rack of ribs came a half-rack at a time because the kitchen wasn’t properly stocked with ready-to-reheat ribs. The first half-rack was just so-so, flavoured with a mediocre dry rub, accompanied by a container of unremarkable sauce. Arriving much later, the rest of the full-rack order consisted of rib tips and trimmings rather than ribs proper, apparently cooked to order but very tough and under-seasoned.
Ribs and brisket combo at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
In Mason-Dixon’s defence, our server had warned us the kitchen was low on ribs. But given what we received, it would have been better not to serve the second half-rack at all.
At our second dinner, spicy Nashville chicken and waffles ($17) included chicken thighs that were more oily than spicy and a waffle that had a hair in it. To its credit, the restaurant’s response to that foreign object was apologetic in the extreme — our entire meal was free.
Spicy Nashville chicken and waffles at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
Now, let’s just say those flops were unlucky abnormalities that could be struck from the record. I’d still be left with the assessment from my third visit — the eatery’s core items, ribs and brisket, were too dry and above all under-seasoned. While great barbecue is a wondrous and tender melding of meaty, salty, spicy, smoky and sweet flavours, Mason-Dixon’s specialties get a check mark for smokiness, but that’s about it.
Another ribs and brisket combo at Mason-Dixon Kitchen
The eatery could also use one or more better barbecue sauces. More side dishes beyond fries and cole slaw (both OK here) also wouldn’t hurt. Finally, the price of the barbecue meats here would be a little steep even if they were better.
I can recommend two appetizers. A starter of grilled shrimp ($14) won us over with plump, well-seasoned and not overcooked shrimp, as well as its corn and chipotle purée. A newer item on the menu, poutine, made with smoked pork cheeks and mushrooms ($14), was everything you wanted from poutine and more. My teenage dining companion pronounced it the best poutine he’s had, and I liked it too.
Grilled shrimp with corn and chorizo at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
Pork cheek poutine at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
But other appetizers lacked the craft that would have made them deeply enjoyable.
A smoked mushroom tart ($11) was interesting, but its pastry should have been warmer and the dish should have been more punchily flavoured. A smoked marrow bone ($16) was just OK, somewhat smoky but a little short on marrow goodness. There was a side salad to cut the richness of the marrow, but that accompaniment could have been sharper and brighter. On a smoked beet salad ($11), there were some nice touches including crisp-exteriored balls of fried goat cheese. But the beets were over-smoked.
Mushroom tart at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
Smoked bone marrow at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
Smoked beet salad at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
For dessert, we’ve passed on the bourbon-hard root beer float in favour of some warm, house-made chocolate cookies ($6) that were alright but not exceptional.
Warm, spiced chocolate cookies at Mason-Dixon Kitchen and Bar
Mason-Dixon takes over at its address where two Thai restaurants had been in recent years. The remade interior is distinguished by light-hearted artwork featuring food on the walls. The bar stocks seven bourbons, a dozen or so craft beers and $12 cocktails.
Service has been friendly and at times very casual. We would have preferred it if, at one visit to our table, a server hadn’t smelled of cigarette smoke — even at a restaurant that serves smoked food.
The kitchen here is open late, until midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends. Perhaps as a wee-hours haunt, Mason-Dixon works best. More broadly, as a purveyor of barbecued delights, it has much work to do.
phum@postmedia.com
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