Holy Smoke Bbq Grill - Fort Cochin

Review of a visit a couple of months back.<br/ Named through a contest ran on social media by the Restaurant Management. Ever since the idea of such a joint was promoted, was always looking forward to dig into some real juicy steaks and to be honest – it did not disappoint…<br/ So we were a crowd of 7 adults and 3 kids and though we knew this would be somewhere close to Sutra (as it is run by the same management), we did have a little bit of trouble locating the actual place because it was tucked away inside hotel….<br/ Once inside we were pleasantly surprised since the ambience was definitely not ‘child-unfriendly’ since we were quite skeptical of going to a steak joint with kids. <br/ <br/ Coming to the food, while we were placing our orders, we were served with some breads which was on the house and they did come pretty handy to douse the growling stomach fires. Since the place was being portrayed as a steak joint, I was not even looking at the other items and after a toss-up between the T-Bone and Pork Ribs for me, I called for the Pork Ribs….The others ordered: Beef Tenderloin Steak, Beef Ribs Steak, Butterfly Chicken Steak, Roasted Vegetable Sandwich, Texas Triple Meat Burger, Fisherman’s Pie, Holy Smoke Green Burger.<br/ To go with the steaks, you get to chose from 6 sauces and 8 sides (2 choices for the sides), which they are pretty much generous with and we ended up having to cancel one of the rice items we had ordered for the kids. And like all places, the steaks can be ordered to be cooked in various degrees and unlike all places, these guys kind of know their steaking temperatures pretty well and got almost all of the steaks right. However, the best one was the beef tenderloin with the right amount of doneness and the best of the sauces was the pepper sauce, though the teriyaki blended well with the pork ribs too. All the meats except for the T-bone (which is from Bangalore) are sourced locally as per their requirements and the pork coming in from the Ranch.<br/ The triple meat burger was juicy yet crispy at the right places with the strips of bacon slipping in that extra bit of punch to the burger. The burgers and sandwiches were accompanied with generous portions of fries and even the wedges which were ordered with the steaks ended up being perfect for a steak portion and not to mention them being tasty. The fisherman’s pie was a perfect blend of some cheddar cheese, some good mash and some fine mahi mahi fish….it was liked by all in the table. I personally did not have the veg burger, though I did dig into a small bite of the sandwich and it turned out to be fine.<br/ <br/ The other sides which were ordered with the steaks ranged included mac cheese, wedges, butter rice, mixed green salads and none of them though exceptional, were not bad by any sense on the tastogram. We only called for a couple of fresh juices – the mossambi and the water-melon, out of which the mossambi turned out to be a concoction of fresh and bottled juice, which though the guy serving us was reluctant to admit initially.<br/ <br/ The only drawback and that was a common one was that the food was not reaching our tables hot – mind you not that it was cold but it could have been a little more hotter, cause you know to get the right juicy steak, which blends with the sauces, the steak has to be served hot so that even while enjoying the last slice of meat, the flavours are all blended in nicely. Not to forget that mac cheese when turned cold can be a bit of real dampener considering that it becomes one lump of macaroni. This was let known to the management and they apologized for the same (it apparently was due to some heating issue with the final assembling stand) and will ensure they get it rectified.<br/ <br/ The other element which bothered the beef ribs steak portion was that the meat was not easy to come off even when he had ordered a well-done one. But overall to sum up, a very happy experience and infact a couple of them have already given their whole-hearted thumbs-up verdict to a place that is focused on steaks in Cochin and this is coming from the same few who have had their steaks from across the world. Ambience is beautiful and they need to ensure they maintain it this way, but they definitely need to do something seriously about the mosquitoes. Service is pretty fast and decent and the guys are receptive for adaptions and suggestions.

The story goes like this<br/ Friday 9t, me and my frnd was on our way back from menaka to our home (kochi) then the idea struck why not go and have the payasam of karayogam (that stall they open during onam)<br/ Unforthunety they were closed.. then we thought of going somewhere else and was confused bw the usual places or the new ones.<br/ <br/ Thus we ended up here(long story)<br/ <br/ Now abt the place<br/ Its quite deserted, but the place seems elegant and the music man.....it's awesome as it goes will with the rain <br/ <br/ Comming to the food<br/ <br/ We ordered the grill butterfly chicken and tenderloin steak with black pepper and signature burnon (sauce) and for the sides mac and cheese and Apple slaw, mashed potatoes and French fries,<br/ And order the steak in medium well (slightly pink at the centre)<br/ <br/ Plate was neatly arranged, coz most of the places they they just pour the sauce all over the steak but they guys serve them separate which is quite appreciable.<br/ <br/ I must say these guys given me the best experience to my taste buds<br/ Perfectly balanced<br/ Most of the time I felt the sauce to overpower the dish, these guys just nailed<br/ <br/ Altogether such a wonderful experience<br/