It has been a while since I last met my
makan buddies for dinner
at
Makoto...and we found ourselves in the same area again but at
Burnin' Pit @ Desa Sri Hartamas this time. I've been wanting to visit
Burnin' Pit for some time since being attracted by photos of delicious-looking barbecued meats (as well as seeing my
blogger friend enjoying meals there).
When I think of
Burnin' Pit, for some reason, the
Ring of Fire tune gets played in my head...
lol! ;D
I fell into a burnin' pit ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire, the ring of fire..........
Anyway.....
Burnin' Pit is well-known for delivering good ol'
Southern American barbecue meats cooked low and slow in a custom-built smoker (like those delicious-looking
Texas barbecue we see on TV).
Our meal began with the
Birria Tacos @ RM28 which is supposedly a
Mexican crispy (red) taco stuffed with cheesy shredded beef. It was served with a
(birria taco) sauce which is a rich, savoury red broth (made with blended tomatoes, onions, garlic, dried
Mexican chillies and spices). Of course I wouldn't know if it was made with
Mexican chillies (like
ancho and
guajillo) but they say it's not
birria if you don't use
Mexican dried chillies...
haha!
Well, Mexican dried chillies or not, the sauce was absolutely delicious eaten with a spoonful or two over the filling of shredded beef. The tacos were absolutely crispy as well making the experience a double dose of happiness. I think I've only eaten non-crispy tacos thus far...and a crispy one definitely trumps a soft, pliable corn or flour tortilla! ^_~
I also ordered one other dish for sharing, the
Philly Cheese Sandwich @ RM32 (or
Philly Cheesesteak as it's commonly known) with pulled
Angus beef shreds, sauteed red and green peppers, caramelised onions and cheddar cheese on a ciabatta served with a side of fries.
This was another good dish...and I was even ok with the
cheddar cheese (which was white, not yellow). Worthy of mention was the side of
skin-on fries which were extremely fluffy and crisp. If I had known how good the fries were, I would have ordered an extra side of fries.
We could not order too many pre-main dishes as I know our main platter of
The Austin @ RM368 would be massive...and I was really taken aback as to how substantial the platter was. It got
oohs and
aahs when it was served...and I can certainly understand why...it was a showstopper! :O
It came with
Smoked Lamb Ribs (750g),
Smoked Angus Beef Brisket (400g),
Quarter Smoked Chicken,
Chicken Sausages (4 pcs) with sides of
Mac & Cheese, Southern Slaw, Homemade Beans and
Brioche Buns (I ordered an extra
Brioche Bun @ RM3.50 since there were five of us).
Let's start with the good...and the best thing on the platter, the
Smoked Angus Beef Brisket as it was so tender that the knife cut through it like butter and the slow-smoked brisket practically disintegrated in my mouth. Even after each of us had a slice, there were still 2 large pieces left. Only downside was you have to eat the beef brisket while it's still warm coz once it's cold, I could detect a hint of gaminess in the beef (which others might not experience) and though it was very negligible, it brought down the pleasantness of the brisket (for me).
The
Quarter Smoked Chicken (we chose
jerk seasoning coz
peri-peri sounds so familiar like
Nando's...lol) was tender, a little smoky and tasty enough though the meat was a little dry as we were unfortunate enough to get the wing section (and not the drumstick/thigh section) of the quarter.
The
Chicken Sausages turned out surprisingly decent as I found myself enjoying them (not sure if they're housemade, most probably not).
The
Smoked Lamb Ribs, which also happens to be the biggest portion on the platter, was the biggest disappointment. Perhaps "disappointment" is too mild a word...it was a total disaster! It looked way better than it tasted. The lamb was so gamey (and there were also lots of fatty parts), it was inedible (I could smell the gaminess even before eating...and when I tried a small piece, no bigger than an inch, I wanted to spit it out). The gamey taste and smell lingered in my mouth...it was really off-putting! >_< Even the
espresso rub we went with could not mask the gaminess of the lamb! Even my friends who enjoy lamb found it gamey (and they couldn't stomach more than one bite), so it was practically left untouched...and uneaten.
As for the sides, I didn't care for their
Homemade Beans and thought the
Southern Slaw was a bit too limp (missing that fresh, crunchy factor) and wished it was served cold to give a bit more freshness that was so needed when you're eating a meat-heavy platter. Luckily, there were some
vinegared jalapenos to offer some respite. I didn't have any
Mac & Cheese as it's too heavy a side dish when you already have lots of meat. I think they need to rethink their sides (of beans and mac & cheese) as I'd prefer to see something lighter and fresher to cut through the heaviness of the meats.
I ordered extra sides of
Grilled Corn on the Cob with Coconut Milk @ RM9 (two portions) and they were well grilled and and tasty enough though I can't say I tasted much of the creamy coconut milk.
The other extra side was the
Grilled Vegetables @ RM9 with grilled carrots, green & yellow zucchinis and red bell peppers. These were smokey and good.
As we knew we would be adjourning for drinks later, we asked for water to be served...only to find out that it's chargeable! :O Oh well, the 3 bottles of
Spritzer distilled water cost RM9 (RM3 a bottle). There were two bottles of BBQ sauce available on the table for those who need extra sauce.
We ended up at
Cellar Eighteen again...and had the same bottle of red wine that we enjoyed so much the previous time. It was a wonderful end to our otherwise
heavy makan session.
Before I end, I feel I need to make a comment about the service. The service was actually alright right up to near closing time (and that's 10 pm on weekends and 12 am on weekdays)...rather weird, if you ask me, to stay open longer on weekdays than weekends!! Anyway, I was surprised when I was presented with the bill (coz I didn't ask for it) when I came back from the washroom (this was around 9.30 pm). I guess they were getting ready to close...but still it wasn't the right thing to do (in my opinion) coz it came out like we were gestured to leave. We ended up staying another 20 mins or so past 10 pm coz one of my friends was having an "episode" in the washroom (there was one other table still occupied then). Lo and behold, past 10 pm, they started stacking chairs on the vacated tables and mopping the floor! O_o I felt very uncomfortable (it was like they were "chasing" us away) that we decided to wait outside for our friend. Although I'm aware that it's also not right to stay past their closing time, sometimes when you're having a good time, you can lose track of time but (in this case) we were waiting on our friend. This reminded me (for comparison) of my wonderful experience at Meat Feds when we stayed beyond their closing hours but was greeted with "no problem, it's fine" when I apologised for overstaying...this is what excellent service is all about! ;)
My Personal Opinion
So, does Burnin' Pit warrant a return visit? It's a YES to their Birria Tacos (especially), Philly cheese sandwich, fries and maybe beef brisket.
It's a definite NO...to The Austin platter (or The Kansas which also includes the lamb ribs) as the gamey lamb, unfortunately, was not a hunk, a hunk of burning love (like Elvis Presley was in his older days...lol). In fact, it was so gamey (that you can smell it a mile away) and inedible (that even lamb lovers couldn't stomach)...and the platter comes with a whopping 750g of it! >_<
In the end, even without partaking in the lamb, we were too stuffed, so clearly the platter was too much for our
party-of-five to handle (Did I order too much? Not, right?). I thought if
phonghongbakes's party-of-three (who incidentally also had a much more positive experience than us) can devour the platter, it shouldn't be a problem for the five of us. But I guess I was wrong (now I'm really in awe at how much food they can handle especially when one of them is an 80+ year old lady). For us, there were leftovers of everything (all the lamb ribs, of course + beef brisket and even smoked chicken), corn, grilled vegetables, mac & cheese, slaw and beans)...but no regrets ordering the first two dishes for sharing though since they turned out to be the better things we ate that night. ^_~
Burnin' Pit
No 24 Jalan 24/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 013-399 3920
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