Friday, February 06, 2004 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Barbeque Masters Wood Smoked Eatery

A LITTLE SECRET: Readers won't want to miss Barbeque Masters Wood Smoked Eatery, which is tucked away in Henderson

Eva Charles scoops beans as chickens roast over mesquite at Barbeque Masters Wood Smoked Eatery. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

One of the things I love about this job -- and there are many -- is the ability to shine a light on deserving restaurants that don't enjoy the hype generated by a big-bucks marketing campaign.

The reason is twofold: I can let readers know about little gems they might otherwise overlook, and, thanks to the amount of word-of-mouth generated by a newspaper with a couple of hundred thousand readers, I might be able to help keep such little gems afloat.

And Barbeque Masters Wood Smoked Eatery is a little gem. I was tipped to Barbeque Masters by a reader -- and good thing, because I may well have overlooked its location in a huge new strip mall (southwest corner of Stephanie Street and Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson) that still has a lot of unoccupied storefronts.

Barbeque Masters is a simple, spare place, with a concrete floor, laminate-topped tables and walls that are mostly unadorned. But there are a few accents, such as a colorful jazz-inspired painting, and the place was so clean, it shone. We ordered at the counter and took a seat; when the food was brought to the table and we'd started to dig in, I felt as though I were in Memphis -- only without 40 years of accumulated dirt. The secret of a good barbecue joint is simple: meat. The meat should be tender and moist, with the full, deep flavor that comes from long smoking over smoldering wood. Lots of attention also should be paid to the sides, which complete the meal, and a homemade dessert is a nice touch. Add a mug of cold beer and you're on your way.

Well, the beer's missing at Barbeque Masters -- although it's coming in a few months -- so you'll have to settle for a soft drink, bottle of water or an energy drink. But the meats are prepared in a hickory-fired smoker, the poultry on a mesquite-fired rotisserie, and all of the other requirements are met.

The pork shoulder ($8.95 for a regular-size platter, $14.95 for large), for example. Called "pulled pork" in some 'cue regions of the country, this was smoked long enough to disintegrate into a pile of shreds (which is a good thing). Barbeque Masters offers sauce -- in sweet, medium or spicy -- in nice little dishes instead of nasty squeeze bottles, and we spooned it on with abandon. Tomato-based, the sweet was only slightly so (which also is a good thing), while the medium had just a bit of a peppery kick.

We didn't get into Barbeque Masters' kitchen and so didn't get a look at how that smoker works, but it works well enough to turn out baby-back ribs ($11.95 for a half-rack, but it's a pretty good-sized half-rack) as crusty as a seasoned Southern cook and with the soul that only hickory can provide. Too many cooks parcook baby-backs to make them tender, but they usually just get kinda gummy. Not the case at Barbeque Masters.

Good chicken, too. Comes in quarters or halves ($6.95 or $10.95), and the half we had was from a good-sized bird. Chicken is cooked over a mesquite-fired rotisserie at Barbeque Masters, lending a milder flavor than hickory. (Try hickory at home next time if your ribs don't have enough flavor.) Juicy, tender, all those good things.

Entrees include two sides and a choice of bread. Skip the standard whole wheat and go with a corn muffin, with its chewy, stone-ground texture.

Something else to skip: the corn on the cob. I don't really get why barbecue places almost always offer corn on the cob -- I guess they think it's obligatory -- because it's usually just waterlogged, as this was. Besides, the other sides were fantastic: baked beans with hickory depth and a bit of zip, potato salad that's mildly herby and perfectly textured, and creamy cole slaw with a variety of vegetables and -- a novel touch that works -- whole peanuts. Spicy peanut cole slaw also is available.

Had to go with the peach cobbler for dessert, since the menu promises that it's made in-house. A small piece ($3.25; large is $4.25), was quite large enough. Peach pie filling, as we had expected -- fresh peaches being a trifle hard to get at this time of year -- but it was a good quality, and the double crust was perfect with it. We longed only for a scoop of ice cream.

We also long for a return visit. Las Vegas' suburbs tend to be overrun with chain outlets, which are popular because they are predictable -- but that same predictability can be wearying. The rare spot such as Barbeque Masters provides sweet (and smoky) relief.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are unannounced and done anonymously at Review-Journal expense.