BBQ 117 – Boogie’s
BBQ
Nürnberg, Germany
Boogie’s BBQ in
Nürnberg is the only show in town. Not only in Nürnberg, but it literally is the
only real show in the whole country. When I moved back from Alabama, I scoured
the internet to find some, no, rather any, BBQ joints in my vicinity. The closest
one I could detect is this one, which is about 200 miles away – and that makes
a plate of pulled pork now and then a somewhat time consuming and expensive
affair. I only have time to go there once or twice a year. So, I am living in
BBQ diaspora now. Boohoo, cry me a river.
Although, the real
problem here is not so much the distance that makes satisfying my instant cravings
so damn near impossible, at least on a regular basis. No, the real problem is
that Boogie’s BBQ ranks among the best I ever had – right there with my
favorite joints in Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. Those guys in Nürnberg know
how to smoke a hog. No wonder, the founder and owner of this place comes from
Memphis and he brought all the knowledge with him to Germany. The pulled pork
is tender, juicy and has an exquisite smoke flavor. The burnt ends are
marvelous as well, and the brisket is just heavenly. They serve the meat with a
quite solid bun of bread, not the American style soft variety. And that is a
good thing, because with the solid bun you can put more sauce on it, without
having to deal with a disintegrating, sloppy mess after five seconds. And sauce
you will put on – they have four flavors, one hot, one fruity, one smoky,
and one vinegar based. I always mix the hot one with the fruity one, but the
other two are also very good. Of course, you don’t need to eat the bun at all
and just devour the meat. But quite frankly, I prefer to soak the bun with the
sauces, put the meat on it and eat like a pig, including the stains on my shirt
and in my beard.
They serve the usual
fixins as sides, and the potato salad is just great, and all other sides are
good to very good. Meals are not really cheap compared to some BBQ restaurants
in the States, because it is a novelty restaurant here in Germany, but I think
the items are quite fairly priced for the quality and quantity you get.
Two more bonus
points for this place are the very friendly and cheerful staff, and the basic
layout of the restaurant. It has all kinds of US memorabilia on the walls, the
tables have red and white checkered cloths, the background music is a mix of
classic soul and blues songs, and you can even purchase T-shirts with their
logo on them. If that place was suddenly beamed away to the BBQ in the southern
US, it would fit right in.
So, for me it always
is kind of a pilgrimage when I go to Boogie’s BBQ. I just hope and pray that it
keeps on serving us poor sinners for a long time to come.
