Lambert’s

Storied (or at least known-out-of-town) home of fancy barbeque. I sat at the bar (good show, and one of the waitstaff actually said “lime me!”) and had a charcuterie plate and the brisket.

I should’ve known better: things in Texas really are supersized. The hotel coffee mugs are huge. The afternoon break offered cookies, and fruit, and quesadillas. One professor of library science complained that the forks were oversized. So was the charcuterie plate. But: the salami was excellent, the country paté was terrific, and lomo was smoky and stiff and paper thin and by far the best I’ve had. (Do they eat a lot of lomo in Texas? Just wondering.) And the foie gras pot de creme, of which I was very skeptical, was absolutely delicious.

The brisket was good, and the sauces (bbq and mustard) even better. It was very lean brisket, which seems a bit against the grain. Surprisingly – especially considering the chilli jacked pickles and olives that accompanied the charcuterie – the coffee and brown sugar rub was a bit less prominent than I’d have liked.