SmokePapa BBQ — Restaurant in George Town

Update 2: my family and I just love the food and service here and keep coming back. This time it was for lunch with a friend. Received a warm welcome from the lady of the house🙏.

We tried the sets. Different combos of mains and sides with drinks. We tried the pasta, pulled pork and crispy pork belly mains. All yum 😋. The Vietnamese iced coffee and iced lemon teas were superb too. Happy days 😍.

Update: my family and I took our friends visiting from Switzerland for dinner. Tried a few new dishes such as the brisket and a burger. Absolutely fantastic. The smoked pork crackling set and pulled pork sliders were winners this time, too. Great service from the lady of the house and team. Very gracious and welcoming. Keep it up guys.

Older review: These guys know what they're doing. When you want some slow cooked meat Texan style, then just head out here. The food is great, the ambience relaxed and the service friendly without being clingy. We had walked past this place a few times and finally decided to have Sunday dinner. Fortunately, we had a reservation, as people kept streaming in. The welcome was friendly and the serving team was on top of things, all with a smile despite being really busy. We opted for the smoked pork crackling set, the pulled pork sliders and the smoked pulled pork pizza. We also added a portion of the cheesy fries. Might sound like an overdose of pork, but believe me, though there were chicken and some other options available we would have gone with no other for our initiation here. Our previous feasting on slow cooked barbecue was at the home of an American friend who knew his meat and understood his bbq. This came close. The crackling set was brilliant and just the right portion size. I even requested the mash to be changed for fries. The pork was juicy and the crackling had just that right amount of crunch. The sliders were a revelation. Three mini buns with a good quantity of pulled pork filling them up. So, so tasty that even a hesitant pork eater like my wife gobbled them up. The pizza was not very big, but had a good quantity of smoked pulled pork covered in cheese. Right out of the oven and melt in the mouth good. The cheesy fries were sinful and rich and was a perfect addition to go with our drinks. Our meal ended with a really nice conversation with the owner who had been busy till then working in a busy kitchen. His wife who heads the service team is the one who makes sure that everyone is welcomed with a smile and bid farewell with a thanks. Good work team. You...

Recently came for lunch after some anticipation. We were a table of 3 and came slightly before noon and there was still space—but if you do plan on coming during peak lunch or dinner hours I would suggest you make a res beforehand!

What we had: 🍗 Smoked chicken 🐷 Babi Moo platter 🍟 Sides: Coleslaw 🥬, Mac n cheese 🧀, cornbread 🌽, mashed potatoes and fries 🥔 🥫 Free sauces: They have BBQ sauce, hickory sauce and chilli sauce for free—but personally I think the food is flavourful enough that it doesn’t require any extra sauce!

All in all, in terms of taste and price point I would give it a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I prevaricated between 4 or 5 but ultimately decided on 4 because I think some improvements could be made to just kick it up that notch to 5!

The ribs and brisket did not disappoint. They were flavourful and sufficiently soft. But I would say the burnt bits were possibly too tough, and while soft, the ribs could be even softer for my liking. The sauce was also on the sweeter side, and lacked an all-around depth that I look for in BBQ. Personally I wish the rolls and cornbread were bigger, but perhaps I’m just greedy 😜 But I like having carbs to soak up the saucy bits—so good! I do like that the shoestring fries were crispy and the soft rolls came hot and crispy on the outside. As for the smoked chicken it was sufficiently spiced and flavourful, one of the highlights! Special mention goes to the mashed potatoes though, oh-so-creamy and buttery. Please order it as a side!

All in all, I would happily come back for more. I believe it’s a family-owned business, the little boy told me that his family stays upstairs and they run the joint. So I’m all for supporting family-owned small businesses—always! ❤️

P.S. As you can see in the pictures, you’re able to watch the chefs cooking! Also, while it may look like a small space out front, the space stretches out all the way back so worry not, it has...

The pork falls off the bone. The bread is soft. The mashed potatoes were marvellous. As for the BBQ sauce, well, we drank up the whole bottle.

The pork combo platters were excellent. My octogenarian parents licked their plates clean. The meats were so soft, tender and smoky.

Which meant that I had to do one thing: I went to the back and stared through the glass to look for the important thing.

"Do you want to see the smoker?" one of the servers asked me. My heart beat faster. Of course. Yes!

The smoker lies at the heart of Texas BBQ joint. Smoke imparts flavour and preserves food. Years ago, I used to stop by BBQ pits in Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee to eat pulled pork, ribs and sausages. I loved the smoke wafting from the smokers. Loved seeing the chefs slathering on sauces on meat. Loved the badass BBQ competitions. Loved the smoke.

But here we were - not in Texas but in Penang. And the server turned out to be Chef Hong, who was part of the opening team for posh Spago Dining Room at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Hong led me into his kitchen. He opened up the doors into the smoker fed by a mix of mangrove and hickory wood that created the smoke to cook and flavour the pork (5-6 hours), beef (up to 12 hours) and chicken. He also smoked the chillies used for the BBQ sauce.

A few times each week, he'd get up at midnight to start the fire for the smoker.

"I need to tell you this," Hong told me. "All this is God's blessing."

And so he told me the story of how God led him and his wife Jen - like Joseph and Mary - back to his hometown in Penang to start this BBQ joint.

Hong was so humble and kind. And so it turned out that I was wrong.

I came here thinking that the most important thing in Texas-style BBQ is the smoker. But really, the most important thing here is Hong, and his heart for his family, food and hospitality.

Eat....