Location: 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.instagram.com/smoking.section.bbq/
Smoking Section Barbecue is currently a pop-up at Great Lakes Brewery in Etobicoke, and wow — I was kinda blown away by how good it was.
I’ve mentioned before that finding legit BBQ in the GTA (that actually tastes smoky) is weirdly difficult. But not impossible, apparently, because here comes Smoking Section to show everyone how it’s done.
The pared-down menu currently features five meats (brisket, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, and sausage), two sides (smokey potato salad and maple vanilla slaw), and a dessert (sticky toffee cake). I went with brisket and sausage, with a side of the potato salad.
Good lord, that brisket — it’s exactly what you want it to be. It’s amazingly tender (but still has texture), features perfectly rendered and unctuous fat, and is nicely seasoned, with a great amount of satisfying smoky flavour.
I’ve never tried the real deal in Texas, but I have to imagine this is pretty close.
The sausage (jalapeno cheddar, I think?) is just as tasty, with more smoky flavour, a satisfying course grind on the meat, and a very pleasant level of greasiness (it’s extremely greasy, but in the best way).
I quite liked the potato salad, too; potato salad has a tendency to just be blandly rich, but this had a nice mustardy pop, yet more smoky flavour, and some contrasting crunch from the celery. It was really tasty.
Even the bread was pretty great. I know plain, untoasted white bread is traditional for a BBQ platter like this, but the toasted, profoundly buttery sourdough here is a clear upgrade.
Michael Eats 