It was a smooth ride through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. We arrived in Kansas City around 8:30 pm and dropped by the world-famous Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque restaurant near Edwardsville.
Mark and I ordered the BBQ chicken, ribs, pork, and brisket. The pitmaster must have been having an off day because the BBQ was shockingly underwhelming! All the meats tasted bland with only smoke and saltiness as the primary flavor notes. There was no other flavors present, not even pepper.
The sauce tasted very “raw” because you could taste uncooked spices like granulated garlic, onion powder, etc. which seemed like they were tossed in the sauce mix uncooked. I could tell because the baked beans had the BBQ sauce cooked into it and it was the best item we tasted. Coleslaw was pretty ordinary. All in all, a disappointing experience at one of the supposedly best BBQ joints in the nation.
Mark and I are now concerned that if this bland flavor profile is considered great BBQ in Kansas City, then the local judges on Sat and Sun won’t like our BBQ because our flavor profile would be overpowering!