When you visit Feast BBQ, at 116 West Main St. in New Albany, you are going to be tempted to order the entire menu. Do yourself a favor and give in to your baser needs. Lick barbecue off your fingers. Have two desserts. Get yourself a dang bourbon slushie.
My husband and I recently visited Feast, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. We started our meal with the crispy pork cakes ($7) and the fried pickles ($7). The pork cakes were huge and savory, topped with creamy coleslaw and green onions, sitting in a bed of Indiana sorghum. I could have just made a meal out of them and finished off with the impeccable fried pickles, little crispy discs with cotija cheese and cilantro.
My main dish, a leg and thigh of smoked fried chicken, came with a roll, coleslaw and my pick of a side: collard greens ($7.50). Though it pains my carnivorous heart to say it, the greens were by far my favorite part of the meal (though everything else was magnificent!). My husband ordered a presidential feast with three meats (pulled pork, brisket, ribs) and three sides (macaroni and cheese, greens, baked beans with burnt ends), a giant meal for $19, we could have easily shared it between us and walked away full. All the meat tender as Mother Theresa's heart and juicy as the Enquirer, smoky as your grandpa's favorite jacket. I could go on with the terrible similes but you get the idea.
We finished our meal with balls of deep fried banana pudding ice cream, drizzled with luxuriant caramel; and Rev. Rogers' white chocolate bread pudding sticks, each $7. I can't even come up with enough adjectives to rave about how good the desserts were, and I am not usually a dessert eater.
Needless to say, this is the first of many visits to Feast for us. Our food came out exceedingly fast (though I recommend visiting this or any restaurant on a week night for the fastest service and the best food.) The location is beautiful, (Feast's website [4]has an abundance of information about the history of their building) and the food was simply stellar. I would love to go back and get a drink there--they have a bourbon slushie.
photos: Elizabeth Orrick