REVIEW: Flavor of Texas BBQ PayDay Bar & YOU ONLY GET ONE: BBQ Edition
JFG Nation, we’ve all been to BBQ joints, smokehouses, butcheries. They all claim to have the best pork, the best chicken, the most amazing handcrafted sauces. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, this blurb isn’t for you. But for the carnivores out there, I want to know: which meat ranks at the top of your list? In other words, YOU ONLY GET ONE – no combo platters, no other choices. An entree costs $12 and you only have $12. Which BBQ are you picking? (consider you can get whatever sauce you want):
- Beef Brisket (chopped of sliced)
- Beef Ribs
- Pork Ribs (baby back or spare)
- Pulled Pork / chopped pork
- Pork Belly
- Pulled Chicken / chopped chicken
- Non-pulled/chopped chicken (legs, thighs, etc)
- Sausage (Half smoke)
- Turkey (any form)
Those are your choices. Yes, yes, I know many of you love tri-tips – STAY WITH ME HERE. I just wanted to list the traditional offerings.
So let me hear it, JFG Nation, in the comments below. YOU ONLY GET ONE: BBQ Edition.
Today’s junk food: Flavor of Texas BBQ PayDay Bar!!
I like PayDay. Peanuts and caramel-y nougat. What’s not to like? I also like savory sweet. Is this just BBQ peanuts on top of the same caramel-y nougat?
DO THESE TASTE GOOD? ………uh.
WHY OR WHY NOT? When I opened this wrapper and sniffed, it smelled like…well, sort of like burnet BBQ pork. Or like BBQ pork jerky. If that’s not an appetizing description, that’s ok, because it wasn’t a great smell.
I took a bite and…I don’t hate it. I don’t love it. My first reaction: inconclusive.
It does taste like BBQ peanuts outside of the classic caramel-y nougat. The combo is sweet, salty, BBQ smoky, and a weird savory. It is a lot going on in my mouth. The sweet doesn’t overwhelm everything, but it is the dominant flavor. The resultant flavor is…well, I’m not really sure. I guess it’s good? It reminds me of the savory KIND bars that are out, like this hickory smoked BBQ KIND bar.
The problem I’m having is while it isn’t a bad taste to me, I’m not really sure what itch this scratches. Salty sweet pretzels are usually satisfying because even after the complex flavor, it’s still pretzel, so you’re satisfying your carb itch. Kettle corn – you just want empty calories. Here, this is a heavy bar. It requires some definite chewing and it feels substantial. It doesn’t taste bad, but it doesn’t FEEL like a candy bar to me. It has the weight of a post-workout bar or something.
In that sense, this is very successful – it’s a complex flavored bar that hits all the major palette corners. But as a candy bar, I’d rather have a normal PayDay.
ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW? I finally figured out what the flavor I was tasting was. If you’ve ever had dimsum and ordered this steamed pork buns:
You know, the kind with the really red BBQ pork inside?
Yep, that’s what this BBQ PayDay bar tastes like. Hands down – the sweetness of the white dough, the sweetness of the reddish sauce and the smokiness of the pork that is “muted” by the sweet dough…that’s the exact balance PayDay struck here. WEIRD.
PURCHASED AT: Safeway, Rockville, MD.
WHERE FOUND IN STORE? Hidden in some random boxes next to the entrance. Seriously. It wasn’t even displayed.
COST? $1.29.
Sincerely,
The JFG
Discuss - 8 Comments
Beef Brisket, no question! It’s one item I am unlikely to make myself, so it will always be a top choice at a BBQ joint.
Pulled pork FTW, homie. I only like brisket if it’s REALLY good, and so much is terrible. Without any indication of quality, I’ll go for the pork.
Beef Brisket!!! YUM! If it is done right.
I do applaud Payday for taking a risk. But could had done better. Maybe tweak the caramel a bit.
Beef brisket. Sliced! Just had some last weekend that was mind blowing.
Beef brisket. Moist cut from Hill Country in DC is my jam!
Here’s the problem with Payday in general – when you put crunchy peanuts into an airtight container with a soggy caramel, the peanuts get soggy and you end up with an unsatisfying texture. Mix that with an uber-smoky Texas BBQ (i.e. not sweet, like a KC) and you end up with a pretty shitty candy bar with bad texture and unpleasant taste.
And what I order depends on where I am. And if those are my choices, chances are, I’m leaving, because if burnt ends aren’t on the menu as an option, GTFO.
I’m more than likely the one with a plateful of mac & cheese/baked beans/sweet potatoes. I don’t like anything smokey (to include a lot of bacon) or most BBQ sauce (I tolerate white and a GOOD gold, but not on my smoked meats).
Chopped pork. I’m partial because i’m from North Carolina where pork rules and where I’ve had some of the best pork bbq i’ve ever tasted.