I feel a little dumb, as I have been living in Market Deeping for over 10 years now, and only just realised there is a BBQ Diner that I've walked past many times.
To be fair, it wasn't completely obvious until fairly recently. Opposite my local butchers used to be a cafe called Harley's Diner, which looked like any other greasy spoon.
However last year it changed its name (under the same owners) to Iron Horse Ranch House. I still didn't pay it much attention until a few weeks ago, when I had half an hour to waste so went in for a cup of coffee. To my amazement, as well as all-day-breakfasts and other such stuff, they were offering brisket and pulled pork sandwiches.
So last week, I went back and tried their brisket. It came in a very nice soft white roll, with the meat piled high inside; served with fries and coleslaw on the side. The brisket was very well prepared, a bit more seasoned than I am used to; but that is more a measure of my own cooking style than theirs – it was still very tasty.
I had a chat with them, and they said all their meat is prepared on site, which means they have a smoker out back somewhere. Someday, I must talk them into letting me have a look at what they have.
Even more interesting, they are about to move premises, from a fairly small arcade cafe to double fronted premises on the main high street. Seems they reckon there is a market for it, and our little town could do with something like that.
So all in all, I am impressed, and happy. Things are definitely looking up.