Huntington’s Bask restaurant is ... smokin’
- Steven Keith
- 14 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Happy Days Café in South Charleston closing on Jan. 1
If you’re looking for a hot new restaurant in Huntington, Bask is smoking. Literally!
Located in the refurbished space at Pullman Square that used to house Black Sheep Burrito and Brews, which closed exactly one year ago this week, Bask Smokehouse opened in early August.
The sharp-looking new digs offer a contemporary take on the BBQ pits of the Southwest, Texas, Kansas and the Deep South by applying those cooking (and often smoking) techniques to Appalachian dishes.
The buzzy new restaurant is co-owned by Patrick Guthrie – the same guy responsible for my beloved Bahnhof and The Loud in Huntington and Black Sheep in Charleston – so you’d probably expect it to be good.
And it is.
I’ve made two trips to Huntington to visit Bask so far and have enjoyed a modern restaurant design, nice ambience, attentive service and delicious food both times.
A tantalizing menu includes creative starters like burnt end brisket Rangoon dip with crispy wontons and Thai chili sauce, fried deviled eggs topped with candied pork belly and Masago roe, and maple buffalo cauliflower served with ranch or gorgonzola dipping sauce.
Big plates that include smoked meatloaf with crispy onions and BBQ glaze, a bone-in pork chop with spiced apple butter BBQ and miso-marinated cedar-plank smoked salmon come with optional sides ranging from mac ‘n’ cheese, green beans, baked beans and dirty fries to bacon-braised kale, deviled-egg potato salad and more.
And then Bask really cranks up the heat after 5 p.m. weekdays and all day Saturday, when they fire up the smoker to offer St. Louis pork ribs, chopped Black Angus brisket, beef tri-tip, smoked turkey, smoked pimento cheese-stuffed sausage, pulled pork, carrot ribs and more served with wonderful house-pickled veggies, thick-cut sesame toast and BBQ sauces like Texas Hot, Alabama White, Carolina Gold and House Red.
A few salads join a selection of 10 handhelds, including BBQ, fish, chicken, turkey and steak sandwiches, along with burgers like the intriguing Texas Twinkie piled high with a brisket-blend burger, more chopped brisket, candied bacon, fried onions, roasted jalapeno-Monterey jack cheese spread and Texas BBQ sauce on a brioche bun.
(Why on earth did I not try that!?)
So far, I’ve enjoyed spicy Korean-glazed pork belly burnt ends served with pickled Fresno peppers and sesame cucumbers, creamy cheddar-jalapeno spoonbread topped with a giant scoop of honey-cinnamon butter, plus a tangy pimento cheese dip drizzled with hot pepper jelly and served with a giant link of juicy smoked sausage and a whole sleeve of Ritz crackers.
The balance of sweet, heat, salt and acid on all of those dishes was particularly well executed.
The smoked meatloaf (with baked beans and potato salad) and salmon (with mac ‘n’ cheese and kale) I just mentioned were a hit on my second visit, along with a giant platter of chopped brisket and tangy ribs with green beans, coleslaw and Texas toast.
And while I was really excited to end that meal with the Bask ‘n’ Burnt Cheesecake topped with seasonal berry compote, we found that dessert a bit underwhelming in the flavor department and a bit dry, too.
Next time, we’ll opt for the Banana Pudding Trifle (with layers of Biscoff cookies, ricotta whipped cream and caramel) or the carrot cake whoopie pie.
But experiencing only one miss on a lineup full of flavorful hits is a pretty impressive track record for a new restaurant. I’m already looking forward to working my way through more of the menu on my next trip to Huntington.
IF YOU GO: Bask Smokehouse at 279 9th St. in Huntington’s Pullman Square is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. It is closed on Sundays. For more information, call 681-204-5368 or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Happy Days Café closing in South Charleston
Happy Days Café at the mound in South Charleston is closing its doors on Jan. 1.
“With the recent passing of one of our staff and family members, as well as additional family illness that will require time away from the business, we will be closing our doors on Jan. 1,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post on Monday.
“We have had a great run and have made lifelong friends,” the post continued. “We have watched our grandchildren grow up in the business and have seen customers come and go. We would love to see all of our customers over the next few days, so we can say farewell.”
To help encourage visitation, Happy Days will offer its best-selling chicken and dumplings special on Dec. 31 and cabbage rolls on its last day, Jan. 1, “to get the new year started off right.”
(Legend has it that eating cabbage on New Year’s Day will bring you good luck all year long. Do I believe it? No. Do I love cabbage? Yes, so I’m all in.)
The restaurant, which is located at 600 D St., will be closed for Christmas break starting this Wednesday, but will reopen from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. next week for its final few days in business. Given the recently announced closure, however, I’d still recommend calling the café at 304-720-6273 before going to make sure it’s open.
Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as “WV Food Guy.” He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.