An insider's guide to Victoria since 1997.

Located in a strip mall just off the busy Veteran's Memorial Parkway in Langford, Smoken Bones Cookshack is pretty unassuming from the outside. Inside is a very comfortable family steakhouse, average but for the menu. Smoken Bones features not only ribs, as expected, but also pulled pork and beef brisket -- definitely carnivore friendly. What makes its menu really different is the completely customizable meals: all mains come with your choice of two sides and the list of sides is impressive. Standards like fries, mashed potatoes and coleslaw stack up against roasted squash, candied carrots, butter-fried cabbage and baked beans or you can get a salad.

We pondered the $48 taster platter for two -- beef and pork ribs, beef brisket and pulled pork plus sides -- but decided to get separate meals. Mike opted for pulled pork and beef brisket with sides of macaroni & cheese and roasted squash; I tried the pulled pork sandwich with hand-cut fries and candied carrots. With drinks our meal came to just over $36 and we left full.

Mike raved about the mac & cheese, very creamy and clearly not a box-mix (a rarity in family restaurants these days) and the brisket. I tasted the brisket and agree it was tender and well-seasoned, a little smoky, a little sweet and just a hint of spice. The pulled pork sandwich was good, if a little basic, relying on the flavour of the pork rather than any dressings or veggies to get in the way. The pork was ketchupy-sweet but still very tasty; I ended up eating all the pork and about half the bun because I wanted to eat all my fries. The fries may have been the best thing on my plate, crisp without losing their potato flavour, and dusted with a combination of spices I couldn't completely identify (possibly their dry rub combo?) and that were perfectly complementary to the spicy-sweet meat. The carrots were also cooked perfectly and just sweet enough not to overpower anything else on the plate.

Next time, I would like to try some of the local specials and maybe the chicken, but I will definitely go back. While Smoken Bones Cookshack is out of the way for anyone staying downtown it is well worth a visit. [map]