The Ferret, formerly The Mad Ferret, is a Preston institution for music lovers. After being taken over by the team behind The Continental, it has been relaunched with a new image, lost the “Mad”, and added an American style low and slow BBQ menu. I’ve made a few visits to check the food out.

On my first visit, the sliders caught my eye. I love sliders, a row of three delicious mini burgers or sandwiches for me to devour. I went for the BBQ Brisket Sliders with the Southern Folk Mac’n’Cheese.

Just the one slider, then? At the same price for a full size burger? Something doesn’t add up here… The meat in the slider was tasty, and the BBQ sauce didn’t overpower it, despite being slathered in it. The bun however was completely the wrong texture, sliders should come in a very soft brioche roll, rather than a slightly crusty small bap. The mac’n’cheese tasted good at first, but below the crispy disc of molten cheese on top, it just tasted of a floury white sauce.

On a return visit, I tried the Baby Back Ribs, a good meaty taste, though the meat could have been more tender.

The chunky Sweet Potato Fries were delicious, sweet and generous, and the flavour popped with the light sprinkling of salt.

My friend had the hot wings, smothered in the Go Home, You’re Drunk hot sauce, supposedly the hottest option, however these were so mild and spiceless, I was left wondering if they had used the wrong sauce.

She also tried the mac’n’cheese, which was different from the last time, with not as crunchy a disc of cheese on top & a more cheesy, if still floury sauce.

The “Bare Back” smoked dog had a strong smoky flavour, and was a great quality dog, but the crusty roll was the wrong texture, again.

On my latest visit, my friend tried the Yard Bird spiced chicken burger, a generous chicken thigh patty which came in a brioche roll, which soaked up the juices brilliantly.

I had the John Doe, a 6oz minced steak patty with Swiss cheese. A good quality burger, though a bit dry in the middle, perhaps they could make the patty a bit thinner, and have it cover the brioche roll fully? Also the Spicy Beans had no layers of spice to it, just the taste of chilli powder and cumin, not all that pleasant to eat.

Wanting to give the hot wings a fair crack of the whip, assuming previously the wrong sauce had been put on the wings, we shared a portion of the hot wings with the Feral sauce on it, the third spiciest. These were just as mild, and sickly sweet, too sweet for  me to be able to finish half a portion. Please don’t be scared to ramp up the spice!

The menu at The Ferret is a bit hit and miss, the biggest hitter being that fantastic pickled coleslaw, which cuts through the rich meats, and the biggest miss for me being the chef’s timidity with hot sauce. It’s well worth a try, and hopefully these teething problems will soon be rectified.

For more on The Ferret, visit: http://thetwohats.co.uk/?p=4452

For more food reviews in the northwest & further afield, visit Kris’ blog: http://grubnoshscran.wordpress.com/