A Disappointment - Skylight Inn, Ayden NC

Address - 4618 Lee St., Ayden NC
Style - Counter service, sit down restaurant

After long last, I finally got to try out a long time legend in eastern NC barbecue, the Skylight Inn. The building is a landmark on the old highway 11 south of town. The gravle parking lot was packed with cars, pickup trucks and vans at lunch.

The menu is pretty simple. Barbecue comes in a sandwich or three sizes of trays, small, medium and large. The tray comes with cole slaw in a separate tray and a slice of fried cornbread on top.

The cole slaw was pretty ordinary. The cornbread was heavy with oil. It could have used a bit more drain time. The parts that were not soaked with oil were not bad. The pork tasted average, but was overwhelmed by pieces of rubbery cartilage throughout the meat. I am used to a bit or two due to errors in the chop, but not in every bite. I don't think these were the crackling's that are normally in the Skylight barbecue, but actual bits of bone and cartilage from improper preparation.

According to Kent Craig, Pete Jones passed away this year. This food was served under the new owner. Perhaps it will improve in time.