Bubba’s proprietor Kenneth Walker has built a reputation on his pulled pork sandwiches since he started “smoking the good stuff” in 2006, but now he’s opening up the playing field by inviting Shanghai residents to prove their barbeque chops. Bubba’s Fourth Annual ‘Que and Brew Festival is adding the Inaugural Barbeque Cook-off this year on 14 May at the InterContinental Expo. In the lead-up to the event, we sized up the local competition with a pulled pork taste test.

Boxing Cat Brewery

Boxing Cat incorporates its staple tipple into its barbecue sauce – a slightly spicy vinegary beer-filled concoction that smothers the pork. Loaded up on a sub-like calzone bun, the whole saucy mess gets a little soggy, but that makes the finger-licking even more fun.

RMB 75. Sinan Mansions Location: Unit 26A 519-521 Fuxing Zhong Lu. Tel: 6426 0360. Yongfu Location: 82 Fuxing Xi Lu, near Yongfu Lu. Tel: 6431 2091. Web: www.boxingcatbrewery.com

Bubba’s Texas Style Bar-B-Que & Salon

Cooked low and slow over indirect heat for 12 hours, Bubba’s pulled pork is smoked to a melt-in-your-mouth pink. Served atop a hamburger bun, just as God intended, it’s lightly sauced leaving the finishing touches up to you: mustard- or vinegar-base sauce?

RMB 85, RMB 90 with coleslaw. Expo Village Location: Suite 101, 1101 Xueye Lu. Tel: 2206 0338. Hongqiao Location: 2262 Hongqiao Lu, near Jianhe Lu. Tel: 6242 2612. Web: www.bubbasasia.com

City Deli

Local deliveryfavourite City Deli’s version strayed far from its Southern roots. The pulled pork is encased in a chewy French baguette, overwhelming the ideal bread-to-meat ratio. City Deli’s entrant was good in its own right, but it ain’t your maw-maw’s pulled pork.

RMB 52, including delivery. Tel: 6288 3912. Web: www.citydeli.cn

Voce

This new café boasts one of the quietest terraces in town, but their pulled pork needs work. Bread choices ranged from ciabatta to baguette with nary a bun in sight. Their sauce was tangy, but the coleslaw on top was soupy with mayo; nonetheless, a solid effort for a Chinese-owned joint.

RMB 42. 1F, 570 Yongjia Lu, near Yueyang Lu. Tel: 150 2115 5372

Winner: Bubba’s

Boxing Cat put up a good fight, but you just can’t mess with Texas. Bubba’s smokers are in a class unto themselves. Walker continues his reign as the king of Shanghai barbeque, but we look forward to seeing what the competition brings come 14 May.