Tag Archives: BBQ

Southern style in Yarraville

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Fat Thursdays by Bourbon Street @ The Commerical Hotel, 238 Whitehall St, Yarraville. Phone: 9689 9354

All your food trucks and fancy cafes are good and well, but we have to say we are happy and delighted to discover the Commerclal Hotel is up and running once again.

It’s only open three days a week but that’s a win when compared to the sad sight we observed whenever we drove past what seemed to be the abandoned Hyde Street institution.

Inside, all is as much as we recall – a scruffy, lived-in pub ambiance of a sort so hard to find these days that the Commercial almost comes across as a museum piece.

And there’s food – but only on Thursdays.

It is being provided by an outfit called Bourbon Street, which operates a lunch delivery service of southern American-style goodies to the Melbourne CBD and inner suburbs on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and to Yarraville, Seddon and Footscray on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

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We like it that they’ve called their dine-in project at the Commercial Fat Thursday; we’re rather less impressed with it being called a pop-up – a term much over-used and misused.

As ever with this sort of food, I keep my expectations and hopes in check.

In this case there seems good cause, because despite the use of the names Bourbon Street and Fat Thursday, the in-house menu is studded with items not usually associated with the famously non-BBQ city that is New Orleans – “cajun brown rice” (huh?), pulled pork and jerk chicken among them.

Of course, this is Melbourne, this is the west and in the end I’m oh-so-glad I don’t get hung up on stuffy notions of authenticity – for what Bennie and I have is a fine meal indeed.

We order a main apiece and then load up on the sides (see menu below).

 

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We rather regret getting our BBQ beef and jerk chicken with the rice rather than in roll form. The rice is OK but rolls would’ve been more in keeping with our dinner’s flavour.

My beef and his chicken are fine.

But it’s the sides that do it for us.

The prices are very cheap – surely the cheapest for this sort of food in Melbourne.

At places around town that serve similar fare, getting the number of sides we split between us would result in a rather hefty bill for what is meant to be blue-collar food.

No such problem at Fat Thursday – it falls comfortably inside the cheap eats realm.

But there’s nothing cheap about the quality and the serves are of a good size.

 

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 Fried okra – whole, freshly battered and yummy.

 

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Potato salad – very nice.

 

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Corn that is just corn but that fits right well with the rest of our meal.

 

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Coleslaw – very nice.

We also get mac ‘n’ cheese, which tastes good but is a little on the dry side, and jalapeno cornbread, which comes in the form of three small muffins – they’re good, studded with corn kernels and have a delicate spice glow going on.

It’s been a cool hoot to sit in the venue of so many previous happy times – all of them pre-CTS – and eat some pretty good southern-style food without feeling in the slightest bit inhibited by the pricing.

 

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Real-deal BBQ

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Fancy Hank’s BBQ, Mercat Cross Hotel, 456 Queen St, Melbourne. Phone: 9329 9229

My first contact with American-style BBQ was in what might appear at first blush to have been a somewhat unusual setting.

It was 1977 and in the city of San Francisco.

My very first American adventure – there were to be many more – found me setting foot first-up in a city that was still in thrall to the hippie era, though things were changing very fast already.

But that era was my very much my reason for being there – and I did indeed see the Grateful Dead at Winterland on that trip, as well as other long-time heroes.

But I was also – in a somewhat perverse way – heavily pickled in the byways and music of earlier eras, both black and white.

Whatever changes it was going through, truth is inner-city San Francisco was still very much a black city.

So it was that one night on the fabled hippie thoroughfare named Haight Street, I had from a black soul food joint ribs, plain white bread and sides.

It was all delicious and memorable.

Several months later, while staying with a fellow music buff in Austin, Texas, I was similarly treated to delights from an even more funky BBQ shack.

All subsequent visits to the US were very much focused on New Orleans and South Louisiana.

Heaps of great food there, of course, but precious little BBQ. And what I did find was, well, sort of wishy-washy.

Though a visit to this legendary Texas joint was certainly a righteous education in just how hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves BBQ should be.

 

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My life in Melbourne has ever since been punctuated by repeated disappointment over efforts to provide restaurant food of both the BBQ and New Orleans/South Louisiana varieties.

Most readers will know that in terms of both, that situation has changed in Melbourne the past year or so.

But suspicions linger.

Most of this new wave of American food I’ve seen online, read about or tried first-hand seems too polite and simply not lusty and blue-collar enough.

We love very much the meats now being provided by Third Wave, but with its Russian background the sides there mean they operating in their own space.

Cost is another factor for Melbourne folks attempting to present great BBQ.

Coking these meats takes time, the cuts of meat required are very specific – and the ribs, in particular, end up being very pricey indeed.

But on the basis of our mid-week visit to Fancy Hank’s, Bennie and I are prepared to call it – in spirit, flavour, meaty overkill and no-fuss attitude, this is beaut BBQ.

We love that it’s cash-only and ordering is done at the servery after scanning the menu above.

We love that the food is served on plastic trays and brown paper, and eaten at unadorned trestle tables.

 

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A previous solo visit by myself helps us get maximum bang for our bucks.

One tray for both of us to share – the serves of potato salad ($5), coleslaw ($5) and pickled cucumber ($2) and okra ($2) do the pair of us fine.

No ordering of ribs – they’re fabbo, but why pay for bones we’re not going to eat?

So in addition to the above sides and pickles, we get 200 grams of brisket ($12), 200 grams of pulled pork ($12) and a beef link ($9).

It’s all terrific and we make short work of our feast.

The brisket is king – smoky, charred, lean and fantastic, even without the coffee/molasses house-made sauce that’s been recommended to us.

The pork doesn’t impress quite as much, but liberal doses of another, more orthodox house-made sauce fixes it right up.

The beef link is densely packed and very unlike any of the sort of smoked sausages we’re used to having around Melbourne. Bennie likes it more than his dad.

The slaw is crunchy and easy to chomp down, though more coarsely chopped than you’d find in most American BBQ outfits.

The potato salad is superb, eggy and very much in the BBQ tradition.

The pickles are fine – though perhaps high turnover means the cucumber is only lightly pickled.

Our meal has clocked in at just under $50 – which we consider just right considering the quality of food.

The only thing we regret not adding is a serve of the awesome-looking “burnt end beans” ($4) we see another customer being served.

We love the no-frills BBQ attitude being displayed here.

Given the quality, pricing and proximity to the west, we can see visits to Fancy Hank’s BBQ becoming a somewhat regular happening, man.

And for less serious, more impromptu meals, we reckon the sandwiches ($15, $10) with a single serve of salad may well be the go, too.

 

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‘Facilitating’ a blogger soiree …

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Looking back on the first Consider The Sauce post and those that soon followed evokes a feeling of simplicity and perhaps even innocence.

It all seemed so simple – got out, have a feed somewhere or do some shopping, take photographs, go home, write about it.

Bingo!

Instant food blog!

We still do a lot of that, of course. Indeed, it remains the very core activity of this site.

But as we approach the end of our third year in operation, much has changed.

It’s been a gloriously enjoyable learning curve, with mis-steps and challenges, and many friends made in the process.

Central to that learning curve is that realising while the website itself remains the key element of what Consider The Sauce is about, there is a lot more to being a (hopefully) successful food blogger and running a successful food blog.

Along the way, I have sometimes attempted to tap into the wealth of experience and wisdom of blogging pioneers.

But as previously noted, more often than not I find doing so a particularly tiresome exercise, no matter how much I would like some or a lot of that good stuff to rub off on me.

The problem seems to be that no matter where a famed blogger starts his or her journey – be it as a specialist in stamp collecting or vintage horse shoes or whatever – once they become successful, what drives them on is the process itself. And that can be mighty boring, no matter how righteous the advice is.

So I am very grateful to Cheryl Lin of the blog BusinessChic for an excellent tip – the book microDOMINATION by PR warrior Trevor Young.

I’m only halfway through it. And, yes, it does have its fair share of self-help-style feelgood stories.

But it’s reverberating with me in many ways.

It’s been a pleasant surprise to discover that several of the initiatives taken – or at least attempted – by Consider The Sauce are very much part of Young’s broader aim of how to become what he calls a “micro maven” and using a blog to create a personal “brand”.

For example:

  • Not passively accepting that friends and fellow bloggers who leave comments on CTS must remain mere electronic cyber buddies, and seeking instead to meet face to face and see what happens from there.
  • Running, in conjunction with Ms Baklover and her Footscray Food Blog, a picnic late last year. The repeat event, coming this spring, will likewise be part and parcel of the broader picture of running a food blog. As will a special event, yet to be announced, that will be part of the picnic.
  • I have also learned that doing an occasional post about topics such as moving house or a bingle with a neighbour’s car is not only perfectly fine but helps give context to the ongoing CTS narrative.
  • A soon-to-be-announced CTS benefit/fundraiser being organised with wonderful and generous support from a local business and the funds raised from which will go to a very fine local organisation.

Another such event in the life of CTS occurred this week with a gathering of bloggers and a non-blogging likely lad at a Port Melbourne restaurant.

With CTS having already written about Third Wave Cafe twice, Greg from that establishment had contacted me.

His problem and challenge was that his business was in the process of transforming and extending itself from a place highly regarded for its lunchtime fare, including Russian specialties and fine coffee, to one offering American-style BBQ at night.

He and his team had invested considerable time and money into the project, and were eager to get the word out and help broaden and correct pre-conceptions in the wider community about what Third Wave Cafe has to offer.

Could I help?

And so, on the basis that Bennie and I enjoyed the food being offered – and boy oh boy, did we ever – Greg and I shook hands on a project that would see me organise a list of food bloggers and then invite them to try out the Third Wave BBQ goodies for themselves on the simple understanding they would write a story about their experiences.

Greg fully understood that neither he nor I would have any say whatsoever in what the invitees subsequently wrote.

And, yes, I would be paid what both Greg and I agreed, easily and quickly, was a fair amount for my efforts.

The list I configured was a mixture of firm and very good friends, bloggers with whom I had had at least some personal contact and others for whom I had high regard.

In all cases, the people involved were of what I considered to be of the highest integrity – no “floggers” or egomaniacs allowed or wanted!

In the end, about half of the invitees responded in a positive fashion, and the table of five – including myself – turned out to be just the right size for a superbly enjoyable evening.

Those who attended were: Nat Stockley, a non-blogger (so far …) widely known for his entertaining and excellent reviews on Urbanspoon; Eve from Conversation With Jenny; Catty from Fresh Bread; and Bryan from Let’s Get Fat Together.

This gang had a quite varied amount of previous experience with this style of food, but everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, which like that of Bennie and myself were a broad sampling of the Third Wave Cafe BBQ line-up.

As the meal wound down, Greg emerged from the kitchen to see how we’d gone and tell us about how his Russian-menu cafe had taken such a bold and surprising leap into new territory.

Rather delightfully, for two of the participants this was a debut occasion to be sharing a table with full-on likeminded souls and in a situation in which EVERYONE involved was using a camera.

There was much telling of tales and swapping of notes; much laughter, too.

On that basis alone, I am happy to judge the night a success.

Of course, I suspect that will mean very little to Greg and his team, for whom this was a straight-out business proposition.

But then again, who knows where such connections may lead? That, too, is part of blogging.

I gave some serious thought to the ethical ramifications of accepting paid work of this type from a restaurant.

And I’m sure there are those for whom taking this step will forever have tainted me in some way.

But I’m entirely comfortable with the whole process.

Greg had a need that I met with honest endeavour. The dinner invitees didn’t seem to think it off or otherwise noteworthy that I was getting paid for pulling it all together.

Or not so they told me, anyway. Indeed and instead, they seemed more than happy to be involved.

However, this event was the result of a confluence of several particular circumstances – so I’d be surprised if similar projects eventuated in the future.

Another topic covered in Trevor Young’s book microDOMINATION is the importance for bloggers of complete transparency at all times – which, of course, is one of the reasons for writing this post!

You can read Catty’s review here and Eve’s review here.

 

Killer BBQ in Port Melbourne

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Third Wave Cafe, 189 Rouse St, Port Melbourne. Phone: 9676 2399

There are least a couple of reasons Consider The Sauce is not making merry with the growth of American-style BBQ availability in Melbourne.

One is geography.

While we’re not averse to crossing the Maribyrnong for a good feed, planning to do so contradicts our general ethos.

That’s an ethos that routinely, weekly sees us heading out to eat, getting to the end of the street and then deciding whether to turn left or right.

More often than not, at the time we leave home we have no idea where we’ll be eating.

Another factor is cost, although it does seem many of Melbourne’s BBQ offerings try to beat the cost pain by pitching themselves as bar or snack food.

But that leads to another, related factor.

For me, BBQ is about great slabs of meat, flavours going ballistic, lusty sides and generally pigging out.

“Pulled pork sliders” – shredded pork on bread rolls – just don’t impress me that much.

So I was intrigued to get an email from Greg from Port Melbourne’s Third Wave Café.

His establishment has featured twice at Consider The Sauce – see stories here and here.

The café has won friends for its dedication to great coffee and a menu that includes many solid dishes of the Russian persuasion.

But those were not what Greg wished to discuss with me – his focus was very much on Third Wave’s new baby, its comprehensive BBQ menu.

So far only available on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, the new menu sees Third Wave transforming from daytime lunch and coffee spot to night-time restaurant.

That’s quite a change of direction.

And it’s a significant investment of time and money by Greg and his team, one on which the clock is ticking – Greg needs a word of mouth buzz and customers coming through those night-time doors, and quickly.

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When I meet Greg, a marketing man before his move into the hospitality industry, he tells me that in some way he wishes the internet – and food bloggers – had never been invented.

He reckons it would make life easier – or at least simpler.

But he also reckons that in a situation that finds Third Wave moving in a whole new direction, one that involves a sense of urgency in which the place’s Facebook page and established customers are unlikely to be adequate for the promotional cause, bloggers are his best bet.

He knows it’s a gamble, and that even should he get bloggers through the door, there’s no guarantee they’ll like the new food, let alone feel inspired to wax lyrical about it.

But he has profound faith in his product.

On that basis, would Bennie and I like to try the Third Wave BBQ goodies on a complementary basis?

And if that goes well, would I entertain the idea of helping organise a gathering of like-minded bloggers to do likewise?

 Sure, we’re up for that!

(Full disclosure below.)

As Bennie and I head for Port Melbourne, I’m hopeful but try to keep expectations in check.

Even before Melbourne’s current BBQ phase, my experience of ribs and the like in Melbourne has been one of abject mediocrity.

But, on the other hand, this will be Bennie’s first taste of this food genre – and I’m confident that if it’s any good at all, he’ll love it to pieces.

At the heart of the Third Wave BBQ menu are five meat offerings, one of fish and seven sides.

With the exception of the pork ribs, the small and large servings of which go for $28 and $53 respectively, the meats clock in at about $16-$19 and $29-$36. The sides range from $7 to $15.

Keep in mind, when looking at the pictures that accompany this story, that Bennie and I were served sample dishes of all the meat/fish offerings and four of the sides in order to have us experience a broad taste of the new menu.

But based on the half-dozen other occupied tables around us, the small serves are very substantial indeed. A half-serve and a side per person should be plenty and cost about $40.

That’s not exactly cheap eats territory, but it seems fine if it entails eating lusty BBQ in a glorious over-the-top fashion that I have never before found in Melbourne.

And as we’re about to discover, it does just that superbly.

Our first look and taste of the new menu comes with Greg introducing the three house-made sauces.

One with apple, one with bourbon, they’re of differing piquancy and spiciness and all delicious.

We proceed to enjoy all of them throughout the course of our meal.

Once the dust settles, the sauces would seem to offer ideal prospects for another future Third Wave commercial enterprise. If I was Greg, I’d already be having the labels designed.

But as he told me at our initial meeting, for him sauces should be the mere capping off of great meats smoked and cooked most excellently.

The place’s BBQ has those in abundance.

Let’s put it simply – the Third Wave BBQ dishes are without doubt the very best I have experienced in Melbourne and right up there with the greatest BBQ offerings I have previously eaten in the US.

Yes, really, that good.

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We start with the salmon and chicken.

(For full details of the smoking and cooking of each dish, please refer to the menu below.)

Bennie loves the salmon, but I find it hard to get excited about it. Maybe that’s down to a Kiwi upbringing that involved almost weekly eating of smoke fish.

The chicken impresses me a whole lot more with its great flavour and tenderness.

Next up are pork and beef ribs (top picture).

Oh my – these are incredible!

The pork ribs are fall-apart tender and produce great, delicious mouthfuls of pure delight.

The beef ribs are quite different but just as good. The staff have nicknamed them “dinosaur ribs”, such are the size of rib bones involved.

At a nearby table, a diminutive elderly gent is doing battle with a half-serve of these beef ribs. In an arm wrestle between punter and meat, we’d hesitate to nominate a winner.

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By comparison with both sets of ribs, the beef brisket looks rather demure.

Yet it, too, is amazing – so tender, juicy and delicately smoked. So much so, in fact, that I enjoy it without the addition of any of the sauces.

As with the beef ribs, the brisket is served with a creamy horseradish sauce. It’s fine, but we do prefer the tangy BBQ brews!

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By this time, Bennie and I are entering the realms of meat fatigue.

Perhaps that’s why the lamb shoulder doesn’t charm us quite as much as the more full-on meats that precede it.

And maybe, too, that’s down to the same Kiwi upbringing that saw lamb as at least a weekly affair.

It’s nice, but I can’t help but wonder whether lamb and smoking belong together. The house-made mint sauce is an oily number but supremely flavoursome.

But Greg tells us that some Australians simply can’t go past lamb.

For sides we have confit kippfler potatoes, glazed mushrooms, crispy coleslaw and pancetta peas.

They’re all fine, but apart from the juicy, rough-cut slaw, they are not your usual accompaniments to American-style BBQ.

We’re cool with that – we’re not about to start playing the purist game here.

In terms of sides, Third Wave is playing to its European/Russian strengths.

Besides, much as regular BBQ sides can very enjoyable, all too often they’re not that well done.

As we’d driven over the bridge to Port Melbourne, Bennie had asked what would become of the planned blogger do if we reckoned the food was no good.

The answer is, not a lot.

But on the basis of a terrific meal, I’m excited and happy to proceed.

Until June 6, Third Wave Cafe is offering a Thursday night special – buy any food item an get another free.

The Third Wave Cafe website is here.

Our meal at Third Wave Cafe was provided without charge by the owners in return for a story on Consider The Sauce. The food we were served was chosen by the staff in order to have us experience most of their new BBQ menu. Third Wave Cafe has not been given any editorial control of this post. Kenny has been engaged by Third Wave Cafe to help organise a blogger tasting gathering.

 

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Digging For Fire BBQ

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Digging For Fire BBQ, Footscray Park. Phone: 0412 718 797

I am not the first ever public customer of the Digging For Fire BBQ food truck.

Nor am I the second.

Nope, those honours go to Carly and Rita.

But that’s OK – I’ll take third place with glee.

Remember when the western suburbs were perpetual bridesmaids in the food truck stakes?

Happily, those days are a fading memory, with the Digging crew – Dave and “Damo” – even choosing Footscray to make their public, “streetside” debut.

The lads are having something of a slow start, so I’ll have to check out the “smoked chilli and cinnamon chicken wings, hot sauce” on another occasion.

And other occasions there are sure to be based on my lovely Sunday lunch.

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Brand new business, inaugural day of operation, first batch of chips – a bit of a gamble I’d normally surmise.

But these “crunchy thick cut chips” ($4) are super. They’re crunchy for sure and delicious dipped in the creamy smooth aioli.

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My “Mary Had A Little Lamb Roll ($8) is good, too.

There’s heaps of meat, and it all works nicely with the various bits and pieces, including turshi, tomato, pomegranate and tahini.

As you’d expect, this comes across as a close relative of pita-wrapped kebab.

Check out what the Digging For Fire BBQ team have by way of menu ambitions at their website here.

But as is the way with these things, Facebook or Twitter is the best way of nailing their location on any given day. Or check out Where The Truck At.

Such is the effectiveness of the food truck/social media dynamic, that as I leave a steady stream of customers is turning up to try out this new addition to Melbourne’s food truck fleet.

 

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New York Minute update …

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New York Minute, 491 Mount Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9043 1838

Just a couple of weeks after first visiting New York Minute, word is out that the full menu line-up is of offer.

It’s time to return to check out their list of American-style sandwiches.

Saturday lunchtime becomes a cheery social occasion, with yours truly joined by foodie-all-over-town Nat Stockley, Ms Baklover of Footscray Food Blog and her girls.

My Brisket On A Roll makes a nice lunch, but it’s not something I’ll order again.

The cold beef is OK and accompanied by a Picalilli-style pickle; the advertised cheese seems to have made no appearance.

The chips are something else again – and a big step up from that first visit, going from satisfactory to near-sensational.

They’re hot, crispy but tender inside – it’s a good thing Ms Baklover relents and orders a big bowl for her brood, or we could’ve had a riot on our hands.

She and Nat both order the Pulled Pork Roll with “creamy coleslaw and smoky BBQ sauce” (top photo).

Their sandwiches look damn fine to me and I’m envious.

But thy both mention a sweetness in the sauce that becomes tiresome as their meals unfold.

The girls share the Philly Cheese Steak, which I foolishly don’t nail with a usable photograph.

Somewhat to my surprise, as we are organising our departure, Ms Baklover opines that it has been the best of the lot; so that’ll be my lot next time out.

I suspect New York Minute may struggle to impress ardent and picky fans of such American-style sandwiches.

But I’m not complaining after splitting while having paid a mere $14 for sandwich, terrific chips and a a full-size can of that Coca Cola stuff.

See earlier story and menu here.

New York Minute on Urbanspoon

New York Minute

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New York Minute, 491 Mount Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9043 1838

Enjoying lunch at New York Minute is especially enjoyable, as only a week previously I’d ruminated on the fickle nature of this stretch of Mount Alexander Rd.

So it’s nice to welcome a newcomer.

Having been tipped off about this place – Hi, Nat! – and scoping out its website, I lose no time in getting up there.

Because the New York Minute menu is so extremely well thought out – nothing over $8, very succinct but with several bases covered – and the fact it’s open breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, it’s hard to see it becoming anything but a popular fixture.

It’s a small place, but the brown-toned fit-out is cool and there’s outdoor seating.

Unfortunately, as the place has been open only a few weeks, some of the sexier menu items are yet to eventuate – specifically the $8 Philly Cheese Steak, Pulled Pork Roll and Brisket On A Roll.

The super friendly staff assure they’ll be up and running in  a couple of weeks, but in the meantime I’m happy to make do with what’s available.

A super homely and rich minestrone ($5) looks awesome, but I order the grilled chicken burger ($8) with a side of chips ($3) and a soft drink ($2.50 for a 200ml can).

The chips are hot, delicious, just crunchy enough and just plentiful enough to accompany a burger.

The chicken meat is tender and juicy, but lacking a little in the flavour department.

Happily, the same can’t be said for the cheese.

I’ve actually given up ordering cheese with any sort of burgers, as almost always it seems doing so is for form’s sake alone. How often can you actually taste the cheese?

That ain’t the case here – the thickish slice of gooey, grilled Swiss is really good.

And flavoursome!

The burger is completed with some good spinach leaves, tomato and chilli mayo.

I linger long enough to enjoy a beautiful cafe latte ($3).

Even with a slightly parsimonious soft drink serve, my lovely lunch is a brilliant steal at $16.50.

And I’m excited about returning to check out the BBQ items …

New York Minute on Urbanspoon

Big Boy BBQ

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Big Boy BBQ, 764 Glenhuntly Rd, Caulfield South. Phone: 9523 7410

Had ribs on Haight St in San Francisco on my first visit – 1977 – to the US.

Have eaten at famous Kreuz’s near San Antonio – a spectacular temple to the carnivore ethos.

Have had random and very sporadic contact with BBQ traditions, food and culture.

But can in no way claim any kind of expertise despite being a life-long Americanophile.

That’s simply because the area of the US I subsequently came to favour with my time and money – New Orleans and South Louisiana – is bereft of any kind of BBQ tradition at all. I mean … there’s nothing.

Oh, OK there’s a few places.

But really, the various inter-twined food traditions of the creole, Italian, cajun and French varieties seem to have left no room at all for a BBQ equivalent.

That’s a cause of regret for some New Orleanians I have known, particularly those not natives – as is the case with so many Crescent City residents.

There are, of course, upsides to living in New Orleans – culinary and otherwise.

But I digress …

As with attempts at New Orleans and South Louisiana food in Melbourne, my experience here with BBQ in general and ribs in particular has not been joyful.

Still, I’m optimistic about a first visit to Big Boy BBQ – the word, actually many words, are good.

The joint is done out in modern diner style – stools at the front, comfy booths at the back.

Unfortunately, this is a mid-week lunch, so neither budget nor tummy stretch to ribs, which range from $25 for a half rack up to $55 for the full version. Our pal Nat rates them, so I’ll be back soonish I suspect to gnaw galore with Bennie.

My order:

Regular onion strings – $4.95.

Regular coleslaw – $3.95.

Sandwich … The Carolina (pulled pork scotch fillet with coleslaw and BBQ sauce, $9.90).

I’m awful confused by the onion strings – no onion flavour, no sweetness. They taste like fries.

Whoops … they ARE fries. The Big Boy serving me later apologises, promising me a free serve of the onion jobbies next visit. He says he’ll even put my name in his book. I wonder if it’s called The Balls-Up Book?

The fries are OK, but have been heavily doused with some sort of supercharged variant of chicken salt.

The coleslaw is perfect, crunchy yet not too much so, tangy, tasty and all-round brilliant.

It’s made, I suspect and later learn, using the European method of letting the cabbage and carrot sit for a good, long while in a whole lot of salt, sugar and vinegar. Rinsed, it is then dressed in more modest amounts of vinegar, oil, salt, pepper.

A lesson there, I reckon, for a very many charcoal chicken shops.

My sandwich is of modest proportions for the price.

But the meat is real fine – in strands as it falls apart and with good sauce and some more of that slaw.

Serious appetites could do some serious financial damage here, but as a treat and for food that has a sense of authentic BBQ about it, it’s pretty cool.

As well, there are combo deals that make a lot of sense.

The Little Boy combo ($49), for instance, has pulled lamb shoulder, saucy beef brisket and a half-rack of lamb ribs with two regular sides.

The Big Boy BBQ website is here.

Big Boy BBQ on Urbanspoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSbRs2TjVKs