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421 Rathdowne Street, Carlton, 9347 8171
My score: 3.5/5
Theming a restaurant is dangerous: it’s easy to tip into try-hard kitsch. But Ike’s Rack Shack does it right, recreating a Texan barbecue joint with wry humour and many excursions to the plentiful hunting grounds of eBay. Ike’s is the sub-branded dining room at The Beaufort, a corner pub that’s now a rum-soaked saloon. The same finger-licking food is available throughout but Ike’s has table-service and is decked out as though it’s a veranda spilling onto an astroturfed outdoors. The windows are boarded up, an alligator leers from a canoe and a pool table stands at the back like a squat green challenger. When a restaurant makes you giggle it’s a pretty good sign.
American barbecue is a religion and I’m a heathen but I’ll eat these ribs any old day. The Triple Back Rack Stack showcases the holy trinity of pork, lamb and beef. The pork ribs are slow-smoked over hickory and applewood and glazed with bourbon. They’re sticky and succulent. Beef ribs are bigger so they’re smoked longer, till the meat pulls away in relaxed peppery shreds: amp them up with the mustard-spiked barbecue sauce. The lamb is almost gluey with fat (that’s a compliment) and hot sauces are available if you want western cut-through with your country twang. Melbourne is a broad church so there are ribs to send vegan believers into rapture: they’re made from polenta and quinoa with ‘bones’ of parsnip or cheese.
Sides include jalapeno-jazzed cornbread and fancy veg dishes that would probably get a cowboy beaten up in Kansas City (grilled asparagus with smoked almonds; ancient grains and lemon harissa). Drinks and desserts are delightfully OTT: think doughnuts with Jack Daniels drizzle and tiki-style punch-packing cocktails. Ike’s is a messy, moonshiney mish-mash but it works a treat because the barbecue and the booze are taken seriously but delivered with cheeky, understated ease.
See their website.
More meat:
Meatmaiden, Downstairs, 195 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 9078 7747
The new sibling to Richmond’s Meatmother offers smoked and grilled meats (plus some vegies) and US-inspired sweets. The southern-fried chicken ribs with tequila mayo are the go-to snack.
Meatball and Wine Co, 105 Swan Street, Richmond, 9428 3339
There are branches of this meat-focused restaurant in Richmond, Collingwood and the city. The concept is simple; choose your balls (pork, beef, chicken, fish or veg), a sauce and a base (beans, polenta, pasta and more) and chow down.
The Grosvenor, 10 Brighton Road, St Kilda, 9531 1542
The meat fridge by the front door speaks of a serious approach to flesh. Chef Paul Tyas grills a great steak and the parmas and pizzas aren’t bad either. Ask about dry-aged meat packs to take home.
First published in The Age, October 5, 2014.
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