On our trip to Megamart on Friday, we saw a new restaurant claiming to have the “Best American BBQ ribs in Melbourne”. As you may or may not rememeber, I have previously posted about my rib obsession. Given that the last couple of times I had ribs they were quite ordinary, I was a bit sceptical (the Webster dictionary says sceptical is a variant of skeptical, I always seem to remember it not having the k), but we thought we’d give it a try anyway.

So, on Saturday evening, we made our way to the Howl At The Moon restaurant (where the audience is encouraged to howl) in the Megamart/Officeworks complex… thing. We’re not sure how we missed the restaurant before, since it’s right in the middle of the carpark (apparently it only opened in December 2004, maybe that’s why), probably a case of domestic blindness. It seems we were quite lucky, all the tables in the restaurant were booked but as we entered, a couple was finishing up. The couple behind us, however, weren’t so lucky and were turned away. Good timing, it seems. A couple of minutes being ignored at the bar, and we were seated.

On offer were a half rack, and a full rack of the ribs. When I prompted our waiter as to the size of the full rack (after all, who doesn’t like a big rack?), he spread his hands about a foot apart. “Right”, I thought, “they’ll be about half that size”. So of course, I ordered the full rack. About 10 minutes later Justine’s barramundi arrived alongside my big rack. Normally, when I cook ribs, they take about 4 hours in the oven. Given that the restaurant would have no idea how many are going to be ordered, I doubt they do it that way.’

As it turns out, the waiter was right. The rack was almost a foot wide (28-30cm would be a better guess), as well as being about 25cm deep and 8-10cm high. The only place for the chips to go was underneath, the side salad and sauce were balanced on the side. I started using a knife and fork, since we were at a restaurant. After the second rib, I gave up and used my fingers… much better. The ribs, by the way, appeared to have been boiled first, and then grilled or baked for a short time afterwards. The were quite nice, and very tender. However, boiling removes some of the better flavouring. The sauce made up for it. They are probably the best ribs I’ve had at a restaurant, but I think the ones I make the “proper” way, are nicer.

As for the restaurant and “entertainment” itself. Well, we’re about 10-15 years too young to really “fit in”. The entertainment would probably be liked be our parents, though.

I will post before and after photos of the ribs when I have a chance. Here are the before and after photos of the ribs:

In order to gauge the size, the plate in the background of the first picture is a “normal” sized plate.

Every now and then, I get really “in” to certain types of foods. A couple of years ago, it was Indian curries; more recently (over winter), I was heavily into making Texas-style chili which was delicious and now it Texas-style pork ribs that I’m hankering often.

I’ve only made them a few times, and the recipes have been pretty simple, but they are ending up quite good. The first time I basically boiled them in a roasting pan in the oven which left them extremely tender, but not quite as tasty as you’d hope. Last night’s though, tasted pretty good even though I’d only given them about two hours roasting away in the oven.

Next to a large serving of ’slaw and chips… Hmm I could go some now.