I love fried chicken, it just makes my heart sing with joy! There’s really nothing like that anticipation of the first bite through crispy skin to the juicy chicken meat! And really nowhere does southern fried chicken as well as Belle’s in Melbourne (150 Gertrude St, Fitzroy to be exact) so I was ecstatic when they announced they were setting up shop in Barangaroo to do a popup until August 2016 while they scouted for a permanent location in Sydney.

The man himself, Morgan McGlone!

Our group of hungries decided we’d swing by after work on a Friday to get our fried chicken on, but let me tell you right now- be prepared to wait if you arrive anywhere near rush hour! The kitchen was pretty smashed and the system of calling out numbers meant we had to stand around in the immediate vicinity for an hour for fear of losing our order to someone else.

But then finally our number was called and we eagerly pushed forward to claim our bounty. There’s a choice of Wings, Drumsticks, Tenders and Mushrooms and then you pick your sauce heat level which starts from Southern (original), Medium, Hot, Really Hot and Really F**kin Hot. All meats arrive on a slice of white bread to soak up the grease, a tumble of pickle slices and come with a choice of 1 side- old bay fries, coleslaw, mixed pickles or Almost Arnold’s beans.

Half the group are not into burning off our tastebuds so we opted to share everything and get half/half starting with the Drumsticks in Southern style ($16) with a side of crinkle cut fries. The chicken was as amazing as it was in Melbs, that crispy skin oh boy oh boy why is deep fried chicken skin so good but so bad?! Also, mad shout outs to the the crinkle cut chips, they were perfect with an incredibly fluffy inside and crisp edges.

Wings in Southern style ($16) get the thumbs up too but I wasn’t too keen on the Almost Arnold’s Beans. Yes they provide some relief from the richness of the meal but our serving of beans were on the limp side and I instead preferred the refreshing crunch of coleslaw.

The boys loved the Wings in medium heat ($16), the fiery powder coating everything it came into contact with. I fell head over heels in love with the tangy Belle’s blue cheese dressing and dunked everything into it.

Belle’s chicken ribs ($13) sits under the Snacks section, we’re not sure why but they are pretty addictive, covered in a sticky peach bbq sauce with a sprinkle of scallions and sesame seeds

And last but not least, the Mushrooms ($13). They are a revelation, never before have I had a mushroom that was so fricken juicy and tasty! The portobello mushrooms were crumbed (I think in cornmeal?) and deep fried until golden and absolutely amazing. I may have forgone a piece of chicken in exchange for a mushroom, it was that incredible!

Thank you Belle’s for coming to Sydney! I foresee many a meal sitting by the water and eating delicious fried chicken! Oh and for those of you who are bad at directions- walk along King St Wharf past all the restaurants and bars, the Wulugul Pop Up is literally 2 meters from Bungalow 8!

Belles Hot Chicken
Wulugul Pop Up,
Wulugul Walk,
Barangaroo South, Sydney

Trading hours:
Mon – Thurs: 11am – 10pm
Fri – Sat: 11am – 11pm
Sun: 11am – 6pm

I read a lot of food blogs- from baking to cooking, restaurant or product review blogs and all those in between. I love how each blogger has a different story, a different viewpoint to something that would be in traditional print media. My list of Food Blogs in Sydney has grown and changed over the years so it’s always nice to put a face to a name which is why Helen and I love organising the annual Sydney Food Bloggers Xmas Party, now in its 7th year!

Our venue this year was at the amazing Studio Neon (2/136 Raglan St, Redfern) because I didn’t want to have worry about another scorcher of a day! If you’re looking for a funky venue, Studio Neon is definitely it! It’s an amazing space with heaps of chairs and natural lighting and mad props to Aaron who took great care of us on the day.

I was super impressed with all the amazing food everyone brought, there was: fragrant lemper, blinis, green tea madeleines, banana bread, pb & cacao bliss balls, chips & dip, cinnamon scrolls, chocolate pockysticks, berrymisu, chicken & tofu rice paper rolls, bread, cheese, chocolate cake…

The cutest ginger and honeycomb burger cookies from Oh Burger Me!

Raff’s miso butterscotch macarons disappeared in literally 8 seconds.

Teehee fairy bread cake!

Alana made Kitchen By Mike’s amazing baked ricotta with preserved lemon salsa that I legit just could not stop eating.

YASSSS EL JANNAH!!! Dat chicken and garlic sauce just makes my soul so happy!

Brookies! They’re like a cross between brownies and a cookie!

Other end of the table there was a whole mega platter filled with cheeses, cold cuts, diy peking duck pancakes, diy tacos, miso beef bao sliders, apple pie, spinach & cheese puffs, pork crackles, brownies, biscuits and chips galore!

Everyone can begin eating once I break this beautiful looking centrepiece… Haha yep this is a Smash Cake which was very generously given to us by the lovely Claudia, follow her on Instagram here!

Oh man it was so much fun using the rolling pin to thwack that smash cake!

And then it was onto Evil Secret Santa time! I may have snuck away to take some pics of people heh heh oh hai Sarah 😛

Aaaand group photo of our 66 bloggers, thanks Simon Food Favourites! Thank you to everyone who came, I had an incredible time meeting everyone and having a chat!

A Little Bit of Tang | Adobo Down Under | Alana Bread | Angie Lives To Eat (and Cook) | Brunch Bandits | Burn My Mouth | Chew Your Chow | ChocolateSuze | Citrus and Candy | Cook Suck | Droolworthy World | Eat Your Tea Cup | Eating With your Eyes | Fight the Craving | Fill My Tummy | Food Is All | Food is Our Religion | From Across the Kitchen Table | Grab Your Fork | iFat Food Chronicles | I’m Still Hungry | Irene’s Getting Fat | It’s Cake Time | Judy’s Blog | Khismosa | Kningja Eats | Maddie Loves Food | Memoirs of a Foodie | Milkteaxx | Mr and Mrs Chopsticks | Ms Jay Emm | My Kitchen Stories | Nessy Eater | Newlyfeds | Oh Burger Me | Penguin Says Feed Me | Polyphagia | Ramen Raff | Sarah vs Carbs | Simon Food Favourites | Small But Hungry | Spoon, Fork and Chopsticks | The Chronicles of Hilda | The Economic Foodie | The Food Diary | The Hungry Plum | The Perks of Being a Food Blogger | The Walking Advertisement | Two Happy Bellies | Wait, the Camera Eats First | What Em Did | When the World Stops Spinning | Where’s My Sauce

Edit: Moved to Emu Plains

So last week after my wrapup of barbecues in Austin, Texas, I was moping all week knowing it’d be a while before I was returning to the states and would have no way to satisfy my brisket loving soul. And then Bovine & Swine Barbecue opened and I knew it was a sign from above!

Bovine & Swine Barbecue opened last week with Wes Griffiths (hillbillycue) and Anton Hughes (texinvoice) – former pit masters from Vic’s Meat Market – along with Tim Chillingworth. Although it’s barely been open for a few days, the place is already pumping when we arrive at 6pm. It’s been a massive hit already with locals, bringing in their family to eat-in or ordering their barbecue takeaway.

The menu is short and sweet- you can order your meats by the 100g ($9), a platter for one ($35) or two ($60), or a sandwich ($14). They’re also licensed so a can of Tailgate or Pabst Blue Ribbon is all you need for memories of drinking beer in the line for a good barbecue.

All the meats are sliced to order and if you’re lucky you’ll get slipped a tidbit to munch on while your food is being assembled 😀

Hi guys!

I ordered the Meat Platter for Two ($60) which comes with your choice of 3 meats (I chose the brisket, beef rib and the chopped pork) and sides. Aaand because I was feeling ambitious I also got 100g of the pulled lamb ($9) and 100g of the chicken ($9).

Let’s start with the brisket. Smoke ring? Check. Juicy, tender meat? Check. Layer of bark? Check. Delicious? HELL YES!

The brisket here is the stuff of dreams I tell ya! That smokiness, that flavour, that happiness and all is right with the world. The beautiful striations of fat throughout the meat was like a flavour explosion and everything and everyone just melted away and all I could think of was how much more of the brisket I could steal from Noods before he realised what I was doing…

The special of the day was pulled lamb and it was lick your lips spectacular with caramelised edges, fattylicious nubbins and juicy meat.

The chopped pork is equally incredible, and much better than the bland pulled pork you can get at any pub these days.

The chicken was lean and not as juicy but woah the smoky flavour was the bomb! I just wanted to bury my face into the chicken and inhale it so it would be ingrained into every fibre of my being.

Last but not least is the beef short rib. Woah nelly my heart is bursting with happiness just thinking about that rib! The meat was unctuously soft with a layer of creamy meat hiding under that perfect layer of bark. The brisket and this beef rib would definitely be chosen for my last supper.

And then there was the sides which were pretty generous serving sizes! The mac & cheese is creamy, cheesy and perfect; the coleslaw gave us relief when we started to get the meat sweats and cut through all the protein and fat we’d consumed and the beans were strangely super comforting. Oh and not forgetting the house made pickles and a whole pile of potato crisps!

Sadly they were out of pork ribs, not that I needed it, but it does give me a reason to return asap! Meat lovers rejoice, Bovine and Swine Barbecue is where it’s at!

Bovine and Swine Barbecue Co
92 Enmore Road
Enmore

Trading Hours:
Wed – Sat: from 6pm till sold out
Sun: from 12pm till sold out

ALRIGHTY NOW, WHO’S READY FOR AN EPIC BARBECUE POST?! So after Vegas, we land in Austin, Texas, home to incredible barbecue! Not the slap a shrimp on the barbie type of barbecue, nay, the low and slow barbecue where meats are meltingly soft, juicy and with an irresistible smokiness is where it’s at!

We drop off our bags and immediately uber over to Salt Lick (18300 FM 1826, Driftwood) for a late lunch. It’s about a 30 min drive to the middle of nowhere and we were super lucky that our uber drive actually decided to wait for us or we would’ve had no way in hell of getting back!

The locals mainly eat barbecue at lunch which was good for us as we never really switched over from Oz time zones and so we we missed out on the queues during normal eating hours. On my last visit to Salt Lick with Helen and Lex we’d waited an hour and spent our time drinking beer bought from the cellar around the corner and gazing at the pit o fire made famous by Man Vs Food. Yes it’s super touristy but it’s still a pretty impressive sight!

Mmm wall of pecan pies

I wanted to try a bit of everything so ordered The Rancher Plate (US$17.95/AU$25.50) which was a plate loaded with brisket, pork ribs, sausage and turkey and the Beef Ribs Plate (US$21.95/AU$31.20). All plates came with a huge mound of potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, pickles and super fluffy bread. I wasn’t too fond of the turkey and found it a bit dry but I loved the pork ribs which were packed with flavour and the beef ribs which had a good fat to meat ratio.

I ordered the Peach Cobbler ($5.95) instead of the pecan pie because Noods has this thing for pies with fruits. It was pretty good, the crust was light and there was heaps of peach slices buried underneath that gigantic scoop of ice cream!

We spent the arvo in downtown Austin, doing a bit of shopping but basically trying to stay indoors where there was air con because summer in Texas is freaking hot man. I love the heat but woah I was melting so we ducked into Blue Ribbon Barbecue (120 E 4th St, Austin but which has now closed it’s downtown location) and ordered the Barbecue Plate with brisket (US$9.99/AU$14.20).

My choice of 2 sides was the potato salad which reminded me of a Japanese style potato salad with heaps of white pepper and a refreshing coleslaw. Presentation wise, the plate looks a bit sad no? The brisket was tender but it didn’t have the telltale smoke ring or the flavour I was looking for and I ended up scoffing all the potato salad instead. Oh and refillable soda is so dangerous for me, I ended up drinking a looot of unsweetened tea because drinking so much soft drink always makes me feel a little loopy.

Lamberts (401 W 2nd St, Austin) is our final stop on Day 1 and I’m pretty sure it was this meal that broke Noods. 3 meals of barbecue in 1 day might’ve been a bit much to the uninitiated 😛 I chose Lamberts because I was interested in seeing how brisket from a restaurant would compare to the trailer type of barbecue joints and the Natural Black Angus Brisket ($19/AU$26.95) was pretty on the money! The brown sugar and coffee rub gave the brisket a nice charred outer layer aka the bark and there was that delicious hit of smokiness that I love.

Noods went for the Housemade Jalapeño Hot Links (US$16/AU$22.70) aka sausages so spicy he gave up after eating 1! The flavour was amazing but yeah woah nelly they were spicy haha

I’d ordered a side of Brussel Sprouts (US$8/AU$11.35) as my vegetable component but didn’t realise each and every leaf would be coated in the glossy sheen of butter. It was deeelicious but definitely didn’t help cut through the fattiness of the days eating 😛

Oh and I gotta make a mention of the complimentary corn bread at Lambert’s, it’s the freaking bomb! Too many times I’ve been disappointed with corn bread but Lambert’s nailed it! Baked fresh for each order the cornbread had fluffy innards and barely needed the pat of butter provided.

We ate other food groups after that first day of barbecue so the below eats are from meals from the rest of our time in Austin. I wasn’t keen on lining up for 3+ hours at Franklins BBQ again but would’ve done anything for La Barbecue (1906 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin)! Luckily the wait time was only an hour and best of all there was free beer!

So um I may have over ordered. Prices on the menu were per pound but well, I was feeling ambitious… So this here platter is: 1 pound of brisket (US$20/AU$28.40), 1/2 pound of smoky turkey (US$9/AU$12.80), 1 ginormous beef rib (US$22/AU$31.25), 3 pork ribs (US$17.98/AU$25.50), 1/2 pound pulled pork (US$8.99/AU$12.76), 1 brisket sandwich (US$10/AU$14.20), 1 serve buttermilk potato salad (US$2.25/AU$3.20) and 1 serve of chipotle coleslaw(US$1.99/AU$1.40). Oh and bonus slices of super fluffy bread. All this was for 2 people.

Aaand another look. Everything was just so freaking amazing but my heart belonged to the brisket- that smokiness, that fat, that flavour, I DIE FROM HAPPINESS.

Aaaand an overhead shot because baby you know you want it! Absolutely everything on this platter was amazing, the pulled pork and the turkey were so juicy too and just begging to be folded up in a slice of bread!

The ribs were pretty insane with meat so tender it fell off the bone like it couldn’t wait to live in my stomach.

DAT BEEF RIB THO! I mean LOOK AT IT! Don’t you just want to wrap your jaws around it??? We made it about 1/4 of the way through before admitting defeat but don’t worry there’s rolls of waxed paper to wrap your food for takeaway or ‘to-go’. We ended up eating bits of it as snacks along with many a trip to Whole Foods for some salad that wasn’t covered in mayo 😀

Last but not least was Kerlin BBQ (1700 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin) which is in the cutest little trailer but don’t let that fool you because they serve up a pretty awesome barbecue!

MEEEAT! Brisket (US$9/AU$12.80), pork ribs (US$9/AU$12.80), sausage (US$3/AU$4.25), blue cheese coleslaw (US$2.50/AU$3.55) with bonus pile of bread. The brisket was no match for La Barbecue but the pork ribs and the sausage would’ve given them a run for their money, the smokiness was more intense and sent shivers down my spine. The blue cheese coleslaw was pretty amazing, I’m slowly on the road to being a true blue cheese lover and this just blew my mind, the flavour wasn’t too in your face and had just the right balance of creaminess to keep me going back for more.

We aslo stopped by Rolling Smoke BBQ (1501 E 6th St, Austin) for the Frito Pie ($US6/AU$8.50) which is basically Frito chips (corn chips) covered in a layer of juicy pulled pork, bbq sauce, onions, coriander and chipotle cream sauce. It was the best kind of food after a night of beverages!

Aaaand that wraps up the barbecue in Austin, stay tuned for fried chicken, fried Oreos and Mexican food in Austin Part 2!