Meatworks Co

Meatworks Co
28 Ross Street
South Melbourne
Melbourne
Victoria 3205
Australia

https://www.meatworksco.com/

Meatworks Co Smoked Meat Platter (AUD $95 / SGD $88.50)

Meats - Slow Roasted, Braised, And Smoked To Perfection

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Spent about AUD $57 / SGD $53 per person.


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Established in November 2015, Meatworks Co is a labour of love. Celebrated restaurateur Lindsay Jones-Evans, known as the founder of the ever-popular Jones The Grocer empire, was inspired to create Meatworks Co after a holiday; where, while exploring an open-air market in Valencia, he chanced upon a “wall of flaming chicken” - a rotisserie stall, slow roasting chickens over an open spit. A skilled engineer, he built the in-house smoker himself, and nearly every dish here features smoked meat, including their breakfast / brunch menu.

Ambience at Meatworks Co calls to mind a retro classroom, with the spacious and open seating area neatly lined with functional metal and wooden furnishings. Having been repurposed from an old garage, the place retains some touches of its past as decor, from the rough brick walls to the windowed partitions. Potted greenery hangs between retro industrial lamps across the ceiling. During the day, ample natural light streams through the windows, while at night, the low warm lights lend an intimate feel.

Service at Meatworks Co is friendly and cheerful. If owner Lindsay Jones-Evans or his wife Shengnan Ren are around, they'll make a point to interact with diners. Otherwise, staff are polite and efficient, quickly greeting and seating guests. They display good product knowledge of the menu, being able to describe dishes and accomodate change requests, as well as proactively offer suggestions. Orders are fulfilled at a decent pace with only a short wait. I note they clean up quickly when diners leave.

Food at Meatworks Co is, needless to say, a meatfest. Specialising in American style smoked meats and barbecue, particularly Memphis style barbecue, they've become known over the years for serving consistently delicious, top notch meat. There is a small range of seafood and vegetarian dishes, but c'mon, if you're dining here as a vegetarian, it is rather sad. Portions are large communal sized affairs, and should be shared. Prices are reasonable but slightly more expensive than other restaurants, budget about AUD $57 / SGD $53 per person.


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Meatworks Co Exterior

Meatworks Co Interior

Counter

Seating

The Wine Fowles Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch Pinot Noir (AUD $62 / SGD $57.80 per bottle) is a red wine made from 100% pinot noir red grapes, by the family-owned Fowles Wine winery in the city of Shepparton, Moira county, Victoria, Australia. It has a deep violet ruby colour, with aromas of black cherry, mulberry, wild mushroom, and cinnamon. The body is smooth, velvety, and complex, with tastes of moss, plum, cloves, and leather. Has a fruity earthy sweet spice flavour, with bold tannins, and a good lingering finish.

Wine Fowles Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch Pinot Noir (AUD $62 / SGD $57.80 per bottle)

The Brussel Sprouts With Caramelised Onion & Miso Butter (AUD $12.50 / SGD $11.70) is delicious, though it doesn't feel like a salad. The sauteed chopped brussel sprouts have a juicy crunch with bold vegetal savoury salty flavour, while the sauteed caramelised white onions have a soft tender bite with delicate vegetal sweet smoky flavour. Finished with luscious miso infused butter, which lends a lovely milky savoury earthy flavour to the dish.

Brussel Sprouts With Caramelised Onion & Miso Butter (AUD $12.50 / SGD $11.70)

Brussel Sprouts With Caramelised Onion & Miso Butter

The 12-Hour Smoked Beef Ribs Twin Bones With Potato Mash (AUD $59 / SGD $55) impressed with its large, bone-in beef rib, sized for at least 2 people. Served with a side salad, house barbecue sauce, and a creamy smooth mashed potato that was unfortunately bland in taste, the beef ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender, peeling off easily in chunks. Moist even in the center, you first taste the rich spice rub on the exterior of the beef ribs, then you get the deep meaty savoury salty smoky flavour within, with a touch of sweet earthy notes. While my other dining companions loved it, I felt this was above average at best, and could have had deeper, more meaty flavour.

12-Hour Smoked Beef Ribs Twin Bones With Potato Mash (AUD $59 / SGD $55)

12-Hour Smoked Beef Ribs Twin Bones

Potato Mash

Shredded Beef Ribs

Shredded Beef Ribs

12-Hour Smoked Beef Ribs Twin Bones With Potato Mash

The Meatworks Co Smoked Meat Platter (AUD $95 / SGD $88.50) is a large, hearty platter; and while we observed most sharing between 2 diners, we decided to share this amongst 4 people. Served with a side salad, house barbecue sauce, and 2 varieties of chili dipping sauce. They're really generous with the portion of smoked meats here, and while there were a few misses, we loved the majority of items in the platter.

Meatworks Co Smoked Meat Platter (AUD $95 / SGD $88.50)

The 24-Hour Smoked Sliced Beef Brisket, was for me, the best thing on the platter. The medium thick slices of beef brisket were tender and moist, with robust meaty smoky savoury flavour. Deep and rich in taste, I felt that putting any sauce on this is a waste, as it's flavourful enough on its own. Couldn't stop reaching for more!

24-Hour Smoked Sliced Beef Brisket

24-Hour Smoked Sliced Beef Brisket

The next best thing on the platter was the 20-Hour Smoked Hand Pulled Pork Shoulder. These thin, hand pulled shreds of pulled pork shoulder have a tender juicy chew, and the marinade lends a rich meaty savoury salty sweet flavour, with a light tangy sour taste. Good stuff.

20-Hour Smoked Hand Pulled Pork Shoulder

20-Hour Smoked Hand Pulled Pork Shoulder

Felt the 8-Hour Smoked Dry Rub Pork Ribs was the weakest thing on the platter. The bone-in pork ribs had a dry, firm chewy texture, and the dry spice rub didn't seem to lend much flavour; it still tasted rather gamey with little savoury or spice notes. Surprised the execution of this was so different from everything else we had, rather disappointed.

8-Hour Smoked Dry Rub Pork Ribs

8-Hour Smoked Dry Rub Pork Ribs

The Smoked Chicken Drumsticks hold good depth of flavour, with the tender, moist chicken meat coming easily off the bone. The chicken has been dry rub spice marinated, resulting in a robust savoury spice smoky flavour, with some hint of natural sweet notes. Pretty decent even though chicken isn't a speciality here.

Smoked Chicken Drumsticks

Smoked Chicken Drumsticks

The House Barbecue Sauce is medium thin in texture, with a decent sweet sour tangy flavour. Slightly more sweet, less smoky, and less spicy than other barbecue sauces I've tried. We loved the Smoked Lamb & Rosemary Sausage, with its juicy snappy meaty texture and bold smoky savoury herbal spice earthy flavour.

House Barbecue Sauce

Smoked Lamb & Rosemary Sausage

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