Hughes Barbecue & Craft Meats - Waterloo, Sydney

I’ve been a fan of Anton Hughes’ Texan-style smoked bbq meats since his Vic’s Meats pit master gig. Then he did amazing feeds at Bovine & Swine with Wes as a co-founder. Just over a month ago, my homie Anton opened his own brand of smoked bbq meats under Hughes Barbecue.

Located inside The Georges Hotel courtyard area is where you’ll find delicious smoky brisket and ribs cooking away low and slow by the Hughes Barbecue crew. The menu is full of different smoked meat sandwich options on weekdays and on weekends, massive servings of bbq plates are also available. The area itself has a very Texan-vibe.

For the “two meat plate” ($35 including 1 side and pickles), we opted for beef brisket and andouille sausage links. The smoky brisket was legit, tender and tasty with a visible smoke ring. The links were smoky with sweet and garlic notes.

The beef short rib plate ($50) came with two massive short ribs, a side and pickles. The meat was insanely tender and buttery full of sweet smoky goodness. The spice rub on the surface was amazing too!

Each meat plate came with a side. We went with a tasty creamy mac & cheese and a classic potato salad.

They are also looking into adding Asian-inspired bbq flavours and vegan smoked dishes on the menu. You can never go wrong with anything cooked by Anton. His smoked bbq meats are as legit as it gets!

Hughes Barbecue & Craft Meats
The George Hotel
760 Elizabeth Street
Waterloo NSW

Hours:

Tuesday to Sunday

Lunch

12pm to 3pm

Dinner

5pm to 9pm

Black Bear BBQ, Blacktown

The best gatherings in life in my opinion are MEATings and MEATups. In Sydney, I would normally have to travel towards the inner west or Sydney CBD surrounds for legit Central Texas style BBQ. But thanks to the new Black Bear BBQ, I no longer have to leave Western Sydney for an awesome BBQ feed.

Pit master Ben Huppatz

Black Bear BBQ's location in the middle of an Industrial area gives the place a "Down South" and Texan vibe. Pit masters Ben Huppatz, Glen Ellis and Haydn Graham has been feeding Sydney's West at their Forge Street Blacktown joint with mouthwatering smoked meats bbq cooked low and slow for 12 hours (or more). They have been smoking 12 massive briskets, around 30 racks of beef short ribs (3 bones per rack) 30 full racks of pork ribs, 45 kgs of chicken and a lot of hot links (smoky sausages) and pulled pork every session! The secret behind their deliciousness is in the special dry rub used on the meats and the blend of wood used for smoking. Since opening a few weeks ago, the line has always been massive. So far, they've only been opening on Friday nights from 5.30pm until sold out. Luckily, they did a one-off Saturday opening from 4pm. Got there at 3.30pm and I was fifth in line! Then 15 minutes later, there must've been at least 50 people behind me.

Here's what I ordered (note: all meal boxes come with slaw, pickles, potato crisps and bbq sauce):

The brisket box ($20) came with slabs of fatty and smoky beef brisket. It's legit with a visible smoke ring and it was so tender that it easily pulls apart.

The hungry bear box ($25) includes a slab brisket, hot links and pulled pork. The highlight for me was the chorizo-like links especially because it was also stuffed with cheese!

I also ordered half rack of ribs ($35), which were sweet and peppery in taste.

Last but not least is my personal favourite, their beef short rib ($25 for 1 bone). It was massive, super buttery, fatty and sweet & hella smoky!! 

For now, they will only be doing Friday night sessions from 5.30pm (check their Instagram account for updates) every week. When their renovations are done, they will be open from 5am to 2pm, Monday to Friday with a breakfast menu and coffee! These are some of the best bbq meats I've had. So check them out when you're in the area.

Black Bear BBQ

27 Forge Street

Blacktown NSW

Hours:
Monday to Friday 
Breakfast 6am to 11:30am (or until sold out)
Lunch 11:30am until 2pm (or until sold out)

Friday dinner from 5.30pm until sold out (Check their Instagram account for updates)

Fratelli Famous and The Bavarian, Penrith

I'm a fan of Fratelli Fresh. Their pizzas and pastas are consistently done well. How I wished that they had branches out in Sydney's West.

Apple cider - nice and crisped!

Bubble berry cocktail - vodka, cranberry juice, sparkling wine, strawberries

It's like the heavens heard my yearning as news of Fratelli Famous along with The Bavarian opening in Penrith broke out! You'll find both restaurants at Westfield's street level dining district. You can order dishes from either restaurants and sit wherever you want. The Bavarian has a contemporary tavern/dive bar type interior whilst Fratelli Famous has a modern bistro setting. Thanks to an invitation from the Rockpool Dining Group, we were able to sample some of their food offerings.

The Bavarian

  

Haus made pretzels and butter

This place is basically the rebranded Bavarian Bier Cafe. Expect all the Bavarian Bier Cafe classics and more! They also have 17 brews on tap! We started with their pretzels and butter ($4.75). The lightly salted pretzels were crusty on the outside and fluffy inside. Along with butter, it was the perfect starter.

Best of Bavaria tasting platter

So that we can try all the meaty goodness The Bavarian has to offer, we opted for The best of Bavaria tasting platter ($65). It was a massive party of tasty proteins and crackling along with sides of mashed potato, baked potato scallops, sauerkraut and sauces sauces. The cracklings on their roasted pork belly and pork knuckles were just divine. The smoked pork belly was tender and packed with a lot of flavour from the dry rub. The sausages are as tasty as I remember it to be from previous visits specially the cheese filled sausage. The schnitzel coating needed a little more crisped factor to it but flavour-wise, it was on point.

Fratelli Famous

This establishment is a brother restaurant to the amazing Fratelli Fresh. Unlike Fratelli Fresh, Fratelli Famous is more pizza based with a focus on a "build your own pizza" menu. Basically, you can have the classics or whatever pizza flavour tickles your fancy!

Margherita pizza

We opted for a Margherita pizza ($15) with extra buffalo mozzarella. It may not be an adventurous pizza, but in my opinion, a restaurant's pizza is tested as to how well they can execute a Margherita a.k.a. the OG pizza. It did not disappoint! The base is made of sourdough with cultured yeast made in-house. Every ingredient was highlighted from the base that was thin, soft and slightly crisped to the fresh tomato sauce that was not overly sweet. Then you have the nice milky flavoured mozzarella and the beautiful aromatics and sweetness from the basil.

Nutella pizza

We also had their nutella pizza! Loads of nutella and fresh strawberries on their signature sourdough base. Need I say more?

The service was fast and staff members were friendly and attentive. Check them out next time you're in Penrith!

Ramen Raff was invited by the Rockpool Dining Group as a guest of Fratelli Famous and The Bavarian Penrith.

Fratelli Famous and The Bavarian Penrith

Dine on Riley St

Westfield Penrith

585 High Street

Penrith NSW

Opening hours:

Monday to Sunday 11am to 11:59pm