Big Boy BBQ

Miss M So it's been a pretty big week for K and I, we've both been swamped with assignments, assessments and work but today, we finally got to take some time off and eat to our heart's content. As I've been craving ribs all week and K has yet to try the ribs at Big Boy's, we decided to give Hardware Lane's Big Boy's BBQ a spin. 

The platters and burgers that you could order Big Boy's was surprisingly empty when we got there so we were seated at a table almost immediately. I was expecting the place to look more like an American diner, but Big Boy's just kept it simple and stuck with a blue, white and red color scheme. For once in our lives, we already knew which platter we wanted and ordered the Wings 'N Ribs as it was the only platter that included ribs and didn't have a suggested serving size of 3 or higher. Seeing as the platter was very meat loaded, K and I decided to have the lightly spiced crunchy chips and house salad as sides to the platter and our future selves really thanked us for that decision later on.

While waiting for our food to be served, I had a bit of a squiz around the restaurant and saw this up on one of the walls. I thought it was a good idea overall as it provided an explanation of what a barbeque really was and in addition answered any frequently asked questions (of course that meant people would have to read the wall and ain't nobody got time for that... except us). Our drinks were served in red plastic cups, which K and I thought was a super cute idea and very American party-esque. Too bad we decided to practice self control that day and only drink water out of them instead of drinking to our deaths with soft drinks. Big Boy's really stuck to their motto of "Slow Food...Fast" as in no time at all our mouth watering platter came out. 

Wings 'N Ribs:  Regular wings and half a rack of Kansas City style dry rubbed pork with lightly spiced crunchy chips and house salad with lettuce, tomato, feta, cucumber and olives - $35.00 + $4.00 (for the upgrade to dry rubbed pork ribs)

Now that platter may look small and burnt, but let me assure you it was completely the opposite of that. Everything was cooked to perfection and by the time K and I were done with it,we were completely satisfied. The pork ribs were so incredibly soft and succulent which admittedly I was a little worried about as they were black when they came out. I loved the fact that because the meat had being smoked at a low temperature for 16 hours or so they weren't scorching hot when they came in. They were just the right temperature for us to dig in straight away when they came out. The ribs were served on a bed of white bread (which K and I didn't touch as we didn't want to get full from bread and have no room for ribs) and also had a side of pickles. They were absolutely delicious, flavoursome and in addition, had a lot of meat attached to the bone which made me rejoice as I always get annoyed about ribs being more bone than meat. 

The army of sauces 

While the ribs were already quite flavoursome, there was also an army of sauces on the table which we could drown our sides in, in my case I drowned both my meat and sides in sauce as they were so delectable. While they all had their merits, my favourite sauce of the bunch would have to be the Hot Boy Spicy BBQ sauce, there's nothing I love more than being able to add a little bit of spice to my food. It really added to the wings which I  found to be really juicy, soft and just as good as the ribs. K and I were actually saddened that there were only 4 wings in our platter and tried to eat tactically so we could balance out the wings with the amount of ribs. The sides proved to be a good decision on our part as the chips were perfectly crunchy, seasoned and went really well with the meat. The salad was somewhat plain and would generally not wow anyone on it's own but however in this case it provided some freshness to our heavy meal and was greatly appreciated by K and I.

The t-shirts available for sale, our favourite one was the one on the right

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Big Boy's BBQ and by the time we were done my appetite was completely sated which I was pretty bummed about as I was really looking forward to trying out their peanut butter cream pie with chocolate ganache. There's always a next time though and for me, the taste of those smokey ribs and the sound of that dessert is more than enough to pull me back. Just a side note, Big Boy's also sold t-shirts! K and I were thoroughly amused with the "Ribbed for your Pleasure" one so we thought we'd take a photo and include it here as well for some giggles. That being said, you guys should definitely give Big Boy's a spin! You get so much value for your money and honestly who could say no to ribs?

Big Boy BBQ

Location:

27-31 Hardware Ln  Melbourne VIC 3000

Contact:

(03) 9670 9388

Opening Hours:

Sun - Weds 12pm - 9pm

Thurs - Sat 12pm -10pm

Pricing: $$

Do you like to eat ribs? What's your favourite place to eat ribs at?