NSW LP’S QUALITY MEATS

↓ The most nuanced and downright delicious barbecue joint Down Under comes courtesy of former Tetsuya’s head chef Luke Powell. Hidden among the laneways of cool innercity Chippendale is this cavernous, beer hall-like space where communal tables fill with groups getting rowdy about an eclectic wine list, rocking tunes and food that elevates barbecue to a new level. Start with Sydney’s best housemade mortadella. Pickled cumquats add a sharp edge to lightly smoked duck and pork terrine, while applewood cold-smoked ocean trout benefits from a quenelle of crème fraîche. Then choose your smokedflesh adventure from a bevy of winners: smoked then fried chicken, 12-hour fallapart beef short ribs, porchetta rolled with fennel, chilli and garlic or the mustorder lamb belly stuffed with a housemade merguez sausage. You may need someone to carry you home. We’re not sure which is longer: the queues that snake out the door of this Americanstyle barbecue joint or the wafts of smoke floating through the air. We know this: once you hit Enmore Road, it’s clear where the boys from Bovine & Swine are. Pull up a stool, roll up your sleeves, slap on a bib and stuff your face with Southernstyle goodness. It’s high energy and there’s a here-for-a-good-time-not-a-long-time mentality to dining. The star of the show is the smoker made by the chefs themselves and fuelled by Australian hardwood. It produces an array of meats – all smoked for up to 12 hours – that you order by the 100 grams, including beef brisket, chopped pork, chicken, pork ribs, pork belly, beef short ribs and a choice of sides (the slaw and mac’n’cheese are must-haves). If you don’t fancy a slab of meat, there are smoked-meat sandwiches, too – but get in early because the brisket and slaw one sells out fast.