The name Meatworks might scare off the moderate meat eaters who wouldn't necessarily go out to eat a whole barbecue rack in one sitting, but rest easy in the knowledge that at this South Melbourne restaurant you'll have plenty of fresh options to choose from.
Owners Lindsay Jones-Evans and Shengnan Ren have transformed an industrial warehouse into an expansive casual eatery, fitting in a custom-built 450kg in-house wood smoker for the slow-cooked and barbecued meats that get smoked every week. Jones-Evans collaborated with chef Travis Watson to devise the menu, which takes inspiration from old-school American barbecues to South East Asian dishes such as the Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, and slow-braised beef shin soup.
Lindsay-Jones and Watson's general staunch commitment to making everything themselves carries through to even the drinks list. The housemade sodas are made with fresh ingredients that try to replicate flavours like Coke and lemonade. For breakfast, dishes can be as meaty as you want to go, there's a fruity rice porridge, smoked salmon omelette and a protein-heavy pulled pork number topped with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce that we can see being a go-to for hangovers.
The smoked meat platter is the big ticket item at Meatworks, where you can expect the restaurant's signature 10-hour smoked pulled brisket – the kind that has just enough fat – sticky lamb ribs, pulled pork, and honey soy chicken wings. The accompanying BBQ sauce, tomato relish and chilli sauces are all made in-house, so don't worry about getting messy, the food really is made to get your hands dirty.