Ribbetts at Dutton Park

I have a confession to make. I've never had ribs before. DD spent some time in America and loves American style ribs and when he found out about this and Ribbetts World Class Food at Dutton Park, we had to go. Although I think he had already decided we were going before I mentioned I'd never tasted ribs.

Ribbetts stands all by itself on a fairly residential stretch of Annerley Rd in a converted house. There's inside and outside dining and it was quite busy the day we went, so bookings are highly recommended. Ribbetts offer an all you can eat dine-in special for $22 and this is what we ordered (although you can choose to order from the menu, however your entire table must choose one or the other).

The all you can eat menu is quite expansive, offering a selection of pizzas and pastas. The only ribs available in the all you can eat were pork ribs, so if any of your party aren't a fan of pork, be warned! We did have a non-pork eater with us, but he did have a couple ribs because he said the sauce did overpower the pork flavour. In addition to two plates of ribs we also ordered a ham and pineapple pizza and a pizza which was half cajun chicken (cheese, tomato, chicken, cajun spices, onion and capsicum) and half chicken, bacon and banana (cheese, tomato, bacon, chicken and banana, funnily enough). There's also unlimited garlic bread, and were unable to resist having one loaf.

Ribs, I have discovered, are quite good. I am not normally a fan of food I have to eat with my fingers, but these were very nice. The meat was really tender and their barbecue sauce was amazing. Really delicious. Ribbetts sell their BBQ sauce and DD was very close to buying some to take home. The pizza was unexpectedly fantastic. The tomato base was rich and flavourful and the mozzarella cheese was a stringy delight. It is quite difficult to mess up a ham and pineapple pizza, but I also have it on good authority that the cajun chicken and even the chicken, bacon and banana (which they ordered just to see what banana on a pizza would taste like) were also really good.

Desserts were charged separately, but even after indulging ourselves in a lot of food we did have to try some of their desserts. We had two Giotto Gelato desserts (at $6 each), one passionfruit and one tartfuto, one apple pie with ice cream and one huge chocolate milkshake for DD. Unfortunately, the apple pie had a small accident during plating and ended up upside down. The gelato was nice light way to cleanse the palate after the fairly sauce heavy meal. The serving was really generous and I was struggling to finish it. The milkshake was also really generous, and it was the final straw for DD who started to feel ill from eating too much so we went home very soon after.

Ribbetts is BYO and corkage is included in the all you can eat price. They do have a fridge of soft drinks and orange juice for you if you forget to bring something (as we did). They also do take away, deliveries and even offer U-Heat ribs which can be posted Australia wide.

DD said afterwards that even though he enjoyed it, it did mean that he wouldn't be wanting ribs again for a while. However they do have some good looking catering packs which would be good for a home BBQ and it would let you choose between pork or lamb ribs. We have also decided that next time we will try home delivery/take away and pay the little bit extra to get the beef ribs, but I think that's a fair way off as I'm still digesting the meal now (the next morning!)

Ribbetts Fine Foods
167 Annerley Rd
Dutton Park
Ph 07 3846 3333
www.ribbetts.com.au