Let’s step into a time machine.

Week before Christmas, 7 years ago. I was 23 years old and wandering around a shopping centre looking for a Christmas present for myself (think I settled on a hoodie sized schmedium so I could show off my lack of gains at the gym).

As I was wandering around, I saw a massive line outside Toys R Us. Think the line outside an Apple Store prior to the launch of a new iPhone. I was exceptionally confused, what sort of toy in this day and age warranted a wait THIS long. I asked a friendly looking dude in the line what was going on and he looked me dead in the eye and said:

“This is the Barbie queue.”

Huh. righto my guy. I much rather have the BBQ at Blackbear BBQ in Wetherill Park but to each their own.

Blackbear BBQ has quickly established itself as an institution when it comes to slow cooked, American style BBQ in Australia. We can’t get to Texas right now so thank goodness a slice (or in our case multiple slices) of Texas can come to us here.

There are several packs/platters/combos and everything else in between available to you. Prior to our journey to Wetherill Park, the only solid plan we had was to eat as much meat as possible. Behold, how our plan unfolded:

There is no better way to gauge a BBQ spot than to eat its brisket. The ultimate test of all barbecuetionists is the ability to take a traditionally cheap cut of meat, cook it low and slow and turn it into beef butter once it hits the tongue of a consumer.

We opted for 500g of beef brisket, the cuts we got were quite lean (it has been so long since I had bbq that I forgot to hit the staff with my usual ‘fatty brisket please’ line) but very flavourful. The bark was perfect and meat very flavourful.

Where my brisket was lean, my pork belly wade up for it in terms of thickness. Slightly sweet from Blackbear’s unique rub, this pork belly was as moreish as pork belly can get. The bark was as much bite as it was bark and hit in such a great manner.

The meat was just so tender, would love to have this in tacos, sandwiches, noodles, massage parlours, fried rice. It’s a long list.

The perfect amount of heat, a touch of cheese and a great honey barbecue sauce. Ooh wee, what a combo. Oh and the texture? A beautiful Snap much like your girl hitting you with the perfect selfie when you need it; that pretty much sums up this delightful sausage.

Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and perfectly seasoned.

I’m talking about me after my trip to New Caledonia back in 2010 but also applicable for these perfect tater tots. Dunk those bad boys in the BBQ sauce for another dynamic as well.

As mentioned up top, we hadn’t done as much homework as we probably should’ve prior to making our trip to Blackbear. Unbeknownst to me, the short rib was usually unavailable til about lunch time….and I made the call to get there at about 10.

But we were not to be denied and God damn they were worth the wait. Blackbear’s trademark bark was back in action, the meat was just tender and so, so, soft like me after my first listening of Adele’s ’30.’ Just the epitome of what beef short rib should taste like.

TL;DR for everyone that forgot this site actually houses up-to-date food and restaurant reviews once upon a time:

• You can call ahead to order the short rib so you don’t arrive in the wee hours and get disappointed.
• Ask for fatty brisket and just indulge. You deserve it.
• Link up with those hot links and tater tots, oh and the pork belly too. Maybe bring a crew with you (the chicken maryland also looked like a prime cut of meat).