If you are driving along the northern end of Sheridan St it’s a little hard to miss the large ‘$15.95 Sunday BBQ Ribs’ sign out the front of Dunwoody’s. If you love ribs as much as I do then your mouth waters every time you drive past. Well last weekend I couldn’t take it anymore so some friends and I went to The Steakhouse at Dunwoody’s for dinner. Now I have to say I’m definitely a lover of ribs (isn’t everyone) and I’m on the hunt for a rack of ribs to beat or even just come close to the ‘Best Ribs of My Life’ from a few years ago at a little restaurant called Rippy’s Smokin’ Bar and Grill in Nashville, Tennessee. These ribs were so damn good that I just had to get the t-shirt as a memento. Now there are a few little things that I judge a good rack of ribs on… Firstly, the ribs must be tender enough to literally fall off the bone. I don’t carry dental floss in my handbag so I don’t want to be gnawing the meat of my ribs and then having it stuck in my teeth for the next two hours (that’s gross I know but it’s the truth). Secondly, there must be lots of marinade on the ribs. If I’m not going to get sauce all over my hands and face then forget about it. And lastly, there must actually be meat on the ribs. No one wants a rack of ribs from an emaciated pig that has no meat on it. I want meat! (Sorry to all you vego’s but this isn’t a post for you.) This particular Sunday Dunwoody’s was also serving a twist on their usual rack of ribs… Coca Cola Ribs. Sounds a bit weird huh? I ummed and ahhed about it and finally decided to order the standard ‘House Special Ribs’ since that is what I had come to Dunwoody’s for in the first place and it would be wrong to get anything else. I was in fact the only one at the table that ordered the ribs.

It didn’t take long for our meals to arrive but we were one of only two occupied tables in the restaurant. I ordered the regular serving and I was glad that I didn’t order the large serving for $28.95 because the regular serving with the chips and salad was more than enough for me. My family and I used to dine at Dunwoody’s regularly back when it was called Matilda’s (about 6 or 7 years ago) and for pub meals the food was suberb. I mean really good meals and consistently good but that was until the head chef there was poached by another restaurant. After that Dunwoody’s was never the same so we stopped going there. Until now. I have say it’s still not the same. The ribs were ok. The sauce was pretty bland and the ribs were quite fatty but for $15.95 you can’t really complain.

Regular BBQ Ribs (AU$15.95)

Let’s just say my meal at The Steakhouse at Dunwoody’s was mediocre at best and I probably wouldn’t go back for the ribs having now satisfied my curiosity. According to the rest of the table my friends meals were also pretty average and by the look of them, I tended to agree. The regular Supreme Pizza that JC ordered looked hmmm shall we say ‘less than gourmet and more like McCains’ and I wish I had gotten a picture of it. So it seems my search for ribs to match or even come close to the ‘Best Ribs of My Life’ is ongoing and ideally I’d like to find somewhere a little closer than Tennessee.

;

The Steakhouse at Dunwoody’s

317 Sheridan St, Cairns QLD 4870

Ph: (07) 4051 6822

Website: www.ourhotels.com.au/dunwoodys

Opening Hours: Mon – Thurs from 11.30 am till 2.30 pm, 5.30 pm till 9 pm, Fri – Sun from 11.30 am – 9 pm