Fancy Hank's BBQ Joint, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

To commemorate that I was chucking in the towel (i.e., I was quitting my job... hurrah!) to pursue a scholarly life (i.e., I was going back to study), I used that as an excuse to have lunch with absolutely everybody.

So for my one of many fare-thee-well lunches, I went to Fancy Hank's BBQ Joint with "the guys".  Located near Vic Market, I've been wanting to try this for some time now.  I like the name of the place and who doesn't like BBBQ? (that extra 'B' was a typo).  Throw in a good measure of hipsters with luxuriant beards and body hair (lumbersexual, anyone?) as waiters, I was set to buy into the marketing gimmick,

In short, there's six types of slow-cooked meat on offer and a whole heap of sides and bready options too.  Thinking we'd be OD-ing on meat, Mr G and I decided to share 100gms of Texan beef brisket and 100gms of Kansas city pork ribs plus a small side of chips.  What came out was rather spartan and I felt we were served prison rations.  The good points were that the flavours for both the beef and pork were deepy, smoky and packed full of flavour; the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender.  Chips were the best as it had a wonderful crispy batter-like crust (but rather pricey at $5.50 for a small serve).  The not-so-good points were that the both meats were kinda served warmish - definitely not hot.

Mr U went for brisket and quarter beer can chicken and chips, while Mr D went for a half chook and chips (no pic for that as my pic didn't turn out nice).

Mr W had his tummy set on the Carolina chopped hog but was told it wasn't available.  So he settled for short beef ribs, coleslaw and I what was burnt end beans.  We all raised an eyebrow or two at the really, really blackened ribs...but the meat inside was bright magenta.

As we were still a bit hungry and as Mr U and Mr D seemed to really enjoy their chicken, Mr G and ordered a quarter chook and mac & cheese to share.   The chicken was tasty and tender and you can taste the beer.  The mac & cheese (also $5.50 for a small) was disappointing.  It was also lukewarm and had a very unappetizing grainy texture - as if the flour in the cheese sauce hadn't properly cooked down.

Verdict: we wouldn't return

Overall: this was kinda a let down.  What was most disturbing was that everything except the chips and coleslaw was served warmish.  Good idea but let let in execution.  If anything, please just serve the food hot and may make the sides not so pricey!