Carlton’s The Beaufort is a homely venue. Its intimate digs and wild west aesthetic in the dining area, now known as Ike’s Rack Shack, makes it a place you want to spend time and drink and eat and drink and eat and…
The Beaufort’s rough cut aesthetic is ironically belied by founder Dave Kerr, formerly a high-end cocktail bar man, commitment to high quality food and drink.
This week the venue launched Ike’s Rack Shack which is located in The Beaufort’s long room to the left of the bar. The fit out includes all the finishes one would expect in a saloon from a scene in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly and the menu matches this aesthetic perfectly.
The centre piece of Ike’s Rack Shack’s menu is the Ribs & Bibs section that includes Pork Ribs (half pound $20, full pound $38), Beef Ribs (Full pound salt & pepper rub $28), Lamb Ribs (half rack $15, full rack $28), Ike’s Tripple Rack Back Stack (All three racks back to back $65,) then there is even a delicious offering for those who don’t eat meat in the Vegan Ribs that is a melange of quinoa, corn, jalapeno, vegan cheese and paprika (half rack $15, full rack $28). All the ribs are smoked overnight in Ike’s deluxe Texan competition smoker from Cookshack and glazed with Bulliet and bourbon maple syrup and finished with a stint on the chargrill to crisp it up.
Don’t think for a minute that all the Texan design is to bluster you into thinking the food is legit Texan cuisine. It actually is legit with chef Chris Terlikar having worked in Texas at some of the best BBQ houses in the world.
Kerr discloses that securing a highly skilled BBQ chef was paramount to the formation of Ike’s Rack Shack, “It’s a really back to the man cave roots with the experience of eating such beautifully smoked ribs so off the back of that belief we’ve had to get in someone who would do it properly and that’s why we got Chris in.”
Other belly filling specials on Ike’s menu include burgers like The Out N Out Burger ($15) that has a rare beef patty, ketchup, tomato, and onion on a damper roll served with pickles and fries.
The sides dishes on the menu perfectly straddle the gap between comfort food and gourmet food with dishes like the deliciously moist and relatively healthy green beans with Bulgarian and almonds ($8) or the artery coating jalapeño poppers on a bed of French beans and fried seaweed ($10).
But what is the perfect meal without the perfect beverage? The Rack Shack at The Beaufort has some very special bourbon cocktails including the simply titled Old Fashioned that consists of rye whisky, sugar, bitters and orange peel served on hand-cut ice.
BY FAT PRESTON
Ike’s Rack Shack is located at The Beaufort on 421 Rathdowne Street, Carlton. It is openMonday to Thursday 5pm – 1am, Friday to Saturday 1pm – 1am, Sunday 1pm to 11pm. Call 03-9347-8171 or email [email protected] for more information.
