Good Eats: Ribs & Burgers, Neutral Bay

People spilling out of the place on a weeknight! Could only mean of good things, right?
*photo snapped by my sister during one of her many visits*

I can't count how many times I have bellowed with gusto, albeit defensively, how simple a girl I am.

Meat + drinks = EUPHORIA.

However, as I have previously announced, I'm trying to live healthier. My method is rather simplistic but hey! To each his own, right? I'd like to think I've got a sensible head over my shoulders hence nothing too drastic and ambitious a change.

Cutting back on eating red meat has been surprisingly easy. Though what I am about to say shocked me, too, I'm starting to get sick of salmon. But really, I've only got myself to blame. I'm still lacking imagination in the kitchen. Whatever is fast is easy and whatever is easy compliments the busy bee, me (I rhyme even in sacrifice of grammar). I'm also resolute in drinking zero to very little alcohol now. That, too, is very easy. I live a hermit life in winter and I only ever go craycray with equally crazy company. It's a sad give and take relationship.

I'm taking baby-steps to committing to eating healthier though I've gotta be honest. It's tough. In a week, there are always those bad days where I throw away whatever progress I've made by eating white bread with jam and spiraling down to potato chips at midnight (those actually happened).

Anyway, before this whole obsession with eating better, as I was saying, I was a simpler girl. A rainy Sunday afternoon got my sister Ivy, Rich and I feeling meat. Of course, the very dirty kind.
*Pardon the really poor photos. Neither my J1 nor my iPhone could give the following some justice. Given the weather, lighting was scarce*

Rustic little tin holder you receive after fixing your order. Douse your meats with your choice condiments! 

I truly believe that it was fate (and the torrential downpour) that brought me to Ribs & Burgers. As I attempt to relive the experience, I'm starting to question my bold decision of distancing myself from red meat. But anyway, here goes.

My foodstagram. Surprisingly, my trusty iPhone copes fair under shit lighting.

Ivy and Rich are patrons of this joint so I left the daunting task of ordering to them. It only took a second of intense eye contact between my sister and I. She paid for the grub up front and then we sat. She gets me.

Large Chips $9.00 (you may also add $2.00 for your choice of dip)

There was something right with these chips. They reminded me a lot of the Philippines' KFC's. You know, the slightly battered kind before being deep-fried? The awesome kind? Yeah.

You don't actually go to a place that says Ribs & Burgers without ordering either of the two. Luckily, with three mouths to feed, we didn't have to play limbo and went with both options. I feel like that afternoon was made out of win!

3x Mini Burgers 80g $17.00 (beef, chicken, lamb)

I don't mean to be nitpick-y as the overall meal was amazing. I loved that they sandwiched these patties between their in-house foccacia buns. Also, props to such nifty offer on the menu as I can imagine there are many others out there who are just as fickle-minded when it comes down to it. I do have to say that we didn't enjoy the sliders as much as we had anticipated. Among the three, I found the beef slider best. It was pretty straightforward, had that deliciousness a burger should carry. The chicken slider was okay as it pales in comparison to the beef. The lamb slider was very dry (even noticeable in the photo) hence least enjoyable. I reckon it takes a special skill to perfect cooking lamb. Let us ask the Jews.

Korean Beef Ribs $14
Had we known that an order of ribs could come with either chips or some cabbage salad, we would've gone with greens.
All that starch made me moo like a cow afterwards. I had it coming. 

Verbatimly, their ribs are marinated and cooked for 8 hours, then char-grilled, basted and caramelised to perfection. The menu was also very undemanding. Pork, beef or lamb?

Opting for the Korean style cut, there's a tug of war between beef and pork ribs and was I glad we yielded towards the former! Though I'd always jump at an instinct of getting down and dirty with a standard rack of pork ribs, this was a welcome change. It was easier to eat because of the almost bacon-thin strips without stealing the invaluable experience of licking the bones and your fingers clean. It tasted perfectly sweet and spicy moreover, you could smell the char as you scarfed down each cut! It was a testimony to their description. Don't you just love honesty?

In this episode of Man V Food, well..

The last photo isn't to say that we didn't enjoy the meal enough to devour everything on our table. We had reached our stomachs' satisfaction and despite living only 5 minutes away from the place, the walk back home felt like ages with our "ribbed" bellies being lugged back.

This episode was a BIG FAT TICK to my aching greed for red meat. My advice: if ever you find yourself on the same boat (or on the other side of the bridge), the deets are down below.