I’ve been to Old Faithful Bar & BBQ twice in the last two weeks – once with my foodie friend N on a Friday night and last Thursday night with burger boy.
I love my American BBQ food and I’m finding that I always seem to choose a casual meal in a funky atmosphere over fine dining. As much as I appreciate the effort and presentation of fine dining, I still prefer a good tasty portion and a vibrant atmosphere. So Old Faithful Bar & BBQ fit the bill – a cool bar with simple, great food that won’t break the budget.
Last Friday night was my first experience of the Old Faithful Bar & BBQ. As they don’t take bookings my friend N arrived after work at 5:30pm and placed our names on the list for a table. I met her at 6pm and a table hadn’t freed up yet so we had a drink at the bar. By this time the Old Faithful was filling up quickly with the after work crowd but it was still easy enough to order a drink. As I hardly carry cash on me these days I was happy that EFTPOS/paypass facilities were available as it saved me a trip to the ATM.
We were seated at 6:30pm and shared our table with another couple. The host advised that it’s best to sit next to each other rather than opposite as it gets quite noisy on a Friday night.
It did take a little while to get the attention of the staff to get a menu whose roles were mainly to clear tables but when we did get our menus, it didn’t take long for us to decide what we wanted as we were both pretty hungry.
N headed up to the counter at the back (easier than me with my junior burger bump to squeeze through the crowd) and ordered 200g of beef brisket, half rack of pork ribs, a medium potato salad and coleslaw to share ($43)…
The meats came with two slices of cut bread with some sliced onion. It’s nothing special and I would have probably preferred better bread but it did fit in with the “nothing fancy” style of dining.
And as always dessert is a second stomach, I had a La Paleta hibiscus icy pole ($5) and N had an apple tart dessert ($8.50)…
Both were great, my only comment is that the apple tart dessert could have been easily placed on a plate rather than slopped onto the tray which didn’t look that appetizing.
We ordered too much so N took the rest home with her…
My second visit to Old Faithful Bar & BBQ with burger boy last Thursday night was much quieter, we arrived at 5pm and got the pick of the tables. The after work crowd were at the bar enjoying a drink and we had personalised service from a waiter by the name of Harrison who explained that you ordered food at the back and drinks at the bar. This was perfect for burger boy as it was his first visit.
We ordered 200g of beef brisket, 100g of pulled lamb, a full rack of pork ribs, pickles and a small potato salad. This is the slow cooked meat on display…
burger boy made good use of the house made sauces, in particular the barbecue sauce…
As per my last visit, we got two slices of sandwich bread which wasn’t quite enough for burger boy. He asked for two more which Harrison happily got for us without any extra cost.
We were in and out within 40 minutes – a perfect pre-movie dinner. It costed around $70 for the two of us including drinks. Like my last visit, we ordered too much and were able to take away our leftovers…
For those of you who like your casual bar meals The Old Faithful Bar & BBQ is worth a try. Here’s a few tips if you’re looking to head there:
• Get ready to get your hands dirty – go with a good friend or your significant other half. Old Faithful is not a place to go on your first date or with a Vegetarian
• Go there after 7:30pm on a Friday night if you don’t want to wait, otherwise put your name/phone number down and go drink at the bar or go for a shop/drink somewhere else. Old Faithful will call you when your table is ready.
• If you don’t like to share tables, go there early on a weeknight for dinner, it started to fill from 6pm.
Old Faithful Bar & BBQ is a funky but somewhat casual place to go in terms of food service. It is located between La Veen and Uncle Joe’s on King Street, food is good but don’t expect to be blown away. I find that it is as much about the bar and atmosphere as it is about the food.
