Belle's Hot Chicken, Bluebonnet BBQ, Huxtaburger, Rockwell & Sons, Jimmy Grants and Breizoz French Crepes - Fitzroy and Collingwood eats

Fried chicken and waffles. If there was one place high on my list when I visited Melbourne, it was Belle's Hot Chicken. The former Belle's Diner has been revamped into a place of worship for all lovers of Southern-style fried chicken. In the kitchen you'll find chefs and co-owners Aaron Turner (ex-Loam) and Morgan McGlone (ex-Husk in Nashville, Tennessee).


Diner lights

They've still kept the Diner lights from its former incarnation, but the menu is purely focussed on fried chicken. You can order wings, tenders or dark meat. If chicken's not your thing, they have fish and mushrooms too.


Hot fried chicken wings with mixed pickles $16

Each chicken/fish/mushroom order comes with your choice of sides. We were a little bedazzled by the choices that included coleslaw, potato salad and Almost Arnold's beans but ended up getting the Old Bay fries, mac and cheese and mixed pickles.

There are more questions to answer with each order, like deciding on how hot you want your batter. Stick with Southern for plain batter or get on the chilli train that runs from medium to hot, really hot and the expletive-ridden "really f**kin* hot".

And then you have to decide if you want extra sauce on the side too. They've got mini tubs of Mississippi Comeback, Belles ranch dressing and Belles blue cheese for $2 a pop.


Hot fried chicken wings with mac and cheese $16

The chicken comes out in plastic baskets lined with squares of greaseproof paper. Sure there's cutlery on the table, but don't go looking for plates. We end up eating the chicken the best way we know how: with our fingers, tearing into the piping hot chicken with our teeth.

It's a hot juicy mess that will leave you grinning from ear to ear even as chicken juices run down your chin. We found some chicken a little oily in parts, but there's a wicked seasoning to the chicken batter.


Really f**kin* hot fried chicken (dark meat) with Old Bay fries $16

We ordered variations of medium and hot chicken, but couldn't pass up at least one order of the really f**ckin* hot version. It's a deep red in colour with a chilli pepper burn that builds steadily with each mouthful. You'll definitely feel alive after eating this stuff! I survived one piece okay but was glad I was sharing this serve with others.


Mixed pickles

The mixed pickles kept our palates cleansed, and the mac and cheese provided some tongue-tingling relief.


Medium fried chicken (dark meat) with waffles $18 (weekend lunch only)

We debated about getting the ballet bucket: 16 wings, 4 sides and 2 sauces for $60. We wanted to have room for the fried chicken and waffles though, available at weekend lunchtimes only. The waffles are fat and fluffy and dusted with icing sugar.

You can choose which chicken you want here too - we went with the dark meat which means a chicken leg and a thigh. Drench everything with maple syrup and you've got one helluva weekend high.


Aaron Turner and Morgan McGlone beer coasters


Fried chicken goodness


Huxtaburger


Huxtaburger on Smith Street, Collingwood

After stuffing ourselves with fried chicken, we headed down the road to Huxtaburger. The Fitzroy / Collingwood precinct is probably my favourite area in Melbourne right now. The place is jam-packed with cool and interesting eateries and we spent most of Saturday eating at as many places as we could.


Flipping burgers on the grill

We spent several minutes just staring through the window at Huxtaburger, watching the relentless production of burgers for hungry customers.


Burger production line

There are tables and chairs on the footpath, but there's also a small indoor dining area to the side.


Huxtaburger $9
Beef patty, mustard, mayo, cheese, tomato sauce, lettuce, tomato and pickles

We go straight for the classic Huxtaburger, a regular inclusion in lists of Melbourne's best burgers. The layer of melted cheese on the beef patty is enough to make my heart skip a beat.

There's so much to love about the Huxtaburger. The toasted bun. The tangy mustard. The thick juicy hunk of beef patty. I like extra thick patties so they still have a touch of pink in the middle. And there's enough salad here - lettuce, pickled cucumbers and tomato - to lighten any sense of meaty excess.


Clair $12
Southern fried chicken, slaw and jalapeno mayo

We also check out the Clair, a Southern fried chicken burger that is impressively juicy. The crunchy fried chicken is slathered with jalapeno mayo, the entire lot resting on a bed of crunchy slaw.




Jimmy Grants



A few blocks down the road is Jimmy Grants. I'd eaten here before but my friends hadn't, so we stopped in for a quick bite of the classic souva, aka the Mr Papadopoulos.


The dining room at Jimmy Grants


Mr Papadopoulos $9.50
Lamb, mustard aioli, chips, onions, parsley

It's just as good as I remembered, the warm round of fluffy pita bread wrapped tightly around fatty slices of lamb souvlaki, hot chips and salad. If you ever needed proof that good things come in small packages, this would be it.


Jim Jams $6

We also returned here after a brief detour for one of their Jim Jams for dessert.


Jim Jam biscuit, marshmallow and raspberry

Jim Jams are Jimmy Grants' take on the classic Wagon Wheel, two biscuits sandwiched around marshmallow and covered in chocolate.


Inside the Jim Jam

It's all a bit fancy here with freeze-dried raspberries and hazelnuts embedded in the chocolate on top. It's also ridiculously delicious, not overly sweet, with a blob of raspberry jelly in the marshmallow core. Six dollars seems exxy for a biscuit a first, but it's so damn tasty we quickly change our mind.


Rockwell and Sons



I'd been to Rockwell and Sons on my last visit to Melbourne, but was keen to try more things on the menu. Their fried chicken and biscuits still remained a beautiful memory.


Maine-style tiger prawn roll $13
with Kewpie tartare and compressed celery

We dig into the Maine-style tiger prawn roll, its exquisite perfection belied by its simple appearance. The bun is soft and comforting, an ideal vehicle for the huddle of plump tiger prawns doused in Kewpie tartare. The prawns are wondrously sweet and the tangle of compressed celery on top provides a hint of acidity and a contrast of textures.


Crispy confit duck wings $12
with red dragon sauce, scallions and sesame

We can't resist ordering the crispy confit duck wings based purely on novelty value. There's not a lot of meat to these wings as expected, but the sticky, sweet and salty red dragon sauce is finger lickin' good.


Double patty smash burger with bacon $16
with Kraft and special sauce on a seeded bun

We're all over the double patty smash burger too, another heavy weight contender for Melbourne's best burger crown.


Hello bacon

And extra four dollars scores you three rashers of crispy bacon. These are American-style rashers, impossibly thin and brittle, that snap into shards with each bite.


Double patty smash burger cross-section

Sink your teeth into the toasted brioche bun and you'll meet two thin beef patties cloaked with melted Kraft cheese, special sauce and those precious strips of bacon on top. The bacon adds a fantastic smokiness. It's a burger for meat and bacon lovers, with an intensity factor way off the charts.


ADVENTURE TIME

And the best thing about Fitzroy? Stumbling into all kinds of street art including this awesome Adventure Time mural!


Breizoz French Creperie


Crepe batter

I think I've also discovered my new favourite crepe place in Melbourne too - Breizoz French Creperie just across the road from Sonido.


Smoothing out the crepe batter with a wooden dowel

You can smell the sinful aroma of butter and sugar whenever you walk within a few hundred metres of Breizoz. I've always meant to visit here but have either been on my way to a meal or have just finished eating one and am too full.


Flipping the crepe

It's definitely worth prioritising some space in your stomach though. They make all their crepes with buckwheat flour and have a huge range of savoury and sweet variations.


Spreading chestnut puree onto our crepe

There are tables and chairs on the footpath, and a couple of tables inside. Either way, you can always watch your crepes being made in the open kitchen. The dexterity involved in flipping such giant thin crepes is quite a show.


Crepe with chestnut $8.50

If you like super thin crepes with crispy edges, you'll love Breizoz. I continued my obsession with chestnut cream crepes, but really we're all secretly fighting for more of the crunchy edges.

I love the deep golden colour of the crepes, and the glossy sheen to its surface. If you do watch the crepe production in the kitchen, you'll see the crepes being blessed with a cube of butter across its surface.


Crepe with almond praline $8.50

The crepe with almond praline is a surprise hit too, the folded crepe covered in smithereens of almond praline. It's nutty, crunchy and elegantly sweet.


Bluebonnet Barbecue



There's been a huge explosion of American barbecue places in Melbourne, so many in fact, that I had to decide between half a dozen specialist US barbecue joints. I ended up choosing Bluebonnet Barbecue and I'm glad I did. There's a genuine sense of heartfelt hospitality here, from the friendly waitstaff to the outdoor dining area out the back that feels just like someone's backyard, complete with fairy lights and an outdoor dunny.


Executive chef Chris Terlikar, carving the brisket

Executive chef Chris Terlikar worked in Michelin-star restaurants before making the switch to American barbecue. It was a meal at New York barbecue house Fette Sau that was the turning point. He ended up travelling around Texas for eight weeks undergoing intensive tutelage on all things barbecue before returning to Melbourne to open Bluebonnet.

Pulling pork baby back ribs out of the smoker

The smoker out the back used to be a smoke machine from a nightclub at Crown Casino that Chris found in a junkyard. It was cleaned out and turned into a customised firebox smoker, cranking out barbecue meats non-stop except for a two-hour break from 10pm til midnight.

They use iron bark wood from the Blue Mountains in the smoker. They tried all types of woods before eventually settling on iron bark because of its slow-burning capabilities. It also maintains a regular temperature as it burns.


Kung Foo rice lager

Meats are ordered just like they do in the States, by the pound or half-pound. One pound is about 450 grams for anyone still wondering!


[Clockwise from bottom left]: Daily housemade sausage ½ lb $21 ; roasted brussels sprouts $10; pork baby back ribs ½ lb $19; smoked chicken ½ $14; Ranger's Valley Black Angus brisket ½ lb $22; crispy lamb ribs ½ lb $19 

The meat is loaded up on a brown paper-lined tray. You do get plates here, and a huge squeezy bottle of their housemade barbecue on the side.

It's all good. Today's housemade sausage is beef stuffed with cheese, so hot from the oven the cheese squirts out with ferocity. The pork ribs are cooked for three to four hours, and so tender the meat falls clean the bone.


Roasted brussels sprouts with lemon miso dressing and Turkish chilli $10

The brussels sprouts still have some bitterness to them but the lemon miso dressing is so good you could drink it with a straw. It reminds me of the prawn head juices you get after grilling prawns on the barbecue although I just get a strange look from staff when I mention this to them.


Ranger's Valley Black Angus brisket ½ lb $22

The brisket is cooked for eight hours, and the blackened sheath around its surface looks the business. It's intensely smoky at the edges, and the meat is juicy with precious layers of fat that taste gloriously good.


Apple and kohlrabi slaw with sherry musard vinaigrette $8

There are lots of sides to choose from, including warm kipfler potato salad and broccoli with fetta and smoked almonds. The apple and kohlrabi slaw is the right level of sweetness and crunch to provide welcome refreshment.


Chris carving the smoked chicken

We'd been hesitant about ordering the smoked chicken but do so on recommendation of our waiter. It's just as good as he said it would be. We're so swayed by its succulency that we end up ordering another half pound.


Crispy lamb ribs 1lb $36; smoked porter braised beef cheeks ½ lb $21; and smoked chicken ½ $14

We also can't get enough of the lamb ribs. These are a life-changing moment. They've been cooked so the fat has rendered its way throughout the meat but it's the skin that has our eyes rolling to the back of our head. It's crispy and smoky and brittle and fatty and it's so darn amazing we order another pound to share.


Smoked porter braised beef cheeks ½ lb $21

We also get the smoked porter braised beef cheeks on our second round. The meat is so soft, you only need a fork to coax it apart.

Oh Collingwood. I can't wait to meat you again.

>> Read the next Melb 2014 weekend post: 8Bit, Candied Bakery + more
<< Read the first Melb 2014 weekend post: Cumulus Up, Supernormal & Om Nom






Belle's Hot Chicken
150 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne
Tel: +61 (03) 9077 0788
Opening hours:
Monday 12pm-10pm
Wednesday to Saturday 12pm-11pm
Sunday 11am-5pm


Bluebonnet Barbecue
187 Johnston Street, Collingwood, Melbourne
Now at:
32 St Georges Rd South, Fitzroy North, Melbourne
Tel: +61 (03) 9972 1815
Opening hours:
Lunch Friday to Sunday 12pm-3pm
Dinner Monday to Thursday 6pm-10pm, Friday to Sunday 5pm-11pm


Breizoz French Creperie
Corner Gertrude and Brunswick Streets, Fitzroy, Melbourne
Tel: +61 (03) 9415 7588
Opening hours:
Sunday to Thursday 10am-10pm
Friday and Saturday 10am-11pm


Huxtaburger
106 Smith Street, Collingwood, Melbourne
Tel: +61 (03) 9417 6328
Opening hours:
Sunday to Thursday 11.30am-10pm
Friday and Saturday 11.30am-11pm


Jimmy Grants
113 St David Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne
Open daily 11am-11pm
Also open at Emporium, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne


Rockwell and Sons
288 Smith Street, Collingwood, Melbourne
Tel: +61 (03) 8415 0700
Opening hours:
Lunch Friday 12pm - 3pm | Saturday and Sunday 12pm - 4pm
Dinner Wednesday to Sunday 6pm - 10pm (till 11pm Friday and Saturdays)
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays


>> Read the next Melb 2014 weekend post: 8Bit, Candied Bakery + more
<< Read the first Melb 2014 weekend post: Cumulus Up, Supernormal & Om Nom


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