David O.
Yelp
After being away for a few weeks doing my best Leyland's Brothers impression on air planes both abroad and interstate, I organised a weekend away down to Margaret River with my girlfriend. It had been a few years since I'd headed down that way to do anything else aside from fishing and it was a nice surprise to see how much it'd had changed and grown.
We arrived in town early, so as to get a good seat for the Grand Final. We'd heard great things about this place and I ogled the Yoder Frontiersman smoker that adorns the front beer garden. As an avid American Barbecue lover myself and having recently journeyed through the U.S.A. with my girlfriend on a 28 day BBQ joint and roller coaster adventure, I was keen to sample what the Settler's Tavern had to offer.
Perth and the greater surrounds has a massive issue in not having any, what I'd call authentic American Style Barbecue restaurants. There are plenty of imitators and imposters out there but after eating at the Settler's Tav, I'd say that they are the closest to what I've eaten outside of the States, in Perth.
That's not so say there isn't a great room for improvement. BBQ is perfect for me on a low carb diet for the majority of the time and compliments my girlfriend's needs being pregnant and with all the cuts generally well and truly done by means of low and slow cooking, we are guaranteed a no fuss meal.
We obviously didn't read the menu properly though, as there was no beef ribs or pulled pork on the menu that day, despite our efforts to order them but what folks have to understand about true "barbecue", is that it's not like a burger or a steak which can be easily manufactured and to order. Barbecue on the other hand takes many hours to cook and if you run out, you can't just whip up more. Such is the case that BBQ joints in the States will open their door until they are sold out and when there is nothing left, it's off to search for another BBQ joint.
We were lucky enough that they had brisket available but with a few drinks under my belt with it being Grand Final day we were hungry so ordered some wings and squid rings. The chicken wings we had were lovely and juicy and with a nice subtle smoke. The squid rings were mint too and I quite enjoyed them with Bootleg Brewery's 7.1% Raging Bull to wash it all down.
Now to come to the brisket. Flavour wise the brisket was bang on with a mild and subtle smoke from the Jarrah but the texture wasn't right. I went to a lot of trouble to ask the lady serving at the counter that I wanted the point which is the moist part of the brisket. She didn't know what that was but in an awesome effort of service, she went out the back to ask the chef and came back an indicated that he knew what I was talking about.
When the brisket came out, I knew immediately just from looking at it that they'd cut me some of the flat which is the lean part of the brisket. Usually people that like the flat and those that like the point are light years apart, just as people who like medium rare and well done steak, so it's disappointing in the same manner to get the wrong part of the beast, especially when the chef had indicated otherwise.
The other issue was with the quality of the brisket. Now I'm just being extremely picky, as I have eaten in some of the most stellar brisket in the world and always compare to the best, just as you would your best steak or burger in other restaurants and weigh up your top 10. The lower marbling characterised by lower grade brisket is more evident in the flat or lean part of the brisket and any issues with the cook is compounded over the course of the many hours it takes to cook it.
In saying that they did a very good job of cooking it. I did however see when the pit master (or chef that runs the smoker), pulled the brisket, that they were a little under temperature of what I'd normally remove my brisket, so as to give that tender, almost fall apart texture. Due to the style of wrapping the brisket in foil too, it compromised any possibility of the bark or flavour dense crust of the brisket. This too is an understandable technique to employ when using lower marbled brisket.
All in all I was just happy to have something that resembled the brisket you get in the States and despite the Eagles losing it was a great day, I enjoyed the atmosphere and uncannily bumped into a mate from Perth, that I seemingly always meet in obscure locations throughout Western Australia.
With a few tweaks the Settler's Tavern could become a place that people travel down to just for the day to eat BBQ as they do in the States. I look forward to heading down again, to sample their wares and enjoy a beer or two in the sun.
Cheers!
Dave.