Wow - all I can say is wow!
It took us a while to visit Carmel's Cafe Bar And Grill, mainly because I remember this place when it was the magnificent silver service restaurant Limeburners, then Awganix. I pine for those restaurants, especially the former ... but I digress ;)
Carmel's is a more informal affair, but the food is magnificent - I'm not using that word lightly either! We started with warm house-made bread served with olive oil, olives and dukkah - absolutely delicious.
For main I ordered the Kansas Style slow smoked red gum 'Pulled Pork' - here's the description: 'Smoked over red gum for hours, served with a fennel, apple & mixed nut slaw, cheese and spring onion potatoes and a fluffy buttered roll. A sure favourite!'
Oh yes, I'm already dreaming of when I can have this again - the pork just fell apart when I skewered it with my fork, and had a spiciness which wasn't too overpowering, but gave it a bit of a kick. I'm not normally a coleslaw person, but this was delicious - the potatoes served under the pork were an unexpected treat! This meal was seriously mouth-watering - and only $26! The serves are enormous (I think they are competing with The Barn next door), and way too much for me ... but I made a valiant effort, and made sure I ate all that pork!!
My partner had Dave's American Pork Ribs - dunno who Dave is, but he sure knows how to cook ribs - yummy!!
This is definitely not a place to take vegetarians - there are a few token veg menu items, but the meat is definitely the star of this place.
I would have given Carmel's 5 stars - but there was a very loud table of 12 seated right next to us, and they were so loud and obnoxious that we couldn't really have a conversation between ourselves. I noticed that there was a separate room nearby, and think that the staff should have moved them into there so the rest of us could enjoy our meals in peace.
Apart from that, I am very much looking forward to coming here again and sampling more menu items ... that's if I can get away from that amazing pulled pork ... hmmmm ... ;) read more