Good Food heads to the Sutherland Shire to try Texas barbecue with Greek flair (hello, smoked lamb shoulder gyros).
The video showed a juicy slab of smoke-stained brisket so tender it fell apart at the first stab of a flimsy cardboard fork. I’m not usually drawn to American barbecue, but damn. The social media footage, filmed at Hatz Off BBQ in Taren Point, activated something in the neanderthal depths of my brain – remnants of a long-lost survival instinct, screeching at me to drive south to the Shire and devour the flesh of three animals in a single seating.
You can smell Hatz Off before you see it – charred fat, smouldering ironbark and caramelised onions. A carnivorous smoke signal barrelling out of an almost six-metre-long, solid steel barbecue pit in the car park of a Star Car Wash.
It’s manned by owner George Hatzigeorgiou, a local man who has been cooking Texan-style barbecue for more than 10 years. First, as a hobbyist, then as a bona fide pitmaster, walking away from a corporate career to pursue his dream in 2023.
There’s a caveman appeal to Texan barbecue, he says. “Cooking with firewood, no electronics, manually controlling the airflow through your chimneys and the temperature over many hours … the longer you do it, the more you appreciate the skill and the art in it.”
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You can taste Hatzigeorgiou’s skill in his signature brisket, served straight up with slaw (made by his mum, Xan), cheesy corn kernels and a bread roll. Brisket is a tough cut of meat, taken from the collagen-rich lower-chest of a cow, but here it’s transformed – rubbed with a secret combination of salt, spice and sweetness; smoked for up to 12 hours over Queensland ironbark, and rested for a further 10. It emerges with a blackened crust, a literal melt-in-your-mouth softness, and just the right amount of chew.
It helps, of course, that this particular brisket comes from Australian-bred wagyu with the highest score of marbled, intramuscular fat.
“From the beginning, we said, ‘Look, if we’re going to do this, we’re jumping in with both feet. We’re not taking any shortcuts, we’re not pre-cooking anything the week before, and we’re doing everything from scratch’,” he says.
“And if it works, fantastic. If it doesn’t, then we sleep well knowing we didn’t cut any corners.”
That philosophy extends throughout the menu. Hatzigeorgiou makes all of his sauces from scratch in his home kitchen, slowly cooking down big pots of barbecue sauce (sweet, with subtle heat, always served on the side), blending a house sauce that sits somewhere between ranch and garlic, and using his Greek great-grandmother’s recipe for a creamy tzatziki.
“We wanted to make sure there was a Greek twist on things,” he says. That means there’s gyros on the eight-item (plus sides) menu served with brisket, chicken or (the obvious choice) smoked lamb shoulder. Generous serves of meat are shredded into a thick grilled pita and wrapped with tzatziki, sliced red onion and fries. The whole thing is as thick as my forearm. It disappears fast.
There’s also a snack pack, smoked chicken wings, beef short ribs, and the best-selling brisket cheese toastie (only available at lunchtime). But it’s the $22 Philly cheesesteak that stands out: brisket piled onto soft white bread, sweetened with grilled green peppers and caramelised brown onions. It’s finished with a molten cheese blend of cheddar, asadero and Monterey Jack.
“It looks like a heart attack,” says a reformed vegan (my husband). He still fights for the last bite.
This is a sometimes-food, admits Hatzigeorgiou. But it’s only available twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays, when he sets up shop with sister Anna on the grill and wife Kali taking orders from a fold-out table. We planned to eat there, but the air-conditioned dining room (available at night, after the car wash closes) was nearly empty, the outdoor chairs were stacked, and most customers opted for takeaway.
He wants the business to grow into a warehouse one day, with the smoker out front and a bit of atmosphere inside. Until that happens, there’s a pretty good alternative – we enjoyed our feast with a waterfront view on the Woolooware Bay boardwalk, a three-minute drive away.
Three more places to try American-style barbecue
Smoke Shack BBQ, Mount Colah
There’s a true Texan feel to Smoke Shack BBQ. It’s in a repurposed ’70s era Pizza Hut, kitted out with hardwood picnic tables, piles of chopped wood in the counters and a barbecue pit out front. The restaurant specialises in low-and-slow barbecue, serving pork belly, wagyu brisket and jalapeno cheese hot links (sausages) across a selection of burgers, platters and boxes. Order ahead for wagyu ribs, smoked for 10 hours on the bone and served with chimichurri sauce.
527-531 Pacific Highway, Mount Colah, smokeshack-bbq.com.au
2 Smokin’ Arabs, Belmore
2 Smokin’ Arabs started as a market stall and quickly developed a reputation for its barbecued brisket, wagyu ribs and burgers. They’ve since moved into a three-month residency at the Canterbury Leagues Club, while continuing to operate a food truck (usually stationed somewhere in Sydney’s west, check Instagram for updates).
26 Bridge Road, Belmore, instagram.com/2smokinarabs_aus
Brisket Boys, Penrith
The Penrith pitmasters have expanded to a second location, partnering with local NRL team the Panthers to open in their downstairs Basement Sports Bar. There are all the low-and-slow barbecue classics like brisket and pork, as well as Philly cheesesteak and Reuben sandwiches. Their original HQ in North Penrith now sells smoked brisket feast kits so you can learn to prepare your own at home.
Tenancy 25/2115 Castlereagh Road, Penrith and 123 Mulgoa Road, Penrith, brisketboys.com.au
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney eating out and restaurant editor.
