Review: Debacle revisited - for dinner this time

Last weekend Mr D. and I had a big weekend of mountain biking in the Sydney 24 hour race at the beautiful Australian Botanic Garden at Mt Annan.  We had a team of four and had heaps of fun – think lots of dust and dirt, large rocks to drop off, tree trunks to dodge, big hills to climb, flowing downhill trails, little bright lights at night, plus a few minor spills and thrills along the way, and you get the idea.  All this riding of course leads to a big appetite - we usually crave protein with big savoury flavours after lots of exercise like this. 

Do I look exhausted and hungry to you?  At this point I was thinking thank goodness this was my last lap!

Mr D. told me he had fantasies of burgers and chips on his last lap of the race - but not just any burger, a really good home-cooked style burger.  Luckily we live within stumbling distance of one of our favourite Canberra eating places, Debacle.  So on Sunday evening we hobbled down the street with our tired legs after we had arrived home, showered and snoozed for a bit.  The great thing about Debacle is that it is open long hours and we can usually get a table when we rock up (we’re usually here for breakfast on weekends or take-away pizza).  Plus the service is usually friendly and efficient, which is what you want when you're tired and hungry.

Mr D. was not disappointed when his beef burger arrived.  This is an old favourite on the Debacle menu. Piled high with melted cheese, a fried egg, bacon, onions, barbecue sauce, beetroot, fresh rocket and tomato, Mr D. eventually found the tasty beef patty hidden under there.  He is one of those people that digs out the patty and leaves the rest of the burger untouched on his plate, something that greatly amuses me who likes to eat everything together.

Beef burger - $19.90 - tasty!

As well as the standard menu, Debacle usually has interesting blackboard specials which change every few weeks or so.  It was here that I spied the American-style barbecued pork ribs.  I had wanted to have ribs for ages, after having tried them for the first time many, many years ago in the USA as a wide-eyed teenager.   The ribs came with spicy potato skins and a sweet bourbon sauce.

Barbecued USA ribs - $22.90

A huge serve of ribs arrived in big slabs.  The potato skins were quite delicious, being crisp and well seasoned with a nice amount of chilli cutting through. The bourbon sauce was tasty and sweet, but I was hoping it would be finger-lickingly sticky and coat the ribs with a thick juiciness.  Instead the sauce drowned everything in its liquid at the bottom of the bowl, which meant the ribs didn’t have that intensity of flavour I was after and the spicy potato skins soon became soggy.   I found the dish not quite to my taste because of this.

I’m one of those people that will leave most of the dish on the plate if it is not quite what I’m hoping for, to Mr D.’s slight annoyance, especially when he is footing the bill.  “Why did you order it, then?”, he asks.  “Because I wanted to try something a bit different”, is my reply.  I’m willing to take a chance on most things when it comes to food, because you never know when you might just get the best meal experience of your life.  This obviously wasn’t one of those times, but at least I satisfied my curiosity about pork ribs for a while.

Thankfully a couple of schooners of our favourite Japanese Sapporo beer (which is on tap at Debacle) washed everything down beautifully with its crisp, clean flavour. 

So tell me, do you like to take a chance when ordering restaurant meals?  And what food do you get cravings for?

Debacle
30 Lonsdale St
Braddon  ACT
Open 7 days for breakfast, lunch and dinner
http://www.outincanberra.com.au/debacle