Tickled Rib Smokehouse

With one pair of hooves in Hobart’s CBD and the other pair in North Hobart, Tickled Rib Smokehouse is poised to take over the city and blow the imitators out of the water when it comes to the big steaks game of American BBQ and smoked meat magicianship. Throwing open its big barn doors down Elizabeth Street in mid-2016, this warm and welcoming joint of a restaurant has pleased many a carnivorous customer with its extravagant, mouthwatering selection of meaty goodness, all sourced from trusted Huon Valley suppliers, fired in Tickled Rib’s own custom-built smokers using Tasmanian wood, and served up with panache but little fuss whether in the raw, so to speak, or clothed in burgers, sandwiches, wraps and other guises.

Despite Tickled Rib Smokehouse’s relative youth, a quality that you’d think a hindrance in a hospitality niche dominated by terms like ‘aged’ and ‘180-day grass-fed’ and so forth (analogously, would it be fine if a 12 year-old distilled a killer bourbon?), this Southern American barbecue-style Hobart restaurant is already attracting a lot of attention from the big game hunters of the city’s foodie scene. It must be the smell. As you head up Elizabeth Street from the CBD to the borderlands of North Hobart you’re likely to smell the smoke chugging from the restaurant’s custom smoker units before you see the jolly red pig hanging (in illuminated sign form) above the door (they’re not barn doors, really).

Inside this pit master’s paradise, a straight to the point menu shows of Tickled Rib’s fantastic Tassie take on traditional American BBQ culinary culture. Heading up the list are the simple smoked meat options – beef brisket (the meat smoking subculture’s litmus test) slow-cooked over ironbark with a simple salt and pepper rub; pork or lamb ribs over cherrywood with a honey glaze; pork shoulder over applewood with a spiced apple rub; beef and cheese sausages or the whole hog Pit Boss Selection, showing off all of the above with potato salad, slaw and corn bread on the side. Hobart CBD workers and North Hobart’s hungry can nip down to Tickled Rib for a pulled pork or smoked beef burger, a steak or Reuben sandwich, a lamb wrap for a Mediterranean vibe or the daily special sandwich. Go south of the border with nachos and bean burritos. Just remember to drink plenty, and please book ahead to avoid being crestfallen.