Food for dudes

(as heard on FBI Radio)

With presenter Sweetie and the role of producer being taken-over by Oscar while Catherine is on hiatus, while the girls are away the boys will..well, ask about 'dude food', for starters.

Notwithstanding the vegetarians among the less-fair sex, the general assumption is that they gravitate towards their caveman roots, favouring bold flavours, un-fussy presentation, generous proportions. Forget canape blinis with rosettes of Petunia smoked trout, men want meat, and plenty of it. A recent Fooderati Twitter poll did little to break this assumption:

@blues_junkie Franz Scheurer, founder of Australian Gourmet Pages: smoked wagyu tongue, cooked, then BBQed + served with (freshly grated) horseradish cream

@dan_hong (Head chef at Sydney's Lotus Restaurant) : anything with bacon

@vijaykhurana (Triple J's lunch presenter): Kangaroo steak! Whole mangoes just for me! Burrrrgers!

While @erezgordon simply shared these sage words: Don't you know men are genetically predisposed to anything deep fried? Whether we like it or not.

Armed with this meaty knowledge, here are three places to head out with the boys this weekend.

Pub steak:

Shakespeare Hotel (200 Devonshire St Surry Hills)

Friday evenings see the pub crowd spill out of the old-school interior of the pub and onto the sidewalk, London-style. Innit. There are several great things about the Shakey (as the local 20 something alcoholic population call it). Amongst these are their ability to expertly pour a Guinness the way it should be done, their proximity to Mohr Fish?s take-away chips (eaten on the footpath, schooner in hand) and the Shakey?s $10 Rump Steak. Served with ubiquitous mash and salad, there really isn?t anything more comforting than an ice-cold beer after work accompanied by your old mate, steak.

Ribs:

Hurricane's Grill (130 Roscoe St, Bondi)
Nothing says 'man food' (or 'yabba dabba doo') like a plate stuffed with a full rack of barbeque-glazed pork ribs and chunky potato chips. Anyone carnivore within a three block radius can be seen cartoon-wafting towards this mecca of meat. The ribs themselves are sticky, smokey and fall-off-the-bone tender. $37.40 will buy you a full rack, and if you can't finish it, then what kind of man are you? (just kidding. A tip for those who'd rather a half rack: sharing with a mate is better value than ordering a half rack each. Now how's that for bromance?)
South American Grill:

La Parrilada (Shop 470, Parramatta Rd Leichhardt 2040.)

Show La Parrillada's website to a vegetarian and they'll most likely run for the (vegan) hills. The showcase of meat, meat and (wait for it) MORE meat is overt and underscored by phrases like "over 2.5kg of meat!" Indeed for a restaurant named after one of South America's most famous food exports - the mixed grill, Jose Cruz and his staff are serious when it comes to the business of the barbecue.

The menu has a number of options all of which star meat. We opt for the Parrillada For Two promising "Over 1.5kgs of meat" in addition to fries and salad for under $50.Chorizo, steak, pork ribs, cutlets and lamb are served on a mini charcoal grill and the quality of produce and care in preparation is clear, resulting in a juicy, tender texture with a delicately smoky flavour.