Ribbets

I got obsessed with going to Ribbetts one day when Mr W., mentioned it was one of the best places he had been to for a buffet in Brisbane and that we should go there together one day. So I did what any earnest food loving girl would do I went, without him, with my work friends. We were all delighted that it was so close to work as well so it was an easy drive. Z., Lu., and E., came along to try out Ribbetts.

The restaurant is directly across from the Dutton Park Police Station/Boggo Road gaol. If you're lucky you'll get a park in their very small parking lot, otherwise you'll have to risk Dutton Park's 2P zone!

Spot this from Gladstone/Annerly road!

When we went here they had this little toaster oven with free samples. I was super suspicious of it because the restaurant isn't located in a terribly busy street or road. How long had the samples been there? Why were they free? If I grabbed a sample, why do I get the feeling that a net would drop down on me and trap me? These were some of the odd thoughts going through my brain when I saw it.

It's a trap!

Their all you can eat requirements are pretty annoying, you have to call or book online to get a reservation, you have to pay at the beginning, it's one bill only but they begrudgingly allowed us to pay separately and it's a 90 minute time limit of eating. Here is their all you can eat menu.

We helped ourselves to these cups of water with lumps of ice at the bottle. Interesting.

Interesting

As soon as we sat down we were offered some freshly cooked cheese and garlic bread which we accepted and began to burn our mouths on. Except for me because I'm a grilled cheese pro who only gets burnt when I put in tomato, which I never do because molten tomato is a rookie error. I think its made out of pizza dough but its still delicious either way.

Cheese and bread is a match made in heaven

We started ordering straight away. It seems like there are lots of different amounts that you can order from snack sized servings for one, to a group size or family sized but this was quite unclear. When they explained to us, they basically said order whatever you want and we'll make it. I really wanted to just try anything and everything but didn't want to waste food so if I had known this initially I'd have been a lot happier.

These are the Hellfire chicken wings, they're coated in a tomato sauce and copious amounts of chili flakes that are pretty mild, truth be told. The meat was very tender and had a slightly charry flavour to them which I enjoyed.

Not bad!

We got two platters of their five hour slow cooked, then grilled to perfection pork ribs coated in their famous barbeque sauce. It was honestly one of the best ribs I've had, especially if you love tender, falling off the bone meat and a finger licking sauce that is balanced, sweet, fruity and tangy. They were super meaty ribs and I really enjoyed eating them. I'd gladly go here again for the ribs alone. We nearly filled up on ribs alone!

Highly recommended

Z., got a garden salad to help green things up, it consisted of tomato, lettuce, cucumber and a satchet of Heinz Italian style salad dressing. I didn't have any as I was too busy eating ribs.

Salad is for chumps!

I got the barbecue all meat pizza which was the family size pizza. At this point I still had no idea what size the pizzas were but I confirmed that this was to share so we got it cut into six pieces. The base was light, thick, think deep pan crunchy crust with fluffy interior, there only a small amount of sauce and there was a good amount of pepperoni, bacon and ham pieces. We were struggling a bit at this stage and had slowed down quite a bit. Not that it mattered because there was almost an hour gap between this pizza and the following dishes.

Tasty!

I got the bacon carbonara with fettuccine, this was a portion for one and would've just been over a cup worth of pasta and sauce. We all found the pasta sauce very cheesy and creamy, but also quite sweet from the sheer amount of onion in the sauce. The pasta was a tricoloured fettuccine that was quite good, a nice al dente texture that's for sure.

We had to remind our waitress twice about these onion rings, several tables around us had gotten seated and served food before we received them. We started eating them as soon as they got there, so that's why the portion sizing is abysmally small, there were actually twice that many in the bowl. It looks a touch greasy at the bottom but they were delicious! Golden brown, well crumbed and had a lovely sweetness from the onions.

Pretend there's more there

This Hawaiian pizza was in the tuckshop size and was the last thing we ordered to try. This was only four pieces and was about the 10cm in diamater. If I had realised that there was a size this small, I'd have ordered multiple tiny pizzas to try them! I always find that Hawaiian style pizzas are always good, you can't go wrong with the simplicity of ham and pineapple!

Classic

Ribbetts:
Atmosphere: 4, a dreadfully small converted Queenslander house turned dining room. I don't think the place could legally sit more than 20 people and that would only be if everyone was touching. If you put your chair too far back, you'd become a fire hazard cause no one could leave the premises if there was a fire. God forbid you bought a pram in there. There are stainless steel tables and chairs, and its quite an unappealing look.
Service: 3, absolutely abysmal. We had to remind multiple wait staff about our orders after the garden salad was the last to arrive, they stopped asking us if we wanted any more food after the salad arrived too, we had to get our own water on multiple occasions when the waitress forget, had to ask to get additional plates and bones taken away, we were given really disgusted looks when we asked for more food and they seemed stingy on information in general. I got the impression that I was being judged for wanting to eat more food. 
Food: 6.5, solid 80s style Aussie food where Italian and Chinese food was exotic and weird food combinations were king, especially with the weird chicken and banana pizza. I'd go here again for the solid pizzas and ribs.