Review: Meat In The Middle

My first time visiting Kingsway, Glen Waverley and I realised I'd struck (burger) gold: Yo My Goodness, Mocha Jo's Burger Bar and Meat in the Middle!! All on the same street!! Tough decisions were to be had that day. But the opportunity for some juicy, tender souvlaki meat was too good to pass up. So, it had to be Meat In The Middle (that funky pun had no influence on the decision, I swear).

I was quite surprised by the layout. By the images I'd seen on social media, I actually expected it to be more suited to an eat-in dining experience, but the place itself seemed more like a casual, take-away venue.  Clearly this wasn't going to deter us though, because the menu itself is BOMB.

I went with a classic: The Spartan. The choice of char grilled lamb, pork or chicken (chicken being my choice), a salad of fresh tomato, cucumber, lettuce, onion and feta cheese and of course house made Tzatziki with warm pita pieces.  As I got The Spartan as an open platter, rather than a wrapped souvlaki the price was $15.00. That's pretty decent for the size of the platter! Eyes definitely bigger than my belly. 

To be completely honest, the meat itself did lack some flavour.  This is something I often find with chicken off the grill, lamb and pork tends to crisp up and char-grill just that bit more.  It also depends how long the portion of meat you get has been rotating directly on the flame, if they're dishing it up fast, chances are it's not going to get the most fulfilling flavour.  Yet, it was super juicy and tender, the generous portion of creamy Tzatziki helping to infuse some further flavour.  The salad was very fresh (love the bite of the crisp red onion) which always seems to balance out the heaviness of the meat.   

My better half braved the beast of a burger menu, devouring The Sinatra ($15.00): 140gm mixed beef and pork patty, maple glazed bacon, pork crackling, pickles, cooked onions, cos lettuce, aged cheddar cheese and house made Bourbon BBQ sauce, American mustard and aioli all within a brioche bun. What a great combination of flavours! The only thing that we were a little unsure of was the texture of the pork crackling amongst the rest.  

But the piece de resistance of our meal had to be the Nutella Fries ($8.00). Yes, you heard correctly: NUTELLA on POTATO FRIES.  If there's one reason to head down to Meat In The Middle ASAP, it is these fries. I can understand any skepticism, but I assure you they make a fantastic combo and were absolutely delicious.  The fries were perfectly golden and crunchy, coated in a cinnamon sugar mix.  Included was a little dipping sauce of Nutella on the side, just in case there wasn't enough already!

Would I go back? The Nutella fries alone are very tempting and I do think the menu has quite the allure (check out The Kingsway, an Asian-infused souvlaki). I'll definitely be in the area again though, seems like quite the foodie hub!