Lamb is delicious all year round (summer lamb chops on the barbie, anyone?), but there’s something about a big plate of tender, melt-in-the-mouth slow cooked lamb shoulder that just makes the cooler weather that much easier to bear. But since spending hours and hours cooking lamb to perfection in the kitchen just isn’t our forte, we’ve got to get it elsewhere. Lucky there’s plenty of places to tuck into that meaty goodness, and we’ve taste tested our way to the best.
Waterline Restaurant | Brisbane
Where will you find a lamb shoulder with a view as spectacular as the slow cooked lamb is tender? At Friday’s Waterline restaurant of course, where the meaty feast is dished up with smashed potatoes, zucchini ribbons and balsamic. Share it between two or three fellow diners with a few cheeky glasses of red, but don’t expect the conversation to be scintillating while there’s still melt-in-your-mouth meat to be eaten.
The George Bar | Brisbane
They may be an unexpected entrant, but The George Bar’s lamb shoulder share board is perfect for lunch with work-mates or wind-down drinks and nibbles of an evening. It also includes two sides, and we can vouch that the truffled mac and cheese is worth doubling up on.
Hatch & Co | Newstead
If you can resist the plates of crispy calamari, parmesan arancini and smoky BBQ wings, Hatch & Co’s slow cooked lamb shoulder with lemon and garlic dressing is worth saving yourself for. Best paired with oven roasted pumpkin and garlic yoghurt and a side of golden chips, it’s better than any home-cooked roast – even mum’s.
Nantucket Kitchen & Bar | Indooroopilly
There once was a man from Nantucket. He ordered lamb shoulder for dinner and was very, very happy. This Indooroopilly kitchen dishes up simple, Cape Cod-inspired meals that will definitely hit the spot. Their slow roasted lamb shoulder is cooked in Nantucket’s famous charcoal oven – and this one you may not want to share.
Julius Pizzeria | South Brisbane
Grazie, Italia! Aussies aren’t the only one who can cook a mean lamb dish. This trendy Italian eatery serves a mouth-wateringly slow-roasted lamb shoulder, paired with fregola, cherry tomatoes, black olives, and pan juices. Maybe Rome would have been built in a day if they weren’t all too busy eating lamb shoulder.
Moda | Brisbane
The food brought out into this glam dining room has been influenced by tastes in Spain, France, and Italy, so this is far and away from those lamb snags you through on the BBQ last weekend. Accompanied by capsicum chutney and Catalan potato, it’s enough to serve two, but we suggest plying your date with plenty of red wine beforehand so they eat slower and you get the lion’s share.
Il Locale | Paddington
Il Locale is big on sharing, and the lamb is no exception, with 12 hours of slow roasted goodness that will feed you and a friend very happily. You can probably still fit in some starters of crumbed and fried olives stuffed with pork mince, but whether there’s room for cannoli afterwards is another thing.
Pony Dining | Brisbane
Giddy up! At Pony Dining’s Eagle Street venue, your eyes will be tearing between the Storey Bridge sights and the plates piled high with food. Their BBQ oyster-cut lamb shoulder weighs in at a whopping 1.2kg, so make sure your eyes aren’t bigger than your stomach – help will be required.
Darling & Co | Paddington
You may know them better for their cocktails, but the restaurant in Paddington’s new favourite local also serves up a mean slow-cooked lamb shoulder. And you can get cocktails at the restaurant as well as at the bar, so it’s a win-win, really. Just be sure to eat your seasonal roasted vegetables as well as all that juicy lamb.
Cook at home: Meat at Billy’s | Ashgrove
The only thing more impressive than being served a perfectly-cooked lamb shoulder is being able to plate one up yourself. Pick up a Saltbush lamb shoulder from Meat at Billy’s in Ashgrove if you’re looking for fresh, high-quality meat. There’s even a slow-cooked lamb recipe on Meat at Billy’s website to help you out. Once you’ve shown off your new skill to your friends a few times, the dinner party requests will be flooding in.
If you give the lamb shoulders at these spots a try, you won’t be having a baaaad time.
Words by Samantha Chariton
