Fox Friday Burswood review: American-style bar food and craft beers the perfect pre-footy preparation

Fox Friday sounds like a footy show where a couple of boofheads called Robbo and the Grunt preview the weekend’s matches. In reality, it’s a craft brewery in Hobart, that opened a second taproom in Richmond and recently a third in Perth. Talk about an expansion club. The Perth instalment is in Burswood, a few torpedo punts from Optus Stadium. Fox Friday Burswood occupies the former home of Blasta Brewing, which moved a drop kick down the road to bigger premises. The team behind the brewery have replaced the Oktoberfest bierhall in Munich vibes of Blasta with a cleaner interior layout. It’s still a cavernous building but feels a little more user-friendly. There’s a large alfresco area with a small play area for kids. Inside, there’s a shuffleboard table. The basic premise of Fox Friday is the same as Blasta — craft beers, on tap, plus big serves of pub grub. The head chef is Robert Murphy. No, not the former Footscray player turned Fremantle Dockers skills and leadership coach, but the former head chef at French institution Bistro Guillaume. The dude and dudette food at Fox Friday couldn’t be more different than the chicken liver parfait, Parisian gnocchi and duck a l’orange at Crown Perth. Then again, Murphy still relies on a grill for octopus, steaks and other fare. And the tucker at his new gig still involves a lot of good old-fashioned cheffing. The Collins clan hit Fox Friday for an early lunch before heading down the road to see the Dockers grill the Demons. Fremantle fans trickled in, then flooded, as the two tills used for both drink and food orders struggled to keep up. By midday, the queue almost snaked out the door. That said, once orders were in, food followed shortly. In our case, it all arrived at once. Fox Friday’s highly regarded craft brews are listed on a big board behind the bar. Most are excellent, many of them strong, and there’s a few collaborations with like-minded breweries. Beers are available in small or large, and 150ml pours when they’re very heavy. The are 16 wines by the glass. The list is predominantly West Aussie with some from Fox Friday’s other homes of Victoria and Tasmania, plus one French by the bottle. Bourbon and whisk(e)y-based cocktails are the go here. Kids meals are only $10. My son’s cheeseburger was excellent, while my daughter’s fish and chips were on the smaller size. Both were good value. We started with the boudin balls (four for $14), a Cajun comfort food classic of gooey pork sausage, rice and seasoning deep-fried until golden brown and served with spicy chipotle mayo. A tasty starter. The churrasco, or grilled, Shark Bay prawn skewers served with pickled chilli and piquant chimichurri (four for $22) were big, smoky and delicious. They’re the most expensive of the seven starters but totally worth the money. There’s also chargrilled octopus, chilli bean and corn dip, and jalapeno and cheddar cornbread for folks looking for snacks or planning a huge meal. The rest of the menu requires an appetite. There’s four options on the grill ranging from a 300g Cape Grim strip for $42 up to a 900g Pardo Wagyu rib eye on the bone for $149. All steaks come with side dish and one of half a dozen different sauces. Likewise, the larger plates come with sides. My wife Myra ordered half a jerk chicken with a side of Brussels sprouts — a bargain at $28. The sprouts are $14 on their own, come with big juicy lardons and are smothered in ranch dressing. A staple of Caribbean cuisine, the sweet, smoky and aromatic jerk chicken was coated in spices and slow cooked over coals. The chook was more tender than my hamstrings after attempting a shot on goal from more than about 25m out. My eyes strayed to the side of the menu marked “burgers and sandwiches”. What’s this? A Philly cheesesteak sandwich ($22)? Yes, please. This was a big soft brioche roll the size of a Sherrin packed with grilled beef, onion, provolone, green capsicum and cheese sauce, plus a small mountain of chips. Perfect pre-match food if you’re planning on drinking like it’s Mad Monday after a Grand Final win. I found this a little too cheesy, if there’s such a thing, and somewhat one note. All those tasty-sounding ingredients melted into each other. Still this American comfort food classic, the origins of which can be traced back to South Philadelphia’s Italian Market in the 1930s, is a meal-and-a-half. We also had the mac ‘n’ cheese ($14). With good crunch on the herbed breadcrumb on top of the pasta and cheese, Fox Friday’s is superb. A winning combination for a lunch for two would be to share the jerk chicken with sides of sprouts and mac ‘n’ cheese. Partly because we didn’t plan on eating dinner after the football, we nabbed two of the three desserts. All the sweet treats are priced at $15 and all are generous serves. Named after the American campfire favourite, S’mores were house-made marshmallow with chocolate and Graham crackers. There was a nice smokiness to the toasted marshmallow. Our other dessert was another Yank favourite in Baked Alaska, which named in honour of the United States’ acquisition of the territory from the Russians in 1867. Fox Friday’s version used raspberry and coconut ice cream to summon nostalgic memories of the Iced VoVo, the classic Aussie biscuit, not the car. While slightly different to the menus in the Hobart and Melbourne taprooms, all three venues reflect a love and understanding of American bar food. Did I mention the serves are big? This left us feeling less nimble or quick, like a fox, and more like a bear checking into Hotel Hibernation. Fox Friday Burswood 84/88 Goodwood Parade, Burswood OPEN Sunday-Thursday, 11am-10pm. Friday-Saturday, 11am-11pm. CONTACT 6225 5009, foxfriday.com.au BOOKING Yes THE VERDICT Generous and elevated American-inspired pub grub not only for the footy crowds. Excellent craft beers and a family-friendly venue on the Armadale line. Worth a visit. 15/20