I'd read many great reviews about Belle's, moreso from essential Melbourne eats for 2015. As much as I go through chicken phases (whether it be Nando's, local roasts from various shops and supermarkets, the occasional KFC) I must admit that in recent years chicken doesn't excite me like other meats. It may be my own shift to slow cuts and there really isn't any slow cooking chickens (if you exclude the brining, smoking and ridiculous low heats of Heston).
Belle's may have garnered a little more interest for me when I heard a girl I know may have been dating the family member of whoever started up Belle's (maybe her name is Belle?).
There was an initial decision to eat a leftovers home lunch, but this changed by the coincidence of driving along Gertrude Street at lunchtime and so it began.
- Cardamom lemonade $6 - housemade tart lemonade with a mild hint of cardamom. Refreshing;
- Fried oysters with pickled fennel & ranch $18 - small crisp oysters but losing the ocean flavour I enjoy them so much for;
- Dark meat (drumstick & thigh) with 3 bean salad, red peppers & dill $18 - great meat, extraordinarily crispy batter coating with nice flavour. The salad was a little bland compared to the spice of the batters;
- Tenders with old bay fries $16 - very soft chicken pieces with a slightly softer batter. Good fries with a similar spice mix.
I'm not sure what the spice coating is but I'd think it contains salt, pepper, milk powder (or some kind of cheese powder which is the aftertaste I had) and paprika. I'm sure there's another 20 spices in it that I can't discern.
I ordered medium heat which was quite minimal. Housemade hot sauce provided quite a kick of vinegar and a definite extra bit of chilli. To me it seemed similar to Nando's periperi but less thick. It wasn't unpleasantly hot but I didn't think I needed it for the fries nor chicken, but others who like dipping things may disagree.
Thanks for redeeming my faith in chicken.
Next time I would order dark meat with old bay fries and an extra wing or tender. I might try hot instead to medium to see how well I handle it.
03-2016
I was in the area for a housewarming and the icing on the cake was the thought of the opportunity to return to Belle's. On this occasion the new items tried were the special of Mac & Cheese (very thick, cheesy with distinct bacon taste and not overly rich) and Wings with Pickles (wings had great flavour and crunchy coatings and the pickles were nice too but probably a bit too much considering the dishes come with 4 pickles already).
I also had the dark meat with fries and it reinforced my preference for fries over another side (although if dining alone, another/additional side may be necessary to offset the salty heavy flavours) and also how much I like the dark meat's combination of crisp seasoning but also chunks of pure meat (which the wings don't have). Both are great but I'd probably give the edge to the dark meat, as 4 wings seemed like potentially too much flavouring. I also went for medium again and so will need the upgrade to hot as I felt barely any heat at all.
Iced tea had a sweet strong peppermint flavour and I enjoyed it more than the cardamom lemonade from last visit.
This trip reaffirmed my thoughts of Belle's having some of my favourite (and the best) chicken I've eaten anywhere.