Bones to pick:Stick with the ribs

04 March 2015 - 02:00 By Adél Groenewald
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HAND TO MOUTH: At Sticky Fingers in Observatory it's best to tuck in a serviette and use your fingers
HAND TO MOUTH: At Sticky Fingers in Observatory it's best to tuck in a serviette and use your fingers
Image: ADRIAN DE KOCK

If you're going to try a new restaurant, visit the original branch and order the signature dish. In the case of Sticky Fingers BBQ, it's the one in Observatory and a rack (or more) of ribs.

As you walk through the narrow entrance, past the bar, down a step and underneath a low doorframe to find a booth, you'll feel like you're in an alleyway. That's because you are.

The largest part of the seating area may have a roof and a tiled floor, but the wind whistling through the cracks, and the toilet cubicles you pass on your way, are dead giveaways.

Sticky Fingers isn't the type of place you'll take your visiting parents to show off Cape Town's restaurant culture. But the dingy, dimly lit atmosphere has its charm. And man, do they know how to cook up a rack of ribs.

The thoroughly basted meat needs only a light nudge from your knife to fall off the bone, which means it is entirely possibly to eat with your knife and fork if you're so inclined. The best way, however, is to tuck a serviette into your collar and use your fingers.

If you're really not in the mood for ribs, you can pick a juicy burger off the extensive menu or chicken wings with onion rings and fries.

On Monday nights, you can order the Vuilbite Gatsby. It feeds four and is stuffed with everything you'd normally have on a plate - shredded ribs, onion rings, fries and a touch of green.

On a diet? Stay at home or throw caution to the wind for one night. It isn't worth ordering a salad at a place like this.

Sticky Fingers also has branches in the CBD and Rondebosch.

  • 96 Station Road, Observatory, 021-823-7688
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