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Asian

Kanzo

Believe it or not, almost three years after moving to Sydney, I’m still looking for a go-to Japanese restaurant. Although I have about half a dozen good ramen restaurants under my belt by now, I’m still yet to find a cheap and cheerful place that serves casual Japanese food – the kind of place you go to on a weeknight when you don’t feel up to cooking. My search today took me out to Parramatta, to a popular sushi restaurant named Kanzo. Based on reviews, I had expected a small and fairly low-key restaurant, but what actually greeted me was a takeaway shop with some rickety stables set up next door, in the vestibule of a run-down shopping mall. Still,…

13/01/2021

Asian, Cheapie Lunch (Under $20), Japanese, Parramatta

Ho Jiak

Malaysian cuisine was the first I ever fell in love with. It cemented my now-undying love for street food, and was the catalyst for my first ever overseas with friends. And although I don’t have it nearly as often these days, having gotten the obsession out of my system with 2 weeks in Malaysia, I still very much have a soft spot for the eclectic, multicultural cuisine. Ho Jiak is one of the first restaurants that really put Malaysian food on the map in Sydney. Although there were plenty of places to get your Malaysian fix, most of them were cheap and cheerful eateries that served up just a few of the more well-known Malaysian dishes. Not Ho Jiak. Sure,…

16/12/2020

Asian, Haymarket, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Malaysian

Sydney Cebu Lechon

I came across my very first Boodle Fight was when an old co-worker posted a photo of their Christmas celebrations. I had never before in my life seen so much food laid out on banana leaves, just waiting to be dug into with bare hands. And the centrepiece of it all was an entire suckling pig – lechon to be precise. I never got close enough to that particular co-worker to invite myself to one of their family feasts, but the longing for a meal where the size of the plate was measured in meters remained unabated.

09/12/2020

Asian, Filipino, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Newtown

Nakano Darling

I’m always up for an izakaya meal. There’s really not much out there better than a parade of plates and nibbles, ordered over a long meal with great conversation, and maybe a drink or two. Nakano Darling is one of the new kids on the block, located in the shiny Darling Square dining precinct. The décor may not be classically Japanese, but the vibe it evokes is unmistakeable. It is undeniably cool with its collection of neon street signs, tatami seating with wooden crates for tables, and quirky Japanese ads projected onto the concrete walls. It stops just shy of trying too hard, and the result is very appealing indeed.

02/12/2020

Asian, Bar, Haymarket, Izakaya, Japanese, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Tapas

Chaco Ramen

In the two-odd years I’ve lived in Sydney, I’ve pretty much blitzed my way across all the well-regarded ramen restaurants in Sydney… without crossing the bridge that is. One of the very few ramen-ya on the right side of the river (fight me) I’ve left to try is Chaco Bar, but because they only served noodles for lunch a couple days of the week – the rest of the time is reserved for yakitori – I’ve never gotten around to visiting. So I was doubly delighted when I heard the news that Chaco Bar had gotten popular enough to split into two; the new Chaco Bar now does yakitori full time, whilst the original site has been converted to Chaco…

18/11/2020

Asian, Best Of Sydney, Cheapie Lunch (Under $20), Darlinghurst, Japanese

Hansang

I love a good Korean meal, and I’m lucky to have Myeongdong just down the road from my house. But as much as it pains me to say it, Myeongdong is not the be-all-end-all of Korean food. Although they have some great soups and share plates, they’re still missing a few of my favourites. Luckily, the Strathfield area is nothing if not chock-a-block with good Korean restaurants, and a quick search led me to Hansang, which has an impressively large menu with pretty much every Korean dish I’ve ever eaten, and great reviews to boot.

11/11/2020

Asian, Just A Bit Special ($20-$35), Korean, Strathfield

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