BUTTER - Surry Hills, NSW

I mentioned that I had a disappointing experience with southern fried chicken lately right? Worry not, this disappointment quickly disappeared when I had the opportunity to dine at BUTTER a couple of weeks ago. Ever since they opened up, I'd been dying to hit up BUTTER but I hadn't had the opportunity to (I'd walked past the outside heaps of times but never got the chance to dine there with the Mrs). We finally got our chance a couple of weeks ago when my sister invited us out for drinks in the city. We decided to head out and hour or two earlier to the city so we could grab dinner before drinks. Ever since the George St closure, the city has become a horrid place to try and find parking (it was pretty bad before but now it's just unbearable). Surry Hills still has some parking but if possible, I'd suggest avoiding the drive altogether.

We got to BUTTER around 5:30pm and despite being Saturday, it was still pretty quiet (in terms of the expected crowd).This place is in no way "quiet", as soon as you walk past the gigantic glass wall of flashy sneakers, you hear gangster rap fill the room with a strong bass line and the rapid succinct flow of the wordsmiths. Everything from the deliberate neon lights to the menu and beyond points to one theme: this place makes you feel like a baller. The same decadence can be identified in their menu.

Being just the two of us, we opted against getting the size 13s ($60 worth of fried chicken served in a shoebox) but instead, the Mrs left me to order the appropriate amount of food for the two of us. To that end, I opted to grab a 3 pac, chicken sandwich and fries. To quench my thirst, I also decided to grab a melon slushie. To be honest: I could have done without the slushie...it taste very much like the artificial watermelon lollies and whilst it was an interesting flavour to begin with, it lost its charm rather quickly and left me wanting a more refreshing alternative.

In my opinion, southern fried chicken needs to meet 3 basic requirements: the batter needs to be extremely crunchy (lots of little crunchy bits sticking out), the coating needs to have a strong taste of the spice mixture used and the meat needs to be white meat (I'm normally all for coloured but in this one case, it needs to be white meat). BUTTER definitely meets these requirements and more...in fact, I don't think I've had southern fried chicken as good as they make it at BUTTER (maybe Hartsyard?). The chicken meat is so wonderfully juicy and tender and it's covered in this spectacularly crunchy shell. You get four choices of hot sauce ranging from O.G to some super hot level I'm tempted to try one day. Since the Mrs was having the 3 pac, I decided to keep it light and pick the O.G. I'll be honest, I appreciate hot sauce with my chicken but this tasted wayyyy too much like the korean chilli sauce that you have with noodles. If it actually tasted a bit different, I think I could have appreciated it much more. The slaw was really good though! Creamy and crunchy, it does initially taste just like KFC slaw but as you continue to savour it, other layers come in and make it a much more interesting experience.

Now, the next dish I've been craving for ages. It perfectly encapsulates the experience that is BUTTER...decadent and excessive but in all the right ways...utter and absolute gratification born in the form of the chicken sandwich. The same delicious fried chicken is wedged in between a milk bun that's been soaked in this delicious dashi butter with a pickle or two. As you take each bite, the crunchy batter, chicken juice, succulent chicken meat, fluffy milk bread and smooth, savoury butter all intertwine and make this overwhelming reaction of deliciousness. This reaction extends and permeates your entire body until it hits your stomach...and eventually clogs your blood vessels. Seriously, if you love heavy, thick flavours then this is the ultimate sandwich for you.

We also had the fries which were great in that they were really well seasoned but I could have done with not having the smoked aioli...too tart in my opinion and didn't really add to my experience. Overall, I really, really enjoyed my night at BUTTER. In fact, in the weeks since, I've recommended it to everyone and a few have found their ideal restaurant in BUTTER. If you too, love fried chicken, champers and rap music...I'd definitely recommend giving BUTTER a try.