Sometimes, I find myself thinking that I'm glad to be alive during this time of culinary vibrancy in Sydney. When I was much younger, good food just wasn't a priority to people (at least the ones I knew). It was often hard to say that we had any really good food offerings unless you were happy to pay exorbitant amounts of money for a meal. That's all changed in recent years as we've come to put much more emphasis on good food and wine. Generally speaking, we're still a bit slower than everyone else in importing new ideas but luckily, it seems that ideas are very happy to come to us! Take for example: Belle's hot chicken, Melbourne most famous fried chicken joint. A short walk from Wynyard station, Belle's is a great place to go and grab a bite to eat, especially since Chaco Bar had opened their ramen pop up right next door!
It's been some time since they've set up shop at Wulugul Walk in Barangaroo but they're still as popular as ever as the Friday night we decided to go, so much so that we could barely find a spot to sit and eat! Tip for those planning a visit: Don't go when all the office workers are there grabbing a bite to eat and drink...TGIF is a very real thing. Fortunately, we came early so whilst a lot of office workers had just started drinking, a lot of the late-to-midday session diners have just started finishing up. Since it was cold and I care about ramen more than I care about anything, we decided to start on Chaco bar's ramen.
We ordered as soon as one of us were able to find a tiny spot to sit down at. We were rather hungry at that point but fortunately, the ramen came out really quickly. I'd wanted to try Chaco's ramen for ages since there's been rave review from when they started serving Ramen at their proper location. After tasting the ramen that night, I can
definitely understand why. I've been fortunate enough to sample most of the ramen shops in Sydney and I have to say, I'm definitely loving Chaco bar's rendition. I ordered the Fish Salt which was the lighter of the two we ordered: light and viscous but holding a smooth and delicate flavour, the broth had a really nice peppery kick to it...I really, really liked the simplicity of this bowl of noodles. The roast pork was thinner than I've had at other places and therefore was slightly underwhelming but the noodles...oh.dear.lord the noodles were
GREAT. Long, slightly wavy and vibrantly yellow...they had the
best snap I've had in Sydney...very toothsome.
The Mrs got to have the Fat Soy ramen which I have to admit would have been my preferred option (but I gave it to her cause I love her). The soup wasn't thick like the other popular ramen spots in Sydney but still had a deep, rich, umami packed flavour...especially with the abundant pork fat that sat on top of the soup like a thick blanket. If I had one gripe, it was that I didn't get my ramen in a proper bowl but an enviro-disposable cardboard bowl...loses a bit of the heat and effect if you don't dig in straight away...but not a huge deal since it'll return to their proper store soon and I can go have it there!
We also had the gyoza as well which was actually really nice! Big, juicy and plump dumplings with a nice curry-like spicy kick to it.
Right after we had finished our ramen, we wasted no time at all and went to order our fried chicken! And then again, in no time at all, we were seated with hot, freshly fried poultry in front of us. The Mrs and I decided to share a portion of the chicken wings at medium spice with a side of fries and Mississippi comeback sauce. The chicken was really, really juicy and as you bite down on it, the hot chicken juices encased in the crispy coating starts dribbling down making it a very messy (and potentially dangerous) yet fun eating experience. Though
very, VERY delicious...I can't say that it's something I'd pine over. I think Sydney has well and truly caught up in our fried chicken game and we have our own competitive offerings which I think are equally as good. For me, though the chicken was very crispy, I found my wings a bit lacking in that I was looking for the crispy protruding nubbins of goodness as you would find in KFC's Hot and Spicy or BUTTER's fried chicken only to find a rather flat surface area. I think we also picked the wrong spice level...Medium was a little bit too mild for us. Not to mention, I found myself very dehydrated after which suggested to me that it was over seasoned. I almost felt like the spice powder coated the back on my throat in a thick layer of dry seasoning.
Wanting to complete the MUCHIES
night, the Mrs and I (along with her younger brother who I neglected to mention was with us the whole time) headed to Regents Place for some dessert. Being a Friday night, the place was already packing but we still managed to find a seat at Choc Pot. I personally think that after all the delicious food we had, there's no better way to end the night than to blow out and have a decadent chocolate banana crepe. Overall, I really do think we had a great night...Wurugul Walk is a great place to go to grab a bite to eat though I would suggest going when no one else is there (during the day). There are just more options open during the day (Short Stop donuts...) and you're not competing for a spot to sit. I can't wait till ramen goes back to the Darlinghurst location so that we can go and grab a nice, proper bowl of noodles!
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