Belly Bao - Sydney CBD

If I had to give this week a theme, it'd definitely be fried chicken....so.much.fried.chicken. I'm not complaining (I love any deep fried poultry) just that we've probably had more fried chicken in a week than we normally do in a year. Tonight's blog will be about our visit to Belly Bao. Now, I'd tried to visit two weeks prior (mainly because I wanted their famous baoger so badly) but we couldn't find a table and there was a sign that said it'd take 90 minutes. This week, I was smart enough to make a booking ahead of time so I was guaranteed a spot.

We start our night off with a bit of dessert-before-dinner at Aqua S. They'd just introduced their new flavours: Milo and Fruit Punch. Not being a huge fan of fruity items, I'd opted for the sea salt and milo. Oh what a wonderful choice it was...If as a child, you weren't able to indulge in your love of milo, this will literally blow your mind. The creamy and wonderful texture of the ice cream paired with that intense chocolate and malt flavour just made for a spectacular start to the night. I urge any fan of milo to just get a cone and indulge, don't worry about the other flavours...the milo is all you need.

I've had very good memories with Goodgod small club as the previous food providers, The Dip run by Andrew Levins was my legit FAVORITE place to grab a burger. Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about trying the new guys as I didn't want my memories tarnished by a disappointing meal. Well, disappoint they surely did not! First to come were the sweet potato fries which we crispy on the outside and sweet and fluffy on the inside, exactly what you want it to be. The chilli mayo drizzled on top really gives it a good kick of heat which just pushes the whole package to a new level.

Next came the main reason the Mrs and I were so stoked to try this place: the much loved bao-ger. Though a little disappointing when you first set your sights on it (looks tiny to someone with a massive appetite), this thing is dense. Not dense in a bad way but dense as in it's a immense flavour and texture hit for something so small. I loved the interplay between that perfectly cooked burger patty, melty american cheese, pickled radishes (think sushi ginger), big mac-esque sauce and the soft, pillowy yet crispy steamed/grilled bun. I would have had another if I wasn't aware of what was to come next...

Realised that flash was better than no flash.

oooze shot.

The Belly Bao Fried Chicken...yep, a whole chicken between 3 people (I forgot to mention, the brother-in-law was also with us). Unexpectedly, they do fried chicken really well here too! I was initially expecting something more asian influences (like korean style fried chicken) but found the batter to be closer to the OG Kentucky Fried Chicken experience. The crispy batter was spicy and peppery which when doused with the chilli sauce (pretty much straight gochujang) made for a mouth numbing dining delight.

BB fried chicken with chilli sauce 

To be honest, I do still miss Levins and his amazing hot dogs and watermelon burgers but I have to say, Belly Bao is a mighty fine replacement. I'm so glad they now have a dedicated spot to sling steamed buns and I can say for sure I'll definitely return for more bao-gers (possibly with a much larger group next time).

Mamak - Chatswood

The Mrs and I have been on a bit of a Malaysian food binge lately. I stand by my theory that my wife must have been a Malaysian in her past life because no matter how much we have it, she can never get enough. That is how we ended up at Mamak on Saturday night. As it was a Saturday night and we left for Chatswood quite late, the drive wasn't too bad. Parking though was horrendous....with the recent opening of Tim Ho Wan and all these other foodie joints, Chatswood really has become the hub of the North Shore.

After managing to find parking (all credit to the Mrs' keen senses and attention to detail) we headed over to Mamak and lined up in the cold. Although not nearly as ridiculous as it's other branch in the heart of the city, it was still impressive that they were pulling in a crowd at the hour that we arrived. We were seated almost simultaneously as another couple and although we were seated ever so slightly after them, we were the first to order because we already knew what we craved. Not gonna deny that we felt a bit pro.

The first things to arrive were our standard refreshments: Teh ice and Milo ice. The recipe is identical to the one they serve at Hawker (duh) and although it wasn't piled high with Milo powder, it was still creamy and refreshing. The Teh was as expected, absolutely delicious. Honestly wish they had an option to super jumbo size the drinks....I always polish my drink off in the first 5 minutes.

Next to arrive was the Kari Ayam (Curry Chicken). The curry itself was more viscous and spicy than we're used to but that's not to say it wasn't impressive. If I had an endless supply of that curry sauce and roti, I would be a very satisfied man. That said though, I personally wasn't a very big fan of the bony chunks of chicken, I prefer mine boneless.

When the next order came, we realised we may have overloaded on the chicken. We still gobbled up the Ayam Goreng (Malaysian fried chicken) all the same but it meant we neglected our curry quite a bit and had to take it home. This was my personal favorite meat dish of the night: the crispy exterior coated that juicy, succulent flesh perfectly with the delicious batter.

We each had an order of roti to ourselves (which was perfect because one dish of one type of curry as opposed to the other, no fighting over curry) and we ordered enough satay skewers to had 3 types of meat each. I still ended up having most of it though, not because the Mrs couldn't finish her portion but because she couldn't stand me constantly eyeing her food.

After dinner, we had thought about topping it all off at the choc pot. The Mrs fought hard to find the room for chocolate but couldn't do it. When we ascended the escalators though, our attention was immediately drawn to Miss Dipity. Ice cream was far too hard to deny. Good choice too as the Hojicha and Toasted Marsh mellow flavours were AMAZING.

I've very fond memories of Chatswood being that my father worked there for most of my life and I've had the opportunity to see it change again and again over the years. I'm happy to say I haven't lost any reason to visit. If anything, I've gained so much more reason to come back.