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).

Sparrow's Mill - Sydney CBD

Sydney LOVES fried chicken...well, I guess fried chicken is a universal thing. But to elaborate on my point, we have a lot of chicken joints: Two-Two, Chicken Institute, Naruone, Red Pepper, Work In Progress and Sydney's most well known (and my most disdained) Arisun. I mean, how can you not love fried chicken? The crispy exterior coating the succulent, juicy meat...I could eat fried chicken all the time if it didn't make me fat.

It's this adoration for deep fried poultry that lead me to Sparrow's Mill. The sister restaurant of Red Pepper in Strathfield, Sparrow's Mill is much more accessible to the general public by being situated right in the middle of the city. This made it a prime location when I decided to treat my mum to lunch (she loves fried chicken equally as much as I do)

We went slightly after the initial lunch rush so despite it being a Saturday, it really wasn't all too busy. One thing I love about Sparrow's Mill is that the service is spectacular. I mean it's all smiles all around and the staff are attentive, welcoming and communicative. We ordered two orders of chicken and a Dolsot Bibimbap (stone-pot rice for the uninitiated) which was the perfect amount of food for two eager diners.

The bibimbap came first along with the banchan (korean complimentary side dishes). It was good but to be honest, nothing to really speak in detail about. Being that it's such a simple dish, it's really hard to differentiate good ones from bad ones (what I mean is that I haven't had one in Sydney which has blown my mind). I mean if a korean restaurant doesn't do Bibimbap decently, I personally don't think it's worth returning. The banchan had a good variety though.

Shy egg yolk...hiding under a leaf.

But let's be honest, we didn't come here for the typical Korean fare. We came for the chicken and on that front, Sparrow's Mill definitely did not disappoint. We ordered the Original Gangjung chicken and the Snow Cheese chicken. The Gangjung was a delicious mix of tangy and salty with the still crispy pieces of chicken coated in a soy based sauce. The garnish of peanuts and sliced chillies gave it a nice kick of heat and really pushed it up a notch. 

My personal favorite though was the Snow Cheese chicken. It tasted like fried chicken...covered in the cheese packets that came with kraft easy mac with crumbs of chicken flavoured twisties. I fricken LOVED it. Every bite of chicken lead to an explosion of flavour, juice and crunch all compounded by my favourite childhood junk foods. I reckon if I came with mates, I'd down a full plate of this by myself.

If you know me and you've dined with me regularly, you'll know that I'm not normally the biggest fan of Korean food. But it is absolutely undeniable that they do amazing things with fried chicken. If you put amazing chicken, superb service and reasonable prices together, you end up with a place that even I wouldn't mind coming back to again and again.