Ayam Goreng 99, Kingsford

Happy extremely belated 2016! It's been a while hasn't it? I'm still eating everywhere but work and personal commitments have been taking over my life these days to commit to writing. Thanks to those who have encouraged me to keep on going even if it may not be as regular as it used to. 

Recently, we attended a birthday dinner at Ayam Goreng 99 in Kingsford. Personally, I don't go out that direction as much as I would have liked to so it was an experience checking out the area for the first time. It was located minutes away from UNSW, which would have been perfect had I studied there. Unfortunately, most of us were UTS students...heh. Ayam Goreng 99 was definitely one of those old school restaurants that would have been around for a long time judging from the decor. If the massive crowds waiting outside are anything to go by, the food was certainly worth the wait.

Ayam Bakar - Charcoal Grilled Marinated Chicken ($6.50 per piece)

There was 11 of us, so we ordered all three versions of their signature marinated chicken - thigh and breast! My personal favourite was the charcoal grilled version. It may look charred and rustic on the outside but the chicken itself was juicy, flavoursome and tender. Also had a slight sweet and zesty tang from the marinated soy sauce coating. 

Ayam Goreng - Deep Fried Marinated Chicken ($6.50 per piece)

Didn't get to try this one but the friends enjoyed its crispy texture. Portions were generous but the lack of knife meant it was harder to cut and share bit by bit...at least for us. 

Ayam Goreng Kalasan - Fried Marinated Chicken Javanese Style ($6.50 per piece)

I did get to try the Javanese version which was sweeter than the deep fried variant. Compared to the grilled version, I thought it seemed to be on the dry side but it was still tasty and flavoursome especially with its smoked, crispy skin.

Nasi Goreng ($11.50) 

Consisting of fried rice with chicken, egg, meats and shallots, the nasi goreng was another highlight for me. Digged the colourful layout as well the balanced texture of the rice which made it easier to enjoy with a mix of different ingredients. We also ordered and shared a vegetarian version of the Nasi Goreng, which was equally tasty.

Sate Kambing - Lamb Satay ($10.00)

Most of us like our lamb and we already order too much chicken so we had lamb satay sticks on the side. If lamb ain't your thing, you will be pleased to know that it didn't have that gamey taste mainly thanks to its generous mix of sweet soy sauce and peanut sauce coated over the skewers. Didn't order enough of these so some of us had to share these sticks.

In the end, the bill cost us around $25 per head, which wasn't as bad as we expected (we ordered a couple other dishes but forgot to take a snap). Service was fast paced and we ended up getting full too quickly despite being too hungry waiting for a table. While Kingsford may be out of the way for me to go back regularly, you can definitely see the appeal on why Ayam Goreng remains popular with the locals for all these years. Hope to return again to do a proper taste of the Ayam Goreng or even get my hands again on the succulent Ayam Bakar.

Ayam Goreng

464 Anzac Parade Kingsford

(02) 9697 0030

Wed-Sun: 11:30am - 4:00pm, 6:00pm - 9:00pm 

Mon-Tue: Closed

 

Red Pepper, Strathfield

Hello again. It's been a while hasn't it? I know I've said this countless times before but I really have been busy with work, a trip to the snow, and getting sick twice over the last month. During all those busy times, one of the dishes that has got me craving for more has been Korean fried chicken. Recently, one of my friends made a visit to Sydney for his belated birthday celebrations where we all celebrated at Strathfield Sports Club's Red Pepper Bistro. 

The location was actually very hard to find with so many of us getting lost trying to find this unassuming location. While there was no signage for Red Pepper, the easy way to find the Strathfield Sports Club was the hidden small brick building next to the soccer field and tennis court if you are coming from the station. The inside venue was similar to a community hall where you grab the first avail table for yourself but don't let that deter you. There's a dozen different flavours of fried chicken to try, which was perfect for a group of twenty hungry people.

Spring onion fried chicken (H: $18.00, W: $34.00)

I was looking forward to trying the spring onion fried chicken after seeing it in countless photos. Was a bit puzzled when it showed up since it didn't look as crispy as I thought it would. There was a heavy amount of wasabi sauce coated onto the chicken skin, which was actually quite milder and sweeter than we expected. And when we were feeling guilty from all the fried chicken action, there was the bundle of spring onions clouded together on top just to make you feel a little bit better.

Snow cheese fried chicken (H: $18.00, W: $34.00)

After hearing so much about the snow cheese fried chicken from Red Pepper's little sister branch, The Sparrow Mill, I was intrigued to try this interesting combination. Despite the unusual flavour, this ended up being our favourite of the night. Not only was the chicken so damn crunchy, the cheese powder didn't overpower the juicy flavour and the tender meat. 

 Sweet and Spicy fried chicken (H: $18.00, W: $34.00)

Red Pepper wasn't kidding when they named this plate "Sweet and spicy fried chicken". It was sweet, saucy and mild at first but then it started to burn my tongue after multiple bites. The roasted garlic was also a nice touch.

Soy sauce fried chicken (H: $17.00, W: $32.00)

Forgot to take a photo of this when it arrived at our table so I only managed to snap it when we demolished half of it. It was sweet and very sticky from the rich soy sauce coating. Was also slightly spicy from what I could recall. 

The service was minimal but what matters the most was the many options of fried chicken to indulge on. This is great for large groups and easy to share and split bills especially when you over ordered like we did. If Strathfield is out of the way, the same menu is available at its little sister restaurant "The Sparrow Mill in the Town Hall/Chinatown side of the CBD. 

Red Pepper
Strathfield Sports Club
4a Lyons Street, Strathfield NSW 2135
 

Eating Around Melbourne - The Savoury Edition

For those of you who read my last post thinking "damn she drinks alot of coffee"...well there was savoury (and sweet) food too here and there. Here's another recap of a few places I've popped by during my brief Melbourne weekend trip

CONE HEADS, MELBOURNE CBD

Chips and Gravy (R: $6.50, L: $7.90)

I arrived in Melbourne very late on Friday and the other girls wanted to get an early rest for the following day. Sadly, Huxtaburger CBD was closed and it was too cold to walk around so we stumbled upon a few fast food eateries close to our hotel and eventually settled on Cone Heads (not to be confused with that 90's comedy movie) because it's halal friendly. Sure it may not be the first thing that will pop up into your mind when you are in Melbourne but it actually has a few franchises including one that has just opened in Pakistan! It's the type of food that we can see ourselves eating after an epic night out clubbing. Despite the many layers of thick country style gravy coating the chips, it actually didn't get soggy. Was still quite crispy after we ate more of these chips back at the hotel. If you are a big fan of poutine, this is also available at Cone Heads. Perfect for a dirty, late night feed.

Cone Heads
Shop 6, 2-26 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
http://coneheadschips.com/
Sun-Thurs: 9:00am - 1:00am
Fri-Sat: 9:00am - 3:00am
 


BELLE'S HOT CHICKEN

A few week ago, I've had the pleasure of tasting Belle's Hot Chicken at Harpoon Harry's. Even though the wait a the pop up was agonising, it was worth it in the end. It was actually my second time tasting the Nashville-style hot chicken since I have also made a visit to the Fitzroy restaurant at the recent trip. The restaurant vibe had a similar noisy, pub-like vibe with a Melbourne hipster edge judging from the crowd and the atmosphere of the venue.

Bourbon Iced Tea

There were heaps of choices on the beverage menu - particularly wine. However, I was intrigued by their uniquely combined Bourbon Iced Tea. While there's that alcoholic taste from the bourbon liquor, the sweet ice tea makes it drinkable like a normal ice tea if straight bourbon isn't your strength. This is perfect to wash down after devouring the fried chicken pieces.

Belle's Hot Chicken Tenders with Mixed Pickles ($16.00)

For Belle's famous chicken, you get a choice of tenders, wings or dark meat (drumstick and thigh). At $16.00, the meat menu comes with a choice of 1 side for no extra cost. Feeling a little guilty about the food I've consumed all day, I opted for mixed pickles as my side dish. While it was called "mixed pickles", it was actually a variety of veggies with a sour taste that helps with the fatty flavour from the chicken. You also get to choose the level of spice for your chicken. FYI, I tried the hot level at Harpoon Harry and my tongue was already burning from that level let alone their hottest "Really f@$*in hot" flavour. At medium, I was already getting quick a kick from the spices though I thoroughly enjoyed its crumbled skin and tender chicken meat. Definitely one of my fave eats in Melbourne for this trip.

Belle's Hot Chicken
150 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
(03) 9077 0788
http://www.belleshotchicken.com/
Mon-Sun: 12:00pm - 10:00pm
 


KOKORO RAMEN

This review was mostly through the perspective of my friends T and AC who were still hungry after our visit to Supernormal. On the other hand, I was too full but went along to check it out with them. I did have a small tasting of each of the bowls and from what I can tell, they were completely satisfied with the ramen at this joint. 

Miso Ramen with Soft Shell Crab ($18.00) with extra Ajitama egg (additional $2.00)

The menu at Kokoro is 12 pages worth of food including many different types of ramen from various regions of Japan. It even gives you a bit of background history behind the origin of the ramen, which is pretty cool. There is even a ramen burger! GG. The miso ramen that T tried was based in the Sapporo region. It has a thick, tonkotsu pork broth with an additional miso paste for that tangy, slow-cooked flavour. This was served with an Ajitama egg (though T wanted more so he ordered an extra one!), bamboo shoot, spring onion, black fungi, sesame seeds and a thin, straight and firm egg noodle. Loved the colourful look of the broth and it seemed to be more flavoursome than some of the other miso ramens I've had in the past from what I've sampled. T gave this two thumbs up. 

Shio Ramen - small ($7.80) with Soft Shell Crab ($8.00)

AC got a smaller bowl of the lighter, salt-based Shio Ramen. This type of ramen was based in the Nagahama region in the southern island of Japan. The broth was clearer and not as flavoursome as the miso ramen but AC seemed to enjoy this as well. Both bowls had that irresistably gooey egg and the guys have also opted for the soft shell version, which was highly recommended at Kokoro ramen. It was crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and seemed to stood out so well in both bowls. The pork that came with the shio ramen was on the thick side and seemed quite tender from what I've tasted. It's a shame that I was quite full to get a proper experience at Kokoro Ramen but it was good to see the mates feeling so satisfied from their time here. 

Kokoro Ramen
157 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9650 1215
http://kokororamen.com/
Mon-Fri: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:30pm
Sat: 11:30am - 10:30pm
Sun: 11:30am - 9:00pm
 

Stay tuned for the final Melbourne recap on The Random Foodie (for now) where I explore lots and lots of sweet stores in Melbourne CBD and South Yarra.

Work in Progress, Sydney CBD

I do love a good pop-up but sometimes you forget about it and then it's gone. It's even harder trying to go through the entire menu before the pop up close its doors. So imagine my relief when I heard that Patrick Friesen's (Papi Chulo) pop-up restaurant at Work in Progress has extended beyond the initial duration of March into Merivale. While it's still temporary for the time being, who knows what would happen in the long term. Just look at Cafe Paci (and I STILL haven't been there!).

Pork and Prawn Wontons, strange flavour, Sichuan pepper ($12.00, 4pc) 

The cuisine served at Work in Progress has a fusion of various Asian cuisines with a modern twist with a strong emphasis on their signature Korean fried chicken (more on that later). It also operates as a noodle bar with a small selection of Modern Chinese dishes. One of these was the Pork and Prawn wontons, which was offered as a snack. It was slightly spicy thanks to the Sichuan pepper and the "strange flavour" sauce which seems to have a bit of soya sauce, spices and peanuts among its many ingredients. While the silky wontons were slippery to handle, they were plump, firm and juicy to demolish before the main dishes arrive. The only downside was that the price for $12 for 4 pieces seemed quite steep especially when you can get double the amount for cheaper at other dumpling establishments. 

Shallot Pancake ($6.00)

While the shallot pancake was half the price of the dumplings, it was actually much more filling so the value for money in this dish was pretty damn good. You can easily get full on this dish if you order it for yourself. While it was nice to dig into the crispy thin layers of pastry, it was too salty than how I preferred. 

Curried Wagyu Brisket Lo Mien ($16.00)

Initially a limited time only dish, the Curried wagyu brisket lo mien noodles was upgraded to permanent menu status due to popular demand especially in the foodie scene (sadly the snow crab tobiko lo mien noodles had to be removed as well. Why not keep both? :p). Gotta say that I'm really glad that this dish is now on the menu. The egg noodles were a tad thicker, which was how I liked my egg noodles even though it's harder to find compared to the thinner variation. Plus the wagyu beef was amazingly soft, tender and the broth was rich, creamy and flavoursome. Would definitely order this again.

Sichuan Duck and Tofu Lo Mein ($16.00)

Speaking of thin noodles, this popular variation can be found on the other noodle bar dishes in this limited menu. It was quite spicy but still bearable enough especially if you want a bit of heat from this crazy weather lately (urghhh). Generous serving size too.

Combo #88 - Half n Half Fried Chicken: ginger nuoc cham, and chilli with peanuts ($18.00)

And now for that crispy fried chicken! At 8 pieces, this was surprisingly easy to devour if you are super hungry and this was the only dish you order for yourself on the night. It also came with a side dish of pickled daikon and kim chi, which ended up being handy once you need more than just fried chicken in your mouth. The chilli chicken with peanuts was sticky, sweet and slightly spicy, though it was easier to manage and also milder than the one I had at NaruOne. While the ginger nuoc cham fried chicken looked insatiably crispy, there wasn't too much of that earth shattering crunch that I was hoping to expect in the batter after looking at countless photos. Despite that, the chicken was well cooked, juicy and still crispy enough to devour the entire plate.

This is a restaurant that I would often find myself after work, whether it's for the food or a drink from their extensive cocktails and wine menu. Since it is a Merivale venture, it's no surprise that the prices were on the more expensive side. With its limited range of food options on the menu, it's an ideal place to get a large group of friends or colleagues together to share and try the entire menu in one sitting. 

Work in Progress
50 King Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9240 3000
http://merivale.com.au/wipbar
Mon-Fri: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Bar: 12:00pm - late)

Hot Star Large Fried Chicken, Sydney CBD

I like fried chicken. Nah scratch that. I LOOOOOVE fried chickkkeeeennnnnn! If you had been dining with me at places like Hartsyard, Mary's or NaruOne, you would see me slowly eating that damn crunchy skin just to savour the moment. So it's no surprise that I jumped at the opportunity to try out Hot Star Fried Chicken and get a look at how it was made behind the scenes. Should be fascinating since there are already queues of customers lining up outside their small shop even though it has only opened around early March this year.

Apart from the super cheap prices, one of the main reasons for the long queues was that the shop actually began at the Shilin night market in Taipei in 1992 and has since expanded to more than 40 franchises across Taiwan. It's no surprise that they decided to make the trip down under and open a shop in Sydney and Melbourne for the Australian market to discover their popular street food.

Got the chance to meet Hot Star Sydney's store manager, Cassey, who showed what happens in the kitchen. Each serving size is about 250 grams and around 30 centimetres of breast fillet chicken goodness. It is also freshly prepared on site and only coated with batter, deep fried and seasoned when ordered by the customer. While most of the ingredients were delivered from Taiwan including the secret seasoning and flour, the chicken breast is sourced locally in Australia.

The chicken breast is cut and marinated for at least 12 hours

Coating the chicken using tapioca flour powder 

Prepping the chicken before the deep fry

Deep-frying the freaking large chicken in Canola oil

Seasoning the chicken with salt, pepper and various spices (ranging from Little Spicy to Extra Spicy)

We also got to see the sides getting prepared including the sweet potato fries, curly fries and the chicken bites. Like the large fried chicken, all sides are also cooked to order.

Dipping the sweet potato fries in batter

Preparing the fresh basil to accompany the chicken bites

And now the finished product!!! Now I was prepared to expect some really large fried chicken from what I've heard from fellow bloggers but I was still stunned about the size especially when I got to hold it for the first time. You get a choice of how spicy you want your chicken: little spicy, medium spicy, spicy or extra spicy. If you cannot handle chilli at all then you should know that even medium spicy was getting to my taste buds while the spicy chicken was so hot that I needed a bottle of water to cool myself down.

Spicy Large Fried Chicken ($7.90)

Original Large Fried Chicken - Little Spicy ($7.90)

While it may not be NaruOne or Hartsyard's fried chicken, it has that delicious crispy coating that you will definitely need especially after a crazy night out drinking. The chicken was very juicy and full of flavour and spices especially with the first bundle of bites. There were some bones and cartilage remaining in the chicken once you reach half-way but that didn't bother me too much. By the end it was too much for me to attempt to eat the whole thing especially since once it got very greasy. It was insanely large so I reckon it would be ideal to share with a friend or two. Also, it's very hot to handle even after we didn't touch the chicken for about 10 minutes.

If you still want to try the chicken but cannot handle the largeness, then you can get a bag of chicken bites for your fill. These morsels are made using the same batter, coating and seasoning as the large fried chicken. For me, the chicken bites were so yummy, addictive and flavoursome thanks to the basil that was deep fried with the bites when it was cooking. Will definitely be ordering these again.

Chicken Bites ($5.90)

Absolutely loved the mushrooms too! So juicy to eat especially with the crisp batter. Watch out for the incredibly hot juices flowing out when you bite into them so be patient.

Mushrooms ($4.90)

Hot Star's sweet potato fries were one of the better versions that I've tasted. It's not too thick and well-seasoned. Very delicious and addictive to eat with the crunchy batter matched with the soft, sweet and very hot potato as you bite into each chip.

Sweet Potato Fries ($3.90)

I do have a soft spot for curly fries though these ones are gob-smacking crunchy. They were also easy to stick together the point where I was grabbing a bundle of these fries out of the bag. 

Curly Fries ($3.90)

While I wouldn't rush to buy the large fried chicken for myself next time I have a deep fried craving (unless I have a really empty stomach or a few friends to share it), I would definitely be coming back to try more of the succulent sides especially the chicken bites and the mushrooms. Since it opens till 2am on Friday and Saturday nights, it is a great place to go when you have the post-drinking cravings.

Disclaimer: The Random Foodie sampled the food as a guest of Harvey Publicity and Hot Star Large Fried Chicken. Opinions remain personal.

Hot Star Large Fried Chicken
96 Liverpool Street Sydney NSW 2000
http://hotstarchicken.com.au/
Sun-Thurs: 11:00am - midnight
Fri-Sat: 11:00am - 2:00am