Category: Petersham

Chef’s BBQ

If you live around Petersham, you would not miss this restaurant at the main junction. Unfortunately, the spot is also well known to not survive the tough life in the Inner West.

Chef’s BBQ is the newest occupant of this spot. They are brave enough to open the only Korean BBQ restaurant in Petersham.

As a typical Korean restaurant, they serve a few plates of banchan (more well-known as ‘kimchi’). They also serve a plate of vegetables.

I quite like the variety on display in this restaurant.

Chef’s BBQ

Combination Wagyu Beef – $58

Their BBQ menu isn’t exactly cheap. However, I could see the quality of the meat reflects this price. On this occasion we ordered a plate of combination wagyu beef.

We were quite surprised that they actually cooked this meat for us on our table.

Seafood Pancake – $18

Unlike their bbq stuff, the price for the other dishes was more reasonable. We felt that the pancake, for example, was a pretty good value for our money. You could see the overflowing of topping in the pancake!

Bulgogi (marinated beef slice) – $19

For the bulgogi, they offered to either cook it for us or we could grill it ourselves. However, they did mention that it might be best if they cook it as it might fall of the grill given how thin bulgogi slices are.

I thought our table was big. However, with the many banchan plates, rice bowls, and the other dishes, the table was packed!

The final verdict for Chef’s BBQ

I must say visiting Chef’s BBQ was a pleasant surprise for us. We were happy with the quality of meat that they served and the number of banchans.

Do you think I should go?

It’s not really a Strathfield Korean. However, it’s a nice alternative and not too busy either.

Rating:

chef’s bbq

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $30 – $40 per person

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

77 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9569 4714

Chef’s BBQ on facebook

Aug 28, 2019
Gloria’s Cafe

Gloria’s Cafe Review:

Gloria’s Cafe is said to be the oldest Portuguese restaurant in Petersham, or even Sydney. We were pretty curious about the restaurant because that’s the only one we haven’t been to.

Their menu is pretty old fashioned and offering either tapas-style or main-sized dishes.

Plain bread w/ butter – $2

Before you even start ordering, order the bread. They are so warm and good!

Cogumelos com natas a casa – $14 – Creamy mushrooms

Rissois de Camarao – $3.5 each – Savoury shrimp Portuguese empanadas

The mushroom seems to be on the high end of the scale for a tapas. It was pretty good tho. The empanadas was pretty crunchy and savoury.

Rojoes – $17.5 – Pork chunks cooked in red wine, topped with cooked onions

I did not get the chance to taste this but the portion was pretty small.

Bowl of hand-cut fried round potatoes – $6

This potato is a must order. We had to order an extra bowl because it was so worth it!

Espetada a Casa – $27 – Large chargrill rump skewer served with chips and salad

Given that this is supposed to be the main attraction, the beef was pretty decent but it was pretty thin.

They do come with chips and a bowl of salad.

Guisado de Carneiro – $27 – Lamb stew cooked in red wine with potatoes, mushrooms, beans and carrots.

I liked the lamb stew more than the espetada. This one had a lot more flavour and could fill you up pretty quickly.

Desserts at Gloria’s Cafe

Apologies I didn’t get the names of these desserts, but the middle one was super light and airy with the sweet yellow sauce.

Judging from his expression, the chocolate mousse seemed to be decent as well.

The final verdict for Gloria’s Cafe

Gloria’s Cafe has a very good bread and chips. However, the espetada fell short compared to restaurants in the area. They have a bit more variety compared to the others.

Do you think I should go?

If you are tired of Portuguese chickens and want to try something else from the region, you might want to visit Gloria’s Cafe.

Rating:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $14 – $30 per dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

82 Audley St, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9568 3966

http://gloriascafe.com.au/

Jun 25, 2019
Kubota Japanese Cuisine

Kubota Japanese Cuisine review:

We were walking down Audley street in Petersham when my son saw this little Japanese restaurant called Kubota Japanese Cuisine. We didn’t go in the first place but promised him we would be back.

After researching about the restaurant, I found out that it has only been recently opened. The price listed on the menu was actually pretty reasonable for a Japanese restaurant.

Age Mochi – $7.5 – Crispy deep fried Mochi in sweetened soya sauce

We were pretty curious when we saw age mochi on the menu. I always thought that mochi is only good for desserts. However, they made sure when they coated that mochi with agedashi it is as tasty as its tofu sibling.

The dish is quickly becoming one of our favourites.

Japanese Sweet Omelette – $1.2 per piece – Sweet Japanese-style omelette

I like a good and simple Japanese omelette. They are pretty light, fluffy and slightly sweet.

Deep-fried Crispy Squid tentacles – $7.5

Geso karaage is another staple snack that we usually ordered in an izakaya. They went pretty well with a pint of beer or sake.

Karaage (main size) – $18.5 – Japanese style deep fried chicken

The karaage at Kubota is pretty old-fashioned. Instead of the usual ‘Western’ style that is slightly sweet. This was plain old crunchy and savoury.

Grilled Salmon in foil – $19.5 – with spicy miso butter sauce and variety mushrooms

Our last dish came from the ‘today’s special’ board. They could work more on the presentation and title. However, the taste was amazing. It wasn’t really spicy as advertised. However, it’s already very different than most Japanese dishes.

The final verdict for Kubota Japanese Cuisine

Kubota is a pretty decent restaurant in Inner West.

Do you think I should go?

We like the restaurant because of the vicinity with our place. However, it is probably not a destination you would specifically go to for a Japanese cuisine.!

Rating:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $20 main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 1 & 2 98-106 Audley St, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9569 7774

Kubota Japanese cuisine on facebook

Jun 17, 2019
Costa do Sol

Costa do Sol Review:

Everyone should know by now that you are visiting Petersham in Sydney primarily for their Portuguese Charcoal Chicken joint or Portuguese cuisine in general.

Costa do sol is one of the many Portuguese restaurants in Petersham. They offer a more sit down approach to dining. They have a slightly more diverse menu than the charcoal chicken joint.

Misto de Carne A Moda da Casa – $55 – Meat Platter Char-grilled served with salad, rice and fried potatoes (serves 2)

One thing that caught our eyes was the meat platter. I am imagining a massive platter of meat with a few side dishes. The plate came with a few cuts of beef, chicken, lamb, and quail.

I know it said serves 2 in the menu… but that’s if you are ONLY ordering that. The dish was more geared towards four people. It was probably one of the more satisfying meat platters I have ever ordered.

Bacalhau A Minhota – $30 – Salt-preserved Cod Fish Minhota style served with fried potato scallops

Bacalhau is a traditional Portuguese dish that is mainly made from a dried and salted codfish. Bacalhau a Minhota is a variant of the dish from the Northern part of Portugal.

Bacalhau is probably more of an acquired taste as the base taste is quite salty. Funny enough when we reheated the dish (after having it for takeaway), the salty taste, sort of, diminished.

Caramel Pudding

I can’t quite recall my experience eating the caramel pudding/flan. It was just an okay one.

The final verdict for Costa do Sol

Costa do Sol is a pretty decent Portuguese restaurant with a very nice Meat Platter.

Do you think I should go?
There is no denying that you usually go to Petersham for the charcoal chicken. But, if you want a good Portuguese alternative that’s not too busy, then Costa do Sol might be the one for you.

Rating for Costa do Sol:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $25 – $30 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

102 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9569 2319

http://www.costasol.com.au/

Jun 8, 2018
Frango’s

Frango’s Review:

There is a restaurant in Petersham, Inner West Sydney, that (I think) have achieved the ‘legendary’ status. Frango’s or ‘that Portuguese Chicken place in Petersham’ is probably well-known to most of Sydneysiders. One of the ‘legendary’ issues was that service was pretty horrible in the restaurant. While we have experienced this in the past, their service is quite good now.

Their Petersham restaurant is always packed around dinner time and during the weekend, I would strongly suggest you book in advance. Just like other Portuguese charcoal chicken in Sydney, they also have chilli and mayo sauces. The difference was that their chilli sauce stood out above the rest. You might know that I am not a big fan of hot sauces, but I just can’t get enough off their sauce.

Sometimes at the start of dinner service (I think if you go with four or more people), they gave out a plate of bread with lurpak butter – our favourite non-artisan butter.

Portuguese Charcoal Chicken – $11 half / $21 whole – The famous marinated chicken

So, this is what most people come to Frango’s for. The sit-down version of the charcoal chicken doesn’t get slathered in chilli nor lemon. It’s in the original recipe. You can apply as much chilli sauce as you want from the bottle they provided. The chicken is so flavoursome.

Home-style chips – $9 S / $14 L – Sliced Cut Potatoes

I usually don’t talk about rice and chips. However, their sliced cut potatoes deserve a mention here because they are awesome! Very addictive! Unfortunately, they are only available for dine-in customers.

Espetada de Bife – $30 – Tender Beef Skewers Marinated served with rice or chips

Espetada de bife, Portuguese for beef steak skewer, is something that I always love to order in a Portuguese restaurant. They always look awesome… Well, in this case, they looked awesome and tasted nice!

The final verdict for Frango’s

The queue for takeaway Portuguese Charcoal Chicken at Frango’s doesn’t lie. They are probably one of the best charcoal chicken restaurants in Sydney.

Do you think I should go?
If you want to taste what many believe to be the closest thing to authentic Portuguese Charcoal Chicken in Sydney, then you must visit Frango’s in Petersham.

Rating for Frango’s:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $20 – $30 per person

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

98 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 2049

+61 2 9560 2369

http://frangos.com.au/

May 16, 2018
Seed Greek Kouzina

Seed Greek Kouzina Review:

We saw an ad board for Seed Greek Kouzina as we walked down a small road in Petersham towards the main New Canterbury Road. It read ‘6-course for $35 every Tuesday and Wednesday’. If you like eating out, I’m sure you agree with me that a 6-course meal for $35 is a very good bargain… oh I forgot to mention: you also get a glass of wine for that price!

Surely enough, we are at the restaurant this week to try this menu out! They officially called it: Tuesday and Wednesday Mid-Week Banquet – $35 pp. The courses were predominantly seafood with only one exception, the salad.

Warm bread + taramasalata

There is nothing more perfect than starting your dinner at a Greek restaurant with warm bread and taramasalata. FYI, taramasalata is a Greek small dish (called meze) made out of fish roe.

GF Crisp fried baby seafood, lemon aioli

Our second course was a shared plate of deep fried small prawns with lemon aioli. The great thing about crunchy prawns is that you don’t need to spend hours peeling off their shells.

Krokettes – smoked mackerel croquettes

Almost at the same time of the second course, they also served smoked mackerel croquettes. It was a nicely done croquette!

Marinated grilled fish of the day (barbounia or red mullet)

From the display perspective, the main course was a tad underwhelming. You got four red mullets to be shared by three people.

Talking about the taste tho… oh boy, it was very delicious!

Lahanosalata (greek slaw) – cabbage and walnut salad

A salad is usually not my best friend. However, their salad was quite filling and decent.

Rizogalo (rice pudding), mango puree, macadamia nuts, vanilla ice cream

They have quite an interesting dessert by Australian standard. Not many people would think rice as a dessert. Personally, I think the rice pudding was nice, especially with the added crunch of macadamia nuts and the cooling vanilla ice cream.

Calamari and Chips – $12

The restaurant does not mind if children share your meal at no extra cost. However, they also serve kids meal if you wish to do so.

The final verdict for Seed Greek Kouzina

I don’t think anyone would argue that $35 for a 6-course meal was a bargain. Seed Greek Kouzina managed to deliver that with quite a decent quality of food.

Do you think I should go?
The banquet was only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If you are able to come to Petersham, it’s a very good option to have for a hump day dinner.

Rating for Seed Greek Kouzina:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $35 for 6-course meal + one glass of wine/beer/softdrinks

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

88 Audley Street, Petersham 2049

+61 2 95607798

http://seedgreekrestaurant.com.au/

Dec 5, 2017