BBQ King, Haymarket Chinatown

I've never been a fan of banquet menus. All too often the list of bullet-pointed dishes are ho-hum run-of-the-mill offerings, a shoulder-sinking realisation that to appeal to the masses, one's tastebuds is often forcibly reduced to the lowest common denominator.

Sometimes, though, you will find yourself in a large eclectic group, and plagued by meandering indecisiveness and a vocal urge to eat, it's often just easier to put your menu down and go with the banquetting flow.


Peking duck pancake


Sang choy bow


Salt and pepper calamari


Crispy skin chicken


Sauteed prawns with snowpeas


Chinese water spinach with garlic


Barbecue pork

At $30 a head, I considered our value for money only mildly fair. The crispy skin chicken was lovely and moist, the bbq pork was tasty as usual, but other dishes were a little heavy-handed in tongue-coating oil for my liking (the sang choy bow in particular).

Of course, with a name like BBQ King, perhaps it would be foolish to order anything but. With their barbecued meats hanging tantalisingly in the window, we've generally had much greater success with their rice and bbq menu, and coming in for a lunch with a friend or two means you get to sit downstairs in relatively "swish" surroundings (compared to upstairs anyways).



B always has the hot and sour soup, one of the few dishes in this world I cannot fathom. Vinegar on chips I like, but drinking hot vinegar is something that "sorry, compoot-ah says no". Perhaps one day I will overcome.


Hot and sour soup $6.00

Instead I am usually quite happy to tuck into mouthfuls of roast duck and barbecue pork, piled onto a seemingly unconquerable mountain of rice. A side forest of vegetables must also be cleared.


BBQ pork and roast duck with rice $13.00
(Visit #1)

I've had this twice lately, and portion size and quality will always vary. I've never quite understood why their portions have to be so large though. We neatly circumvent this pricing strategy by simply sharing a dish between two.


BBQ pork and roast duck with rice $13.00
(Visit #2)

And of course everything always tastes better with a generous dip in chilli sauce.



A Sydney institution with a legion of loyal fans, but for the moment I'm sticking to the barbecue for a guaranteed happy belly.



BBQ King
18-20 Goulburn St, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9267 2586

Open 7 days, 11.30am-2.00am

Related GrabYourFork posts:
BBQ King, March 2007