Granny Wolf BBQ, Central Park Mall, Chippendale Sydney

Bulgogi beef? Cumin lamb? Chicken gizzards? It's a choose-your-own skewer adventure at Granny Wolf BBQ, newly arrived at Central Park, taking over the former site of Lang Suan Thai Street Food. The fit out is flash and modern, a beacon of backlit neon cleverly incorporating a wolf's open jaw.

The concept is simple. Grab a tray and browse the self-serve chilled bain marie of assorted skewers. These are chuan, small street food skewers that originated in Xinjiang, China but have now spread in popularity across the country. The use of cumin as a seasoning for many of the skewers is a reference to their Chinese Islamic Uyghur origins. But here too you'll find other influences, including Korean bulgogi sauce and Taiwanese sausages.


Self-serve skewer station

Everything is clearly labelled in both English and Chinese. It's a mixed bag of lamb, chicken, pork and beef. Vegetarian choices are limited to shiitake mushrooms and corn cobs although you can add orders of fries, wedges, sweet potato fries and salads (cucumber and garlic, celery and yuba or shredded kelp).


Taiwanese sausage $5 each
Cantonese sausage and cheese fish tofu skewers $2.50 each


Bulgogi beef brisket skewers $2.50 each


Pickled pepper beef brisket skewers $2.50 each


Cumin chicken heart skewers $2.50 each


Teriyaki beef tongue skewers $2.50 each


Seasoning skewers on the bbq

Once you're ready, take them to the counter and add any other menu options. The skewers are cooked on the barbecue grill in the front window. Warning: they do take about 5-10 minutes to cook so don't arriving starving.


Granny Wolf Supreme Meal combo $15.50
Marinated pig trotters with steamed rice, 3 x $2.50 skewers and homemade plum juice

The Supreme Meal Combo is probably one of the best value deals, presuming you're ok with eating pork skin. It's a massive serve of rice - perfect for eating with your skewers - topped with two chunks of pig trotter (tasty but more pork skin and fat than meat, as expected).

The seaweed salad and celery yuba salad are also welcomed, providing a welcome hit of acidity when you tuck into the skewers (they're coming. Eventually).


Spicy bulgogi beef brisket; chicken giblet; and spice pepper with cumin lamb skewers $2.50 each

In addition to the pouch of homemade plum juice, you get to choose any three $2.50 skewers. I go with spicy bulgogi beef, chicken giblets and cumin lamb. You'll be asked how spicy you'll like your skewers when they're cooked. I go with super spicy and let me tell you, they're not kidding around.

The meat is cooked to well done, so expect some satisfying chewiness to it. It's not dry though. I enjoy the chicken giblets the most, but that's because I've always loved their crunch.


Self-serve seasonings at the counter

Don't forget to make use of the self-serving seasonings at the counter when you pick up your order either.


Braised pork belly with rice $10.50

On my second visit, I hightail it to the braised pork belly with rice. It's listed as a side but is more of a main meal, accompanied with celery yuba salad, half a boiled egg and a mountain of plain rice. You could easily share these between two (I did). And there's a lot of braised pork belly in here too (more meat than fat which I personally find disappointing).


Cantonese sausage; spice pepper with cumin lamb; pickled pepper beef brisket; and spicy bulgogi pork belly skewers $2.50 each

We hit up more skewers, including the Cantonese sausage; spice pepper with cumin lamb; pickled pepper beef brisket; and spicy bulgogi pork belly. The pork belly is the star with its caramelised fatty bits.


Crispy chicken skin $5.50

The crispy chicken skin isn't as overall crispy as we'd hoped. There are some crunchy pieces but others are a little soggier, with that squelch of unrendered chicken fat. It's a huge portion though, and recommended for sharing between 2-3 people unless you really want to give your arteries a workout.


New Orleans grilled chicken bones $5

The unexpected highlight is this: New Orleans grilled chicken bones. They come in a pyrex tray in the chilled bain marie, a selection of carcass cast-offs that run from ribs to necks to pelvic bones. $5 might sound ridiculous but I reckon you get more meat from this than two skewers.

Because the bones take a little longer to cook, there's a smokier flavour too, plus the carnivorous satisfaction of crunching down all the burnt bits of bone and cleaning every last juicy skerrick of flesh off every bone. I'd definitely eat this again.


Skewer party






Granny Wolf BBQ
Central Park Mall
Level 2 Food Court (between Lala Malaysian and Timezone)
28 Broadway, Chippendale, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8096 9900

Opening hours
Daily 10am-8pm


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