Niko's Kitchen, Dulwich Hill

Say yiasou to the cheeseburger gyro. What’s in a cheeseburger gyro? Take one beef patty and wrap it up in soft pita bread with American cheese and bacon. And because it’s Greek, add a load of crumbled feta. You’ll find it at Niko’s Kitchen in Dulwich Hill. Its reopening was rejoiced by locals after the first venue closed in Kingsgrove. And if the pork belly baklava sounds familiar, that’s because Niko’s Kitchen took over Kefi Kingsgrove, initially helmed by David Tsirekas (ex-Perama and Xanthi). It's like Greek musical chairs.


Pork, chicken and lamb gyros on the spit

Kefi’s signature pork belly baklava gyro lives on, a sweet and salty combo of crackling pork belly, flaky filo pastry, apple mastic mayonnaise and date and pistachio paste. So too does the soft shell crab gyro, the deep fried crustacean paired with Greekslaw and coriander in a round of warm pita.


Pork souvla pack $15.90
200g meat with salad, chips, pita bread and tzatziki

Relax. The traditional gyro still reigns superme. And better yet, there’s a choice of four proteins, each spinning slowly on a vertical spit. Take your pick from beef, pork, chicken or lamb, either piled into fluffy pita bread with salad, tzatziki and chips or served deconstructed as a souvla pack.

A thorough burger menu runs from a double beef burger through to pulled pork, crispy chicken, and barbecue lamb. Vegetarians don’t miss out either. The Dully Burger comes with a veggie patty, baby spinach, fried tofu, fried mushrooms and tomato relish. Gluten-free buns are available too.


Haloumi chips $7

Let’s not forget the all important side of chips. Get them plain or drenched in gravy, crumbled feta or molten cheese with bacon. Also on offer: sweet potato fries and strips of haloumi deep fried into chips.


Cheesy chips with bacon $6

Desserts include vanilla bougatsa – semolina custard in filo pastry – and loukoumades donuts. For maximum fun, get them with a syringe injector of white chocolate, chocolate, salted caramel or peanut butter.



You’ll find a happy hubbub of families and hungry blokes traipsing through this casual eatery all day. Much of the interior has been retained from former resident, Psari fish shop, including a very cool feature wall of original newspaper pages from the 1970s, but behind the grill it's all Greek now.


Greek salad in the pork souvla pack






Niko's Kitchen
237 Wardell Road, Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9558 9074

Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 11am-9pm
Friday to Saturday 11am-10pm


This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.

The Sausage Factory, Dulwich Hill

The first thing you'll notice about the Sausage Factory are the knitted sausages in the front window. They've all been handmade by Chrissy Flanagan, who adds pickle pro and Sausage Queen to a comprehensive list of long-forgotten skills. Chrissy is the force behind Chrissy's Cuts, a well-loved snag supplier at local markets, pop-up events (you may have eaten her sausage dogs at this year's Sydney Festival at The Beach in the Cutaway at Barangaroo Reserve) and restaurants (her camel sausage is on the menu at Anason).


Merchant Brewing Co earl grey tea and pear blonde ale $14

The Sausage Factory is a natural progression of their expansion, enabling customers to dine on sausages cooked in the same kitchen in which they were made. The space is small and cosy, a 30-seater restaurant filled every night with locals. Meat hooks from its former life as a Greek butchery have been deliberately maintained, but there's also a long open shelf stacked with pickles, jams and gourmet salts.

All tables are walk-in only although there is a large birthday table that can be reserved for six to ten people. They've also recently had their alcohol licence granted which means an interesting list of beers (earl grey tea and pear blonde ale with a sloth on the label!) and gin and tonics with native rosemary.


Dinner for two $55
Five sausages with pickles, bread and choice of salad

The menu is short and sweet. Choose from eight different meat sausages and three salads. Vegetarians can order the scamorza cheese, zucchini, almond and currant "sausage". Sausages are also coeliac-friendly.

Order by the sausage for $8 each (served with pickles and condiments) or get the dinner for two for $55 that includes your choice of five sausages, pickles, bread and your choice of salad. If that's still too much, you can get a sausage in a bread roll with tomato sauce for $11.


[L-R]: Chicken thigh with preserved lemon, honey and oregano;
Pork shoulder with bacon and maple syrup;
Beef chuck with brown sauce and worcestershire;
Camel pastourma;
Lamb shoulder with sumac and mint

We opt for the dinner for two. Our sausage selection covers one of each beast. Somehow we end up with two extra from the kitchen because a couple have burst their skins. Eight bucks a snag might sound a little steep until you realise each sausage is made using free range meat with no gluten or preservatives. They're a far cry from the usual sausage sizzle suspects.

These sausages have a noticeable meatiness without any of the greasiness you get from cheaper offerings. Of the four types we try, it's no surprise that my favourite is the pork shoulder with bacon and maple syrup. There's only a hint of sweetness but it works brilliantly. The camel pastourma is also a winner, a juicy number that's fragrant with Middle Eastern spices.


Apples in Poor Tom's gin, pickled carrots and radish, lemon garlic yoghurt and housemade beer mustard

All sausages are served with housemade pickles, thin discs of carrots and radish and slivers of apples macerated in Poor Tom's gin. And you can alternate between little pots of lemon garlic yoghurt and housemade beer mustard to add flourish to your sausage.

Radicchio, cauliflower, hazelnut and prune salad 

Don't go looking for mashed potatoes. There's a deliberate move away from this combo - although I can think of nothing finer than terrific sausages with Paris mash and gravy. Instead it's all about the veggies. We relished bitter crisp leaves of radicchio against finely shaved slices of raw cauliflower, cooked prunes and toasted hazelnuts.

The salad was included in our dinner for two but if you order this separately it'll cost you $14. Other salads include a pear beetroot labne combo plus a brussels sprout salad with popcorn shoots. Yep, that's the result of specific popcorn kernels germinated and planted so they sprout shoots.

And the biggest surprise of all we discovered during our dinner? Chrissy and her husband Jim are both still holding down day jobs, racing to the restaurant for weeknight and weekend trade. Props.



SMH Good Food Guide

Sydney's Top 20 Cheat Eats for 2017

And just in case you missed it, my list for Sydney's Top 20 Cheap Eats for 2017 came out as a cover story for Good Food. This is my third year in a row compiling this list for the Good Food Guide. It's never an easy list to compile, only because we're spoilt for choice in Sydney when it comes to incredible food options.

My mission this year was to finally throw a spotlight on all the suburban cheap eats that rarely get a mention in mainstream media lists. I couldn't fit in everyone but I hope I've provided a balanced cross-section of cuisines across the geographical megalopolis that is Sydney. Read the full list.






The Sausage Factory
380 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill, Sydney

Opening hours
Wednesday to Friday 5pm-10pm
Saturday 4pm-10pm
Sunday 4pm-9pm

Walk-ins only.
Reservations available for the birthday table for 6-10 people only. Email chrissy@chrissyscuts.com.au


Related Grab Your Fork posts
Dulwich Hill - Hub House Diner
Dulwich Hill - Manmaru
Dulwich Hill - Strawberry Fields Patisserie

Manmaru, Dulwich Hill

Few places will see you torn between Japanese braised pork, taco rice and an award-winning vegan pie, but that’s the scenario you're facing at the recently launched Manmaru in Dulwich Hill. Locals noticed the former Graff Caff was turning Japanese (I really think so) at the start of the year, with a name change and menu shift. Husband and wife owners Erich and Takako Fasolin are still on-board, but Manmaru – which translates to perfect circle in Japanese – means Takako’s baking pop-ups now have a permanent home.


Roasted pumpkin and chickpea vegan pie $8

At the counter you’ll find a baking cabinet filled with yuzu (Japanese citrus) cookies, white chocolate matcha brownies and gluten-free matcha friands. If the vegan ginger caramel apple crumble pie is in there, get your mitts on it. This beauty took out bronze at the 2017 Sydney Royal Fine Food Show. Score one for the plant-eaters. Their vegan pie – roasted pumpkin and chickpea in a crumbly pastry made using Nuttelex, took home a silver medal in the same competition.

Meat eaters can celebrate too. Manmaru’s grass-fed beef pie is made with Black Bunny dark ale by local brewers Willie the Boatman in St Peters. Even better is the fact that the café’s alcohol license means you can wash it down with a Kirin or Young Henry’s brew.


Crispy mochi dumplings $5

The rest of the menu yields a quirky collection of Japanese-leaning dishes. Scrambled eggs are mixed with koji (the same type of culture used to make soy sauce and sake). Crispy mochi dumplings are stuffed with tofu, cabbage and quinoa.


Kakunidon $16
Braised pork with organic brown and white rice, Asian greens and soy marinated egg

Our money is on the heartier offerings like the kakunidon – sticky and tender simmered pork belly in a bowl of brown and white rice with soy sauce eggs and salad.


Vegan taco rice $10
Marinated soy bean with shredded lettuce, tomato and cheese on organic brown and white rice

Taco rice swaps out corn chips for organic brown and white rice, draped with tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and a sauced up textured vegetable protein that looks just like beef mince.

Be warned: seating is limited and service can be slow and distracted, but that just means more time to decide whether you’ll have the matcha cookie crumble or homemade chocolate ice magic on your vegan vanilla bean or salted caramel ice cream.


Matcha latte $4.30


Bacon egg roll $9
with soy marinated onion, cheese and tomato chutney


Tofu noodle salad with poached chicken $15






Manmaru
495 Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Tel: +61 (0)414 566 624

Opening hours
Monday, Wednesday to Friday 8am-5pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am-4pm


This article first appeared in Time Out Sydney. Read this article online or read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews.

The Hub House Diner, Dulwich Hill

The Hub House Diner looks like an eatery straight out of Surry Hils -- except it's actually in Dulwich Hill, and locals couldn't be happier. Booth seating, gas lamp-style lights overhead and a cheery mix of rainbow-painted metal furniture have brought a real buzz to a formerly struggling restaurant site.



Now it doesn't seem to matter when you walk past, but the restaurant is consistently filled with people. There's a bright cheery vibe to the place, with large plate glass windows creating a sense of welcoming openness.

We arrive for an early weekend dinner and can't help but notice the proliferation of kids. Families, groups and even a birthday dinner are dotted with little people, some absentmindedly picking at chips but most of them are staring at iPads, their faces illuminated.


Cold pressed freshly squeezed orange juice with raspberry cloud $6

It's apparent that owners Dean and Daniella Papas have set about to create a family-friendly American-style diner. Head chef Joseph Sergio is behind the menu, littered with American burgers, soft shell tacos and sliders. There's also more substantial fare, including a 300gram grain-fed sirloin ($26.50), Tasmanian ocean trout ($26.50), tuna nicoise salad ($16.50) and a very hefty looking panko chicken schnitzel ($18).

Service is efficient and friendly and it doesn't take long for our drinks to arrive. We're told that a raspberry cloud is a homemade raspberry coulis, but to be honest, its splattered appearance on a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice looks more like a bloody accident. It's not particularly discernible in taste either.


Peanut butter banana smoothie $8

The peanut butter banana smoothie, on the other hand, is much more satisfying. The smoothie is thick and creamy with a good balance of banana and peanut butter, blended with milk, ice cream and a dash of honey. In a refreshing change from many other places, it's not overly sweet either.


Meatball sliders with American Jack and BBQ aioli $15

Meatball sliders are all kinds of sexy with American Jack cheese melting every which way. The meatballs are a good size, juicy and daubed liberally with a rich tomato sauce.


Bucket of Southern fried chicken wings with hot sauce $14

Southern fried chicken wings appear in a bucket as promised, but the batter has an odd sweetness that lingers on the palate. There's plenty of crunch but they remind me more of takeaway fried chicken than buttermilk marinated birds from the deep South.

We are keen on the hot sauce, served in a miniature glass milk bottle, which we slosh recklessly over everything.


Popcorn chicken with Old Bay aioli and slaw $14

Much less of a hit is the popcorn chicken, chewy rubbery chicken bits in a mealy orange batter. It's a bewildering disappointment, especially given the fresh lively coleslaw next to it.


House beef burger with fries $19

The burgers arrive on impressive wooden boards, shaped like a guitar body with one side recessed to hold a serve of fries. We've gone for the top of the line House beef burger, a sweet sesame seed bun sandwiching beef pattie, salad, bacon, egg and American Jack cheese - it's satisfying, if a little sweet, and I wish there'd been more of the promised hickory smoked barbecue sauce.



It's easy to see why the Hub is such a magnet for locals. The concept is fun, there's food for the kids, a car park out back and they offer wine and BYO to suit even the most frazzled parent. We did find it a little noisy but if you're looking for a casual eat in a kid-friendly venue, the Hub House Diner has got you covered.




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The Hub House Diner
410 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9518 1887

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday 7am til late
Saturday and Sunday 7.30am til late
Closed on Mondays


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Dulwich Hill - Sideways Deli Cafe
Dulwich Hill - Strawberry Fields Patisserie