Grab Your Fork: A Sydney food blog: July 2004 Archive #navbar-iframe { display: none; }

Saturday, July 31, 2004

Golden Century, Chinatown

The Golden Century, home away from home for many a Sydney chef at 3am, is renowned for its seafood and late night opening (it's open until 4am!).

Familiar tacky decor (huge backlit gaudy fish mural and lazy susans decorated with raindrop stickers) bely a consistency of dishes even though it was full house. We had the live pippies cooked in XO sauce which were the night's highlight--good-sized mouthfuls drenched in a sticky sweet sauce, perfect for mopping up with crisp and fluffy chunks of fried bread batons.

The crab was rated fairly highly although we have had silkier efu noodles. The crispy skin chicken was tender and moist but the salt and pepper squid was a little chewy. As we left we discovered the wine chiller which housed a number of high-range wines. Do they ever get ordered and how much is the fridge insured for?!?

All in all top nosh although we could have done without the rowdy off-key karaoke in the private function area! Go for the pippies and get extra fried bread!


Golden Century


The flying saucer lazy susan


Pippies in XO sauce


Fried bread batons--perfect for mopping up leftover XO sauce


Crab with ginger and shallots on e-fu noodles


Salt and pepper squid


Pork with pickled vegetables hotpot


Crispy skin chicken


A drop of red anyone?


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Golden Century Seafood Restaurant
393-399 Sussex Street, Haymarket, Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9212 3901

Opening hours:
Open 7 days, 12pm-4am


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Golden Century (Jan 10), (Oct 07), (Nov 06), (Oct 05) and (Jul 04)
0 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Anonymous on 7/31/2004 11:59:00 pm


Thursday, July 08, 2004

Rowda Ya Habibi, Newtown

Rowda Ya Habibi is no doubt one of the best Lebanese restaurants in Sydney. Excellent value aside, the food here is always freshly cooked, tasty and served in copious quantities. The cushion room upstairs makes it a great venue for relaxed group feeds and the spectacular tapestries draping the wall add to the Middle Eastern atmosphere.

We had the Extra Special banquet for a mere $25 which included baba ghanoush, hummus, ladies fingers, tabouleh, falafel, fried eggplant, chicken skewers, shish kebabs, lamb kebabs and rice with beans. The food was brilliant. The chicken was unbelievably tender and juicy, the lamb was so flavoursome it was almost gamey and the baba ghanoush was smoky and comforting.

I think the food here is better than any Lebanese I've had in Surry Hills. Be sure to grab a container of Turkish Delight on your way out--it's supersweet but stretchy and soft as the homemade stuff should be.

Where do you go for your felafel fix? Include your comment below!


Tapestry wallhanging


Tapestry wallhanging


Baba ghanoush


Falafel with tabouleh


Shish kebab


Chicken skewers with garlic


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Rowda Ya Habibi on Urbanspoon


Rowda Ya Habibi
101 King Street Newtown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9557 5368

Open 7 days 10.30am - 12 midnight



Related Grab Your Fork posts:
5 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Anonymous on 7/08/2004 04:59:00 pm



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