Grilled chicken with coconut rice from Ayam Bakar 7 Saudara – $12.50
Ayam Bakar 7 Saudara is named after its most popular dish, ayam bakar, Indonesian-style grilled chicken.
The Penshurst eatery makes its chicken to the recipe owner Susanty Affandy Lim’s mum, Lim Fun Moy, first used at a Jakarta food stall three decades ago. Lim and her siblings inherited the recipe and the family tradition of hospitality: her siblings each own a restaurant in Indonesia.
Served with coconut rice, the ayam bakar is tender and juicy.
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SIGN UPThe eatery is also famous for its gado gado. “It’s an Indonesian signature dish of mixed vegetables like cabbage, carrot, snake beans and spinach with peanut sauce. You can ask for as many chillis as you like,” says Lim’s husband and chef Ridwan Layantara.
Takeaway Tuesday to Thursday dinner, Friday to Sunday lunch and dinner. Delivery Thursday and Sunday by calling 0414 420 988.
Soutzoukakia from Ham Cronulla – $30 (serves two)
Harry and Mario Kapoulas, the brothers behind Cronulla’s Ham cafe, also run a catering business, so they know how to keep food quality from deteriorating during travel. Their vacuum-packed, take-home meals were developed with takeaway in mind.
Greek-inspired dishes such as soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs) in a tomato-based sauce, octopus with giant Greek beans, or lemon chicken are cooked, cooled and vacuum-packed ready to take home to reheat.
Harry says the recipes are about comfort food. “We do classic Greek recipes, my mum’s recipes, and they’re really easy to make. Heat the bag in a pot of boiling water when you get home, or if you want to stock the fridge for another day, it’ll last two weeks refrigerated.”
Takeaway Daily 6am–5pm. Order via Instagram DM.
Roast duck with rice at Golden Sun BBQ – $12
Golden Sun BBQ is a Hurstville institution specialising in barbeque, from chicken to duck to pork.
There are plenty of good deals. When asked to suggest one dish, manager Lily Wong rattles off a list of options including roast duck with rice for $12, or barbeque pork with rice for $11. Portions are also available by the kilo, making it a good place to feed a family. An order of a whole chicken, a whole duck and either five-spice or ruby-red char siu pork comes in under $60.
“We don’t really have sides of vegetables. We don’t do stir-fry, only barbeque,” says Wong. “The meat comes with a little steamed greens on the side.”
Takeaway and delivery by calling (02) 9585 9295 daily, 9.30am to 8pm.
Family pack 7 at Charcoal Kingdom – $60 (serves six to eight)
Rockdale’s Charcoal Kingdom offers some of the best-value family meals on this list. The most affordable meal comes with a whole chicken, chips, garlic sauce, pickles and a drink for $26 and feeds four people. The more expensive pack is $60, but with two chickens plus chips, salads, pickles and Lebanese bread, it will easily feed six people.
The eatery has a loyal local following for its cracking chickens. “We marinate them for two or three days and cook them flat over charcoal. Compared to traditional chickens, ours don’t have much char. They’re really soft because we cook them a bit slow, the chicken falls apart, you can pull the bones out.”
Everything is made in-house, from the garlic sauce, mayonnaise and marinades, to the chicken salt mix for the hot chips. Owner Ali Bedran even makes a tomato ketchup to use on the specials, which are posted regularly on social media.
“I’ve just done some corned beef and I’m slicing it up to try out a little burger special,” he says.
Takeaway (order online) and delivery via Uber, Deliveroo and Menulog, Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 10pm.
Brisket tacos at Smoky Sue’s – $15
Smoky Sue’s has the ideal comfort-food menu for our current times: southern fried chicken with a spiced, textural coating; mac’n’cheese; burgers; and plenty of barbequed meats.
Much of the Street Eats section of its menu costs around $15 and the dishes are customisable. Choose from tender beef brisket, pulled pork, fried chicken or even mac’n’cheese balls to fill your soft tacos and burritos, or load your fries.
“People really love the loaded fries. You get your choice of meats, then a choice of sauces all topped with pico de gallo salsa,” says owner and pit master Owen Brown.
One dish alone is a feast for a single – or, for $60, a family of four could order a number of dishes and share, such as nachos, tacos, loaded fries and wings with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
Order takeaway and delivery directly, daily, 12pm–8.30pm.
Minced beef and cheese burek at Son of a Baker – $26 (serves three)
Lockdown might have inspired the inner baker in many of us, but the process of making burek is on an entirely different level to that of sourdough. The dough is flung into the air from one hand with a circular flick of the wrist, while the other keeps an edge of the dough pinned to the bench. It takes years to master the technique to get it sufficiently thin.
“The flakiness of the pastry comes from how thin you get it while stretching. It’s hard to make. It’s not something you’re going to get right away,” says owner Roman Urosevski. Urosevski learned to make the pastries from his dad, Alexander, who owned Rockdale institution, Alexander’s Bakery.
Although burek is tasty at room temperature, it’s best straight out of the oven, which is why Son of a Baker offers bake-at-home burek for delivery. There’s minced beef and cheese, plain ricotta, or ricotta and spinach.
Takeaway from Botany HQ Monday to Sunday 5.30am to 2pm or delivery online via Store to Door.
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