Musakhan pastry and coffee from Khamsa Cafe – $12
Sarah Shaweesh has been serving vegan Palestinian feasts and outstanding coffee at her Newtown cafe since 2019. During lockdown she’s offering a limited menu, nearly all of which is under $16. Daily lunch specials such as mujadara (lentils and rice) or makloubeh (spiced-vegetable rice cake) are on offer for $15, or try a shawarma wrap with sumac, onions, tomato, pickles and tahini. Marinated mushrooms are used in place of lamb or chicken.
For a smaller meal, try musakhan, Palestine’s national dish of chicken, onion and sumac on flatbread.
“It’s really commonly made at home. People top flatbread with onion and chicken and layer it up. Instead of chicken I use mushroom, and I’ve made it into a triangle pastry,” Shaweesh tells Broadsheet. “I use king brown, oyster and portobello mushrooms, but the focus of the dish is the sumac and caramelised onion.”
Takeaway daily, 8am to 2pm.
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SIGN UPThree tacos or three empanadas from La Marquesina – $15
Before lockdown, Javier Galeano and Dani Redmond ran weekend stalls at Glebe and Summer Hill Flour Mill markets, selling Latin American and Spanish dishes such as empanadas and pulled-pork-shoulder nachos. In August they settled on a succinct menu and took their business online, delivering within a five-kilometre radius of Dulwich Hill.
Everything on the menu is less than $15. There are nachos, tacos and quesadillas, all made with a base of pork, brisket or beans. The achiote and citrus pulled pork is cooked for eight hours; the beef brisket is marinated in tomato, onion, garlic and bay leaves; and the kidney, pinto and black beans are simmered with chipotle and garlic.
For anyone feeding a family at home, Redmond recommends the chicken empanadas ($6 each or $15 for three); the naked bowl on a brown rice base; and three tacos with beef, pork or beans.
Delivery from Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm to 9pm.
Two chickens, chips, salad and toum from Oricco – $39.90 (serves four)
Oricco is a Dulwich Hill institution. The family-owned chicken shop has occupied the same storefront on New Canterbury Road for nearly two decades, serving Lebanese-style charcoal chicken. It’s one of those lucky businesses for which lockdown is the ideal environment. “We’ve been really fortunate to be busier than ever, and I think that’s because the locals really support us,” co-owner Jad Boustany tells Broadsheet.
Oricco’s chicken is marinated for 48 hours in a secret mixture of what Boustany calls “Mediterranean-style herbs and spices” and has a tart undertone that pairs well with the house-made toum (garlic sauce).
Boustany says the best-value meal is the Family Pack 2, which comes with two chickens, a large salad, medium toum and extra-large chips. When we suggest there might be leftovers, Boustany says it depends. “If it’s guys like me, maybe not. We always joke that a Lebanese family will eat this between just two people,” he says, laughing.
Oricco is temporarily closed until August 22. Takeaway or delivery on Deliveroo and Menulog, daily from 11am to 9pm.
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Philly cheesesteak meal from Fat Franks – $12
There are only a few ingredients in Fat Franks’ Philly cheesesteak: a soft hoagie roll is stuffed with thinly sliced rib eye, fried onions and Cheez Whiz. The sandwich is tightly wrapped in paper to keep the sauces from dripping.
“Philly cheesesteaks were invented in the suburbs of Philadelphia in the 1930s by Italian immigrants Harry and Pat Olivieri,” says general manager Carmelina Catanzariti. “Cab drivers were sick of hotdogs and asked the Olivieris for something new. They picked up some thin rib eye at the butcher, grilled it at their stand, put it on a hoagie and melted some provolone on top. The rest is history.”
Although there are many versions on the menu – mushroom cheesesteak, pepper (red capsicum) cheesesteak and chicken cheesesteak – Catanzariti advises simplicity during these locked-down times and says to go for the original.
The sandwich alone is substantial, but for the very hungry, a $12 meal includes chips and a drink.
“If you’re really depressed, add an order of deep-fried Oreos,” Catanzariti says.
Pick up or delivery via Uber Eats, from 11am to 10pm Sunday to Thursday, and 11am to 10.30pm Friday and Saturday.
Malaysian flame-grilled chicken with sides from Sharon Kwan Kitchen – $55 (serves four)
Charcoal chicken isn’t a rare commodity in Petersham, but Asian-style chicken served alongside beef rendang and char kway teow is. Sharon Kwan Kitchen serves Malaysian street food, hot or in chilled take-home packs, as well as flame-grilled chicken, from her shop on Parramatta Road.
The chickens come in two varieties: a Thai marinade of coriander root, garlic, onion, oyster and fish sauces, and a Malaysian marinade of fried curry powder, galangal, dried chilli, coconut milk and tamarind.
This meal pack includes four sides – Kwan recommends turmeric-coconut rice; stir-fried vegetables; salad; and four crunchy, handmade prawn fritters – plus a house-made sauce. There’s nam jim, satay, medium sambal or a hot sambal that’s so spicy even Kwan finds it hard to take – but she says the spiciness is at her customers’ request.
Other hot dishes cost around $20, but if you cook your own rice you can take home chilled meals for a song. Chicken curry made with plenty of fresh curry leaves and tamarind, or rich beef rendang come in portions to serve two, three or four people for $20, $28 or $34 respectively. If you have cash left over, get the coconut-milk sago pudding with dark caramelised coconut sugar.
Takeaway or delivery via Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Menulog, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 11.30am to 8pm, and Friday and Saturday 11.30am to 8.30pm.
Work-from-home special at Little Turtle – $10.50
Little Turtle’s vegan work-from-home special began during the first Sydney lockdown and proved so popular it’s remained on the menu. The lunch is made up of an entree and your choice of noodles or stir-fry – and if you’re still hungry, you can add a bao for $4.
Although owner Vinita Chumsri favours this dish for colder weather, she says the panang curry is popular all year round. “The grilled, caramelised eggplant panang curry is a favourite. Once a customer is hooked on panang, they’re hooked. We pound the curry paste every morning, so it’s really fresh and tasty.”
Have it with puff sticks, Chumsri’s recreation of the cheese sticks she loved as a girl. “You get this burst of flavour with carrots and onions and the crispiness of the puff pastry.”
Takeaway and delivery daily, 11am to 10pm.
Burger special at General Gordon Hotel – $15
Sydenham’s General Gordon Hotel was resurrected earlier this year after a fire in 2018 destroyed the 1930s pub. It’s a foundational part of the community. “We’re all about welcoming the community into our house. It’s a place to feel welcome, safe and unpretentious,” licensee Sarah Lewis told Broadsheet when the pub reopened.
Although the public can’t visit the venue for now, the hotel is trying to offer that sense of hospitality in people’s homes, running $15 burger specials on Wednesday nights, offering free local delivery and even keeping quiz nights going with the Liquor Sisters Virtual Lockdown Trivia. Specials include the classic cheeseburger, chicken burger and the Ever Victorious vegan burger. All are served with chips.
If you’re not into burgers, there are also weekday deals on pub classics. On Mondays chicken schnitzels and parmigiana are $15, on Thursdays all pizzas are $15, and on Sundays, kids eat for half price.
Takeaway and free delivery daily from 5pm.
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