A month ago if you had asked me about the racial demographics of Wolli Creek I would’ve told you that its expansive high rise apartments were mostly full of international students of Chinese descent. There are just so many Chinese restaurants, Chinese groceries, and Chinese people everywhere you look – my girlfriend’s brother included.
It was a surprise to me, therefore, to find a Brazilian restaurant and a Brazilian gym tucked away in Wolli Creek. off the beaten track. It was also a surprise to me to have looked after four patients of Brazilian descent in the ED over the Christmas-New Year period, having not seen any all year. I guess I was just not aware.
Coffee served at Chachii is from Gabriel Coffee. It was good anti-headache and anti-sleep therapy before a long day of apartment hunting in Westmead followed by a return to the ED in Kogarah. The surprise addition of a small cookie is always welcome.
I played it safe on my first visit to Chachii with a serving of Chachii’s Lamb ($19). It was a well priced plate of two well poached eggs (in a good way, not the bad way), confit cherry tomatoes (similar to my last experience with confit cherry tomatoes I wonder why they even bother), and slow cooked lamb on catupiry cheese with cassava and bacon crumbs dusted around the plate. The 12-hour slow cooked lamb was flavourful and delicious, but not too tasty as some other local lambs have been. The catupiry cheese, a Brazilians brand of creamy cow’s milk cheese, was reminiscent of a whipped feta but with a very mild flavour – great at adding moisture and creaminess to the dish. This was really good.
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I went back to Chachii with a couple of post-night shift mates a few days after my initial visit.
The beef pastel ($8) was surprisingly huge, much larger than other empanada s I’ve had at Pochito in Mascot. It had a crispy, thin pastry skin and was filled with a tasty beef mince filling. I quite enjoyed this and can recommend it.
The Coxinha ($6), made of shredded chicken surrounded in dough was also delicious. Maybe we just like deep fried foods. I thought it was better without the sauce.
The Coracao Sandwich ($13) is a sandwich of chicken hearts cooked in beer and spices in a baguette roll. It tasted OK, mostly a salty, slightly umami however with no significant differences in texture or taste throughout the sandwich it did get to feel a bit samey. Whilst I don’t mind chicken heart I normally prefer it in smaller quantities.
The X-Calabresa Sandwich ($15) is a sandwich with a large serving of Brazilian chorizo, cheese, caramelised onion, smoked mayo and a tiny amount of cos lettuce and tomato. It was my favourite sandwich of our visit, owing to the variety of ingredients and flavours (tangy, salty, sweet) contained within. The Brazilian chorizo tasted quite different to any chorizo I’ve ever had.
The Mortadella Sandwich ($13) is a national food of Brazil. As a recent convert to mortadella fanhood (especially LP’s mortadella) I was really keen to try this sandwich, and very glad that one of my friends wanted to try it as well. Whilst mortadella is generally less salty a meat, the sheer quantity of grilled mortadella (300g in this sandwich) and melted cheese meant that the sandwich overall was quite salty. Similarly to the Coracao sandwich I feel like this would get a bit old towards the last bite (though I only had a quarter of the pictured rolls). Chips, which were an additional $3, were fresh and good.
VERDICT
Chachii is one of Sydney’s only Brazilian restaurants open before noon. Everything on their menu is distinctly Brazilian, and I think if you, like me, are not very familiar with the cuisine it’s worth the adventure.
Chachii
9-11 Arncliffe St, Wolli Creek NSW 2205
(02) 9171 0813