Category: American

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American Middle Eastern

Albeik Shawarma – Granville NSW Restaurant Review

One of the fellows I work with has never said no to some physically unhealthy but spiritually permitted fast food overnight. Though we mostly order from a few known locals, we do on occasion get to branch out.

The fried chicken pieces (3 for $11) were excellent – some of the best post-midnight fried chicken I’ve had in Western Sydney. It was perfectly crispy on the outside, and extremely juicy on the inside. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to get a photo of the meat inside, and my only complaint is that the spiciness of the spicy version could be a little spicier.

Unfortunately the chicken shawarma wrap ($13), which you would expect to be the restaurant’s specialty, was nowhere near as excellent. The wrap, though size-appropriate and chicken-filled, presented as dry, and could’ve used much more garlic sauce/toum than was provided. I’ve certainly had better in the vague local area, including Armani Restaurant in Parramatta, and Babylon Bakery in Fairfield Heights.

Albeik (Al Beik) Shawarma
48 Railway Parade, Granville NSW 2142
(02) 8626 9839

Categories
American

Extra Crispy – Merrylands NSW Restaurant Review

There is this rumour going around Western Sydney that the Extra Crispy group of fried chicken restaurants was originally a set of Broaster Chicken franchises that broke off and renamed themselves in order to avoid the licensing fees surrounding the Broaster name whilst continuing to use the broasting equipment. Whilst I cannot independently confirm nor deny this, it does seem like the chicken that they have is extremely similar to that which is provided by the Broaster chain, with the one exception that the level of salt at the Extra Crispy chains in Western Sydney varies considerably store to store – often a bit oversalted.

Whilst I normally avoid taking part in the night time Extra Crispy orders, one particular night I had a Crispy Classic Chicken Burger ($12) featuring a crispy chicken patty, halal beef bacon, lettuce, American cheese, pickles and spicy sauce. It was actually quite good. The size and value for money was on point, the flavour was good and for once in my life it was not extremely salty.

I also shared in a number of 10 Buffalo Hot Wings ($12.50) which I felt could have been just a little bit more buffalo than what we received. The photos on the electronic menu does make the buffalo sauce appear more substantial than what we received and if they were hoping to cater for customers who wanted only a mildly buffalo experience when ordering buffalo wings, they could have at least added more buffalo sauce on the side. Were I to order this again, I would at least try and add a comment asking to smother the wings in sauce.

Extra Crispy Merrylands
1/228 Merrylands Rd, Merrylands NSW 2160

Categories
American

John Belvedere – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

It’s been three years since I’ve ordered from John Belvedere, but I’ve only now found these photos on my hard drive and realised that I’ve never written anything about them online.

Unlike the majority of my long-forgotten meals, I can remember my specific feelings about John Belvedere’s burgers quite clearly. They are very good. The cheese burger ($10) – a simple affair of a smash patty, American cheese, onion, pickles and bread was absolutely perfect. The beef patty was tasty and juicy, the cheese American, and the pickles tangy. The bread was soft and compressible, not at all overpowering or bland, making this burger the perfect snack to consume either by itself or with another one (they were running a 2 for 1 special back in 2021).

The beef rib burger ($13) was honestly less good, and it’s probably no great shame that its price has ballooned to $19 over the last three years and it’s fallen off the daily menu. I remember it tasting just a bit drier than the excellent cheese burger, possibly too sticky from the sauce but not moist in the meat.

John Belvedere
318 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150

Categories
American

YG Burger House – Granville NSW Restaurant Review

I had this burger from YG Burger House at around 2am, and despite my generally lower standards when it comes to food at this hour of night, I didn’t particularly enjoy it.

The Burger House Special ($13.50, $17.40 delivery app), which differentiates itself from their original burger through the addition of cheese and special burger sauce as opposed to a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup, didn’t impress me for the price that was commanded. In particular, I felt that the smash patty was quite thin and loose, and lacked adequate structure or meatiness, feeling more like a loose collection of mince than an actual burger patty.

There are certainly, in my opinion, there are certainly superior options in the local for the 2AM crowd, a few of which are cheaper, and so YG Burger House would be low on my list behind local favourites such as Chubby Buns.

YG Burger House
46 Railway Parade, Granville NSW 2142

Categories
American

Chicha Burgers – Petersham NSW Restaurant Review

I’ve only ever ordered delivery from Chicha Burgers in Petersham, so there’s not much I can tell you about the structural layout of what is essentially a food truck in a permanent location on Parramatta Road.

Over a couple of occasions I’ve taken advantage of delivery platform discounts to order their Classico Burger ($12), featuring a single smash patty, American cheese, ketchup, onion and pickles in a seeded bun.

This is actually almost a perfect little cheeseburger with a very generous serving of tomato sauce and pickles giving it a nice tang as well as moistness which balances out the cheese and the oily meat. The fillings cover the majority of the surface area of the bun with no useless empty buns left round the sides.

Its only problem is its compact size which makes $12 a bit of a difficult ask given Chicha Burgers’ close proximity to more value conscious places on Parramatta Rd offering similar fare, for example Cheeseburger Factory which offers double patty burgers for $13.

Luckily the delivery platform deals meant that I was able to get two of these burgers delivered for $17.70 making it cheaper than going in person and thus an attractive value option.

Cheecha Burgers
8 Crystal St, Petersham NSW 2049