People with cats probably make up a significant portion of IKEA’s repeat customers for their IKEA 365+ line of glass, snap-and-lock lidded food containers. The reason behind this is twofold:
- We have an inherent and inalienable need to keep food away from the paws of increasingly intelligent cats, who will one day become so good at getting into containers that eventually they’ll need to be secured with retinal scanners (whilst confusingly lacking the intelligence to understand that onion and chocolate are not good for them), and
- Cats, on a good day, LOVE pushing things onto the floor, and the more glassy and fragile the more joy they get out of it. Bonus points if there is food in the box that gets released upon a good shattering.
And so we two cat slaves keep going to IKEA Tempe and buying more and more boxes every time we run low. Perhaps tempered glass boxes would be a better alternative considering the frequent breakage, but they’re far more expensive, and going to Tempe gives us an extra opportunity to eat some seriously good food.
We entered Let’s Chon with the spit turning, fat falling into the charcoal and flames occasionally erupting and licking the meat.
Seeing this great sight we could of course not resist ordering the lechon belly ($15 for a single serving), a delicious roast pork with perfect crackling skin and a light salting, spicing, and herbing. The woman who took my order checked with her colleague in the back to confirm the meat was ready before accepting my order, after which it was taken off the spit and carved up for us fresh. We didn’t see the belly return to the spit during the duration of our meal, so I suspect that we lucked ourselves into some incredibly fresh, juicy, and delicious belly, lauded by my partner as the “best pork I’ve ever had,” a compliment I’m sure she’s given to multiple other porks in her life. Subsequent customers may not find their timing to be so perfect. We did not have any Mang Tomas sauce, because we did not know about it (apparently it is there on a counter for self-serve), though I’d love to try it in the future if we’re ever back for their fortnightly roast whole pig.
I did not love the chicken adobo ($18), but more likely than not this is me simply not loving it rather than them doing a poor job. The mixture of garlic, soy sauce, peppercorn, and vinegar really reminded me too much of the fish that my grandfather would stew in my childhood that wasn’t my favourite. The meat of the steamed chicken drumsticks and wings were tender but the flavour was not for me.
I was hesitant for the porksilog ($16) pork chop with garlic rice, but it was really good. The garlic fried rice was super flavourful and fragrant, probably some of the best we’ve had. The pork chop, with a umami and sweetness that I’m told most often comes from a mixture of soy sauce and sprite, was delicious, tender, and flavourful with a delicious thin fatty outer rim. The egg was done beautifully, and the pickles were bright, fresh, and tasty. This was really good.
OVERALL a great meal, with the pork dishes that we had being a total standout. Would not hesitate to recommend.
Let’s Chon
7 Gleeson Ave, Sydenham NSW 2044
0404 710 531