Back in the late 90's and early
noughties, I heard the term "Papi Chulo" on many hip-hop and R&B tracks.
The term meant that a guy is "the Mac Daddy" or somewhat a "Pimp
Daddy". Over a decade later, when one hears of Papi Chulo in Sydney, we refer to that "boss" smokehouse
and grill joint in Manly.
This Merivale owned establishment and
being run by Chefs Patrick Friesen and Christopher Hogarth is nicely situated
on Manly Wharf. It has a southern US provincial look and vibe that's fitting to
the food they serve. They serve southern US barbecue, South American and some
American dude food style dishes. TheSuzChef, Rara (with the cute N),
Chocolatesuze and I gathered our hungry bellies to take on some of the best
that Papi Chulo has to offer.
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| Prawn and scallop ceviche |
First up, we started with some prawn and scallop ceviche ($17). It had
crystal bay prawns, sea scallops, mango, chilli, and coconut dressing. It was a
nice and light fresh dish to start with. The dressing highlighted the freshness
of the scallops and prawns.
 |
| Curly fries |
We had to order curly fries ($9), well, coz it's curly and cute right?! That aside,
the well-seasoned fries had a light outer crunch and were fluffy inside.
 |
| Grilled corn on the cob, smoked cheese, lime |
The
Grilled corn on the cob with smoked cheese and lime ($4.50each) was absolutely sublime! The combo of cloudy smoked cheese, lime and
grilled corn worked well tasted like all things happy and joyful.
 |
| Smoked hot wings – comeback sauce |
Their smoked hot wings with comeback sauce ($16) were all kinds of
incredible! The chicken wings had a lightly smoked crisp skin and perfectly
cooked meat. Most of the super smoky flavour came from the amazing comeback
sauce which is like a chipotle mayo or ranch type sauce.
 |
| Dan Hong's (not a) chopped salad – a light salad of raw and grilled vegetables |
Dan
Hong's (not a) chopped salad with light salad of raw and grilled vegetables
($16) was a nice breakdown from all the
awesomeness. No dressing was required for this salad. It was all about using
natural flavours like sweet notes from the corn, apple and grilled vegetables.
 |
| Papi Chulo burger |
The Papi
Chulo burger ($18) was one of the items I've been looking forward to have
here ever since Chef Dan Hong recommended it. Papi Chulo knocked it out the park
with this burger! It had grain fed beef patty, bacon, American cheese, tomato,
lettuce and pickles in a soft sweet seeded bun. The bacon was perfectly cooked
with a lot of crispy bits and it didn't overpower the juicy flavoursome beef
patty. The cheese was melty and sexy. The soft bun handled the whole burger
well. No doubt, this goes into my "best burgers in Sydney" list.
 |
| Balmain Bugs, konbu butter |
The complimentary Balmain Bugs with konbu butter ($34) was another delicious dish
that everyone loved. The konbu buttter worked well with perfectly grilled smoky
white meat. This is the first time I've thoroughly enjoyed eating Balmain bugs.
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| Papi Chulo BBQ platter (serves 2-4) – half rack pork ribs, 150gm each of wagyu brisket, chopped pork and pork belly platter, served with pickles and soft bread |
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| Soft bread |
Papi
Chulo BBQ platter ($86) is about 2-4 servings of half rack pork ribs, 150gm
each of wagyu brisket, chopped pork and pork belly platter, served with pickles
and soft bread ($86). This was a platter
of epic proportions! But the star of the show was the wagyu brisket. It was very
tender, smoky, fatty and juicy with nice caramelised bits for extra sweetness.
Then there were also complimentary lamb ribs, which was not part of the platter
that was tender and glazed with a smoky tangy barbecue sauce.
 |
| Warm chocolate chip cookie, vanilla malt ice-cream, butterscotch sauce, macadamia brittle |
We ended our badass lunch with a Warm chocolate chip cookie, vanilla malt ice
cream, butterscotch sauce, macadamia brittle dessert ($14). The butterscotch
sauce was sweet and luscious while the macadamia brittle crumbles worked a
treat with the cookie and vanilla malt ice cream.
Papi Chulo has definitely brought the
Southern spirit to Manly. The dishes gave southern comfort while the service
was of Southern hospitality standards (sweet, welcoming and warm). Thanks Chef
Patrick for an awesome lunch!
Papi
Chulo
22-23 Manly Wharf
Manly NSW 2095
Contact no. tel: 02 9240 3000
Website: http://merivale.com.au/papichulo
KITCHEN OPENING HOURS:
Monday to Friday
Lunch: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Dinner: 5:30pm - 10.30pm
Reduced menu available 3:00pm - 5.30pm
Saturday
11.30am - 10.30pm
Sunday
11:30am – 9.00pm
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