Chica Linda, Surry Hills

It saddened me when I heard that The Carrington’s Beba Y Cena restaurant was closing down. The beloved pinxtos and burgers from this joint will be missed! But that sadness turned into a fist pump excitement as soon as I found that the Drink N Dine group was just revamping the venue into a new restaurant. As Beba Y Cena came to an end, a new sensation in the form of Chica Linda was born.

Chica Linda is located behind the Carrington Hotel, which is corner of Bourke and Arthur Streets in Surry Hills. In English, Chica Linda means “Beautiful Lady”. The restaurant offers Central/South American inspired dishes and cocktails that are inventive and fun. The venue has that “fiesta” feel and the Central American artwork on the walls makes the place more vibrant than its predecessor. Drink N Dine’s executive chef, Jamie Thomas is one of the brilliant minds behind the enticing menu. I was lucky enough to sample some cocktails and dishes from the menu along with other food bloggers the night before their opening.

The Cocktails:

Burnin Passion - Vodka, passionfruit, orange, and fire

I didn’t get to try the Burnin Passion ($9) but it looks blazin’ boss! 

Cuban neck tie

The Cuban neck tie ($17) is made out of plantation rum, orange, coconut, kaffir and lime. If there was a coconut flavoured mentos then turned into liquid form, this would be it! I like mentos so enjoyed it.

Caprininha Amazonica ($17) - Cachaca, pineapple, coconut sugar

Inca kola

I was expecting a cola flavoured soda with a twist when I had the Inca Kola ($5). Instead, it tasted like bubble gum and apple which again, was a winner for me.

The Food:

The Chicharones ($5) with guasacaca sauce was glorious as expected. It was airy spiced pork crackling that was accompanied with a minty and creamy guacamole-like dipping sauce. The crunchy and tasty crackling filled my heart with so much joy.

Smoked pork arepas

The Smoked pork Arepas ($6) had a chunk of tender pork that was glazed with honey chipotle glaze and pickled slaw. It was sandwiched between Arepas. Arepas are corn cake flatbreads. The whole arepas was moreish and delicious.

Grilled cheese arepas

The cheese used in the Grilled cheese Arepas ($5) was ridiculously good! It also had corn salsa and salsa rojo.

Flamed longaniza

The flamed longaniza ($14) was so tasty and familiar to me! It’s a pork sausage that’s a lot similar to a Filipino longanisa. It was garlicky, sweet, and peppery in taste. It went well with the salsa-like aji chilli and pineapple.

King crab diablo

The King Crab Diablo ($45) with spicy paprika sauce did not disappoint either. It was a hit amongst everyone there. The presentation looked similar to a Singaporean Chilli Crab but the difference was in the sauce. Besides paprika, I could also pick up coriander seeds, chilli, cumin and possibly turmeric flavours.

Two colour fries

Green and red tomato salad

Coca-cola rice and beans

Quinoa salad

The quinoa salad ($15) with barley, pomegranate, orange and labna was very enjoyable and was healthy-ish. The quinoa gave the salad a delicate nutty texture. The pomegranate and orange gave it a nice citrus and sweet taste. Mixing the labna through gives the salad a whole new dimension and creaminess.

Puerto Rican roast pork

The Puerto Rican roast pork ($35) with salsa criolla was all kinds of awesome! The fatty meat was super tender with sweet caramelised coating. This went really well with the Coca-Cola rice and beans.

Achiote smoked chicken

The achiote smoked chicken ($32) with tomato salsa was generous and amazing. The chicken meat was cooked perfectly and the annatto oil basting gave the skin a nice colour. The best part of this chicken is the depth of smoky flavour from skin all the way deep into the meat.

Guava empanada

Last but not least, one of the desserts we had was a guava empanada ($14). It was basically an apple pie with a twist by using a crisped golden empanada pastry filled with apple filling. The filling was so delicious.  It was accompanied with subtle tasting dulce de leche ice cream and flakes of fried plantain for added crisped texture.

As expected from the Drink N Dine, they did an absolute good job of transforming this place to another joint that many will enjoy. Congrats to Jaime Wirth, Chef Jamie Thomas, Team Chica Linda and the rest of Drink N Dine for a successful launch. I’m looking forward to all the creative dishes that will come out of Chica Linda in the future.

Ramen Raff was invited as a guest of Chica Linda by the Drink N Dine Group.

Chica Linda

at The Carrington Hotel

563 Bourke Street

Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone: 9360 4714

Opening hours:

Breakfast from 9am and Lunch from 1pm Friday-Sunday

Dinner from 6pm Monday-Sunday

Papi Chulo, Manly

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.

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.

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

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