We set out to Chinatown with an ideal, for dinner we wanted to eat everything “on a stick”. In many parts of China it is quite normal for a large amount of street food to be served BBQ’d on a stick. Crazy Wings in Sydney upholds this tradition and was a lucky find whilst walking around – plus its BYO. So a cheap night of Meat on a stick with a bottle of wine from the liquor store was about to ensue…
Crazy wings describe themselves as “Beijing style street food”. The first thing to note is that this place was one of the busiest restaurants on the street – a street composed almost entirely of restaurants. The clientele being mainly of Asian origin was another tick in the pro box. The food is relatively cheap, it has BYO, a massive variety of options, both meat and veg based, and the smells wafting from the open kitchen out onto the street are possibly the best advertising any place could have – Like when you walk past a subway restaurant, but better! Garlic, herbs, spices and BBQ meat – amazing nose candy.
But what about the tastes? Well, with options as varied as chicken hearts, enoki mushrooms, pork belly and of course the classic selection of chicken wings there is something for every diner. The main negative is that they seem to have maybe 3 spice rubs which they use for everything. Maybe we just got unlucky in the items we chose but although the various meats tasted different the seasonings varied little… but maybe thats the point, maybe that is the style. Its simple, fast food and I might be asking a little too much to expect a gourmet variety of seasonings.
The stand-out item for me was the Quail, which was super juicy and the only thing not on a stick?! Megsy favoured the Enoki mushrooms, and I’m not surprised, they were also one of the highlights for me. For entertainment value we ordered the Garlic toast on a stick – and yes it is just a regular bit of sliced bread but somehow skillfully skewered length ways! (Watch the video above)
VERDICT:
Its fun, its cheap, it smells amazing and the atmosphere is buzzing. The best thing is that you order by item, so unlike a regular restaurant where you have to choose one meal and stick to it, at crazy wings you can order a multitude of different things and try them all!
8/10
