Howard Chen

Howard Chen is a freelance food writer based in Sydney. @howac

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First Look: Marrickville’s Alex ’N’ Rolls Site Is Open Again, With a New Team on Banh Mi Duty

First Look: Marrickville’s Alex ’N’ Rolls Site Is Open Again, With a New Team on Banh Mi Duty

The original banh mi shop was so often inexplicably closed, fans started a Facebook group (now with over 10,000 members) to share when it was open. It’s closed for good, but Viet Bling’s here in its place – with riffs on the original recipes.

First Look: Find Dry-Aged Sashimi From a Niland Alum at a Casual New Bondi Eatery

First Look: Find Dry-Aged Sashimi From a Niland Alum at a Casual New Bondi Eatery

At Rurouni, Charcoal Fish’s ex-head chef is aging bluefin tuna, salmon, kingfish and blue mackerel, ready to top kaisendon. Naturally, there’s a no-waste approach – and a clever twist on Taiwanese braised pork rice.

Sydney’s Ramen Newcomer Arrives Direct From Kyoto With a Top-Selling Sichuan Tantanmen

Sydney’s Ramen Newcomer Arrives Direct From Kyoto With a Top-Selling Sichuan Tantanmen

The all-vegan Towzen tailors its bowls to Sydneysiders’ love of full-flavoured tonkotsu, serving creamy tantanmen bowls with butterflied mushrooms and a fiery Thai green curry number.

First Look: Jimmy’s Adds a Beirut-Style Shawarma Bar to Enmore Road

First Look: Jimmy’s Adds a Beirut-Style Shawarma Bar to Enmore Road

Everything – from the chicken shawarma and sujuk cooked on the spit to the falafel and tarator – is house-made using 70-year-old family recipes. Plus, Lebanese beers and cocktails, and live Arabic music once a week.

Jollof Junction, Parked at a Petrol Station, Serves Some of Sydney’s Best Rice and Wings

Jollof Junction, Parked at a Petrol Station, Serves Some of Sydney’s Best Rice and Wings

A husband and wife have engineered a West African hybrid jollof rice that’s the perfect pairing for irresistible twice-cooked chicken wings and tender-as lamb suya.

I Can’t Stop Thinking About: King Clarence’s Japanese Milk Bread

I Can’t Stop Thinking About: King Clarence’s Japanese Milk Bread

Khanh Nguyen’s just-launched bread course went through multiple iterations before hitting the Sydney dining room. It’s meant to be shared, but you’ll be fighting for every piece.

First Look: With Kim’s Korean Deli, Darlinghurst Scores Hefty K-Barbeque Salad Bowls

First Look: With Kim’s Korean Deli, Darlinghurst Scores Hefty K-Barbeque Salad Bowls

Lunchtime bowls come topped with flame-grilled pork, chicken, Wagyu or crispy tofu – all made to family recipes. Plus, kimchi toasties and house-made nectarine sodas.

Green Peppercorn Express, Out the Back of a Marrickville Pub, Goes Big on Thailand’s Isaan Flavours

Green Peppercorn Express, Out the Back of a Marrickville Pub, Goes Big on Thailand’s Isaan Flavours

Twin brothers are putting their own spin on dishes from their family’s long-running western Sydney restaurant, including flame-grilled oxtongue, funky Laotian papaya salads and crunchy rice ball salad.

Rosebery Nabs Sydney’s Only Thai-Style Barbeque Chook Shop

Rosebery Nabs Sydney’s Only Thai-Style Barbeque Chook Shop

Tay is the only place in town get the fiery gai yang, seen on streets all over Thailand, paired with Aussie chicken shop classics – like salads, fried rice and hot chips.

First Look: Outstanding Broken Rice and Vietnamese Classics Set the Scene at Strathfield’s Saigon Things

First Look: Outstanding Broken Rice and Vietnamese Classics Set the Scene at Strathfield’s Saigon Things

Once limited to lunchtime, the husband-and-wife team’s broken rice plate and crab tapioca noodle soup proved so popular, they’re now on the menu all day.

First Look: Sydney’s First Dedicated Jamaican Patty Bakery Opens in the Inner West

First Look: Sydney’s First Dedicated Jamaican Patty Bakery Opens in the Inner West

The sunshine-coloured pastry is laminated with 27 layers of butter, producing a spectacularly flaky, crunchy crust for five flavours – including a generations-old beef recipe, a pineapple jerk chicken and a meat-free number.

First Look: Frankly Nick’s Two Owners Have Been Making Pizza Since They Were 17

First Look: Frankly Nick’s Two Owners Have Been Making Pizza Since They Were 17

Local lore says the second-generation joint is the first place to serve dinner in the area in more than three decades – and the slices have a cheese pull you have to see to believe.