Strathfield is a mecca for Korean food. Korean food is known for its bold flavour, which is in stark contrast to the light and simple flavours that see D and I favouring Vietnamese and Japanese cuisine. But mention fried chicken and we’re keen. Located inside Strathfield Sports Club is Red Pepper Incredible Chicken with chicken sold by the half or whole with a variety of seasonings.
First up is Spring Onion Chicken (half for $19.00), crispy fried chicken with wasabi sauce and fresh spring onion.
The standout is the wasabi sauce with its pleasant heat and gentle sweetness that reminds of Japan. It’s sticky, delicious and makes you want to mop up all the sauce.
And to pair, we also try the Sweet & Spicy Chicken (half for $19.00), crispy fried chicken with a sweet and spicy sauce.
With the menu touting the sauce as having a strong tomato flavoured base, we were expecting a sweet chilli sort of flavour. Unfortunately, the actual sauce lacked any tomato flavour with the honey bringing a pronounced sickeningly sweet flavour without enough spiciness to cut through.
And for the tofu lovers that are N and T this is the Soft Tofu Stew ($14.50), a spicy soup with soft tofu, egg, onion and zucchini. To date, there are no methods by which I’ll enjoy eating tofu and this dish is no exception. But for those who do enjoy tofu, the tofu is smooth and soft with the soup having a pleasant heat and spiciness to it that adds much-needed flavour to the tofu.
As with most Korean meals, there are a bunch of complementary side dishes. Here, we have bean curd skin (left) which has a deep savoury flavour and conjac (right) that has a pleasant seafood flavour and jelly like texture.
And of course, the pickled vegetables (clockwise from top left): greens in a spicy vinegar; cabbage, daikon and carrot in vinegar; Chinese cabbage in kimchee seasoning; and julienned daikon in kimchee seasoning. We’re fans of the vinegared cabbage, daikon and carrot (top right) – they’re crunchy and palate cleansing.
We’d return here for the Spring Onion Chicken and to try other flavours and dishes on their menu.
Red Pepper Incredible Chicken is located at 4A Lyons St, Strathfield NSW 2135.