Sunshine Charcoal Chicken

Sometimes love takes you to the strangest places.  Where else but Sunshine Marketplace than to indulge my tawdry and shameful love affair with charcoal chicken and chicken salt?

This is Sunshine Charcoal Chicken, originally (I believe) and also still of St Albans, famous for its "Spanish chicken".  It's marinated, butterflied, sandwiched between two metal grills and rotisserie'd slowly over smouldering charcoal.

When they say Spanish, it's Madrid via Manila.  This is Filipino-style charcoal chicken and it's some of the best BBQ chook I've tasted.  It's marinated in what tastes like sweet soy, and it's incredibly juicy and luscious.  I know it looks burnt but it's not, that's just the caramelised colour of the fabulous marinade.

1/4 chicken and chips, $6.50 (BARGAIN)

When the Israelites wandered in the desert and woke to discover a crumbly substance on the leaves of desert plants, which they then ate and called manna, I'm convinced that was chicken salt.  Sunshine Charcoal Chicken shake it on top of their fabulous crunchy chips to order, and won't mind if you ask for extra (guilty as charged).  Oh, and the plastic knife and fork supplied are useless.  Just get into it and use your fingers.

Someone once told me of love, "It doesn't matter what the teacup looks like - it matters how the tea tastes".  Don't be put off by the lush surrounds of Sunshine Marketplace - it's what's on the plate that counts, and it rocks.

Thank you Adrian of Food Rehab for the tip - Adrian surveyed 13 western suburbs charcoal chicken joints (tough gig but someone had to do it!) and Sunshine Charcoal Chicken came up tops.



Sunshine Charcoal Chicken
Food court (shop 4), Sunshine Marketplace, 80 Harvester Road, Sunshine (also at 3 Alfrieda Street, St Albans)
Phone:  9312 5588
Hours:  Not open for dinner


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Filipino food at Chadz Chickenhaus

The Philippines are a truly unique part of Asia.  Colonised by the Spanish for over 400 years, Iberian culture has been indelibly infused onto a template already influenced by Chinese, Indonesian and Malay traders.  Many Filipinos have very Spanish-sounding names and Christianity is an integral part of the culture.  The cuisine comprises empanadas, vinegary adobo braises and European-style breads - yet pancit (fried noodles) are popular as well as lumpia, like spring rolls.

There's a huge Filipino presence in the western suburbs.  In Sunshine, Chadz Chickenhaus (which sounds like a German restaurant run by an American frat boy) is actually the second branch of a Spanish-style chicken shop that also offers a range of traditional Filipino dishes (the original is in Werribee).

If you don't know what you're looking for, Filipino food can sometimes be a little forbidding - lots of dark, mysterious braises in a bain marie.  At Chadz there are lots of lighter options and they are happy to explain everything to you.  From top left, we have pork hock, fish in a clear soup, pork blood stew, braised chicken and vegetables and braised beef.  From the bottom left, lovely-looking fried chicken drumsticks, white radish with minced beef, water spinach in a creamy sauce and pork chop.

There's also great-looking butterflied chicken, a la Nando's, with chips if you like.  $10 will get you two choices with rice and your choice of drink.

Halved eggplant with beef mince and egg, cooked to silkiness.  I think this is called rellenong talong.  It was quite mild in flavour but tasty, even better doused in lots of spicy vinegar available at the counter.

This was a yummy fish cutlet, very fresh and quite firm, somewhat like mackeral.  I think it had been lightly fried before being served in delicious, lip-smacking stock.  The green veg were really good too.  It had bones and I was feeling wussy, so I mainly ate the stock and vegies.

Empanada, $1.00

Flaky, super-short pasty filled with potato cubes, a little minced meat and other goodies like sultanas.  Chadz is connected to the Filipino grocery next door where, among other things, you can buy balut (instructions: "boil for 30 minutes") which are fertilised chicken eggs with a chicken embryo inside.

Desserts for next time!

If Filipino food is new to you as it is to me, I think Chadz is a great place to start.  It's sparklingly clean, the food is very fresh and it's made with evident care.  They have batchoy, a clear soup with pork offal, noodles and crushed pork crackling from Thursday to Sunday.  Looking forward to heading there for the next lazy chicken and chip night, gravy or no gravy.

Thank you Clint via Facebook for the tip!  You can also check out Dahon Tea Lounge in South Melbourne for Filo-style baguettes and more.

Chadz Chickenhaus (Facebook)

475 Ballarat Road, Sunshine  

Hours:  Tues-Sun 11am-7pm

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