Happy Chef, Sussex St, Haymarket

Happy Chef, Sussex St, Haymarket

Monday 30 April, 2007

Tonight we were off to see P!nk in concert at the Entertainment Centre. My concert buddy and I needed a good feed before the high energy show so decided to meet at the Sussex Centre food court.

Taking the escalators up from the Sussex St entrance......what a hive of activity for a Monday night! This place was packed. Eager concert go-ers, friends, students, families - there's something for everyone in the food court. I was told that Luke Mangan, formally of Salt and currently Glass, has listed The Happy Chef as a personal favourite. This sounded pretty good to me but I took a wander around the food court to see what other delicious Asian food was on offer. Not intentionally I found myself back at Happy Chef and couldn't go past their BBQ Pork Wonton Rice Noodle soup.

The food court system works like this, you order your food at any of the shop fronts but drinks can only be ordered at one location - bizarre. Anyway, after paying for my soup I walked over to the other side of the food court to purchase a bottle of water. I just don't get this system. Anyway, the soup didn't take long and I met my concert buddy back at our table.

As we eating we watching an interesting scenario unfold. A guy had left his meal on the table (bowl of rice and main dish) to go purchase a drink. By the time he returned to the table the cleaning staff had swept up his meal and tossed it in the bin. Well, he gave the staff a real serve and demanded a new meal to replace his tossed meal....which they did after a long, drawn out argument.

My rice noodle soup was really good - the BBQ pork was thick cut and tender enough, the green vegetables were in abundance, the wontons were soft and meaty and the rice noodles were perfect to saturate in hot, hot chilli sauce. Loved it - cheap & cheerful!

Happy Chef - Sussex Centre Food Court, Sussex St, Haymarket - (02) 9281 5832