Henrietta Charcoal Chicken Surry Hills — Restaurant in Sydney

Finally trying this heavily contentious Surry Hills spot. Listen, Australians get very prideful about several socio-cultural food pillars: Arnott’s biscuits, bread (sourdough), pastries … and chicken and chips. To be specific, chargrill or charcoal roasted chicken as a low-brow, working class meal of convenience is funnily, something very unique to everyday Australian life.

So when a Group Dining outfit launched Henrietta’s – a seemingly upscale analogue the roasted bird and sides, it was met with criticism from the dining public. Frango’s fan-folk and El Jannah jobbers alike went in for the kill!

But Henrietta’s offers another strain of this popular cuisine. The Yemeni twist is more apparent with rich sauces such as roasted pepper and harissa, or Sahawiq zhoug - “Zhug”, is a hot sauce comprised of toasted cumin, coriander and sumac, as well as hot chilies. It’s currently my favourite hot sauce. This with a rich slathering of pickles, pickled veggies, proteins – lamb and chicken in our case – and perhaps the smoothest hummus this side of the Dead Sea, all atop a bed of raisin rice, is the full whack at HC. Chillies yet to be verified, but on sight, that rich yellow colour looks undeniable.

In short, there’ll always be hate, especially in a city of ride or die’s… and why not, loyalty should be paid back and unabashedly rep’d. But also, there’s enough delicious variety in these streets for all of us to try, at least once.

*Full disclosure, like most chook roasters, it’s cheaper for takeout. But also, on first visit, eating in at the venue didn’t really feel like the move/vibe. Would love to challenge myself to try...

This was my first time dining at this restaurant, and while the overall experience was decent, the behavior of the bartender was extremely disappointing. I’m not sure of his name, but he was a man with very few hairs. When I walked in and smiled at him, he immediately looked down and deliberately avoided eye contact, completely ignoring my presence. I stood directly in front of him, less than a meter away, but he acted as if I wasn’t even there—pretending to be busy and even turning his back on me. When he finally turned around, he continued to avoid eye contact. It wasn’t until two or three minutes later, when he realized I wasn’t leaving, that he dismissively informed me there were no available seats and told me to wait outside if I wanted to stay. His attitude was not only rude but also completely unprofessional. After walking more than half an hour in high anticipation to dine here, I never expected to be treated this way. As a traveler, such an encounter saddens me. The reason I’m sharing this feedback is that I hope no one else has to go through such an experience, regardless of their skin color or background. Thankfully, the rest of the staff who assisted with ordering and serving were friendly and attentive, but this one individual was a real pain. I hope the restaurant takes this feedback seriously, as every customer deserves to be treated with respect...

We’re lovers of charcoal chicken, so we were naturally pleased to have an invite from our mate Pete to join him. We had tried Henrietta Charcoal chicken before, but just for takeaway. The restaurant is also a casual eatery. This time, we dined in and had an early booking. We began with beers, and were were intrigued to learn that they make their own, the “Lager of Love”, in partnership with Yulli’s brew. They’ve also got wines and cocktails, to get your night out started.

We then look through the menu, and would have been keen for so much or what the menu has to offer, but we opt for the meal. The whole chicken comes with chicken, bread, salad and pickles.

The focus is the chicken and it is good, delicious flavour, a good amount of char and moist juicy chicken, perfect on some Lebanese pita bread with tabouleh, pickles and of course some toum (garlic sauce). Don’t forget to order fries too, as they’re super good with the sumac seasoning!

The cauliflower salad (or more like broccoli salad) was really good and a superb side choice. Other salads and mezze are available, like haloumi, falafel and charred corn.

This was the perfect amount of food for the three of us, but if you’re more hungry, you could order some more; like shish, kofta or shawarma.

Service was super friendly, and very efficient. The food came out so fast. We...