Big Poppa’s, Darlinghurst

Thanks to Casino Mike there’s now been a dearth of places open in the wee hours of the night if you’re wanting a good feed with somewhere to actually sit and not just on the kerb chowing down on a kebab. Enter: Big Poppa’s, named after The Notorious B.I.G. track of the same name. Owned by Lewis Jaffrey (ex-Baxter Inn) and Jared Merlino (ex-Lobo Plantation) and headed up by Liam O’Driscoll (ex- Pendolino) in the kitchen, Big Poppa’s is a welcome addition to the Sydney late night dining scene, with dinner and drinks served til 3am every day and even a whole separate menu for cheese!

The food is Italian with about half of the menu featuring cheese so of course Bianca and I start with the Burrata ($21), fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The entire pouch of cheese is mozzarella cheese you guys! And filled with stracciatella and cream! What’s not to love??? Stab the burrata open and watch with delight as the innards smother the heirloom tomatoes, fig vino cotto and toasted farro in cheesy goodness. Heh and notice Biggie Small’s face staring at ya on the wine glass?

The Hand-cut pappardelle ($26) is a mother fricken dream, I absolutely love any place that will come over and grate as much parmigiano-reggiano as you please 😀

This is pure comfort food and it feels just so good for the soul! The silky ribbons of pasta hold tender nubbins of lamb shoulder ragu and I just really, really rate this pasta. It is happiness in a bowl!

On another visit with the Sparro’s, we order the Baked eggplant ($27) which is one helluva cheesy hit, there’s taleggio, mozzarella di bufala, parmigiano-reggiano and pecorino stuffed in that baby. Possibly too much cheese if that’s such a thing 😛  The roasted cherry tomatoes and tiny basil leaves attempt to lift the richness of the dish but well, there’s 4 types of cheese they’re doing battle with!

The Flat iron steak tagliata ($36) was hands down amazing, it’s simple but oh so delicious. The steak was grilled to a perfect medium rare and had just the right amount of seasoning on it. There’s also a nice lil salad of rocket, pickled eschallots, Montasio cheese and lemon but well, all eyes are on that steak! It’s juicy, tender and so damn fine it blew my mind.

Aaaand instead of getting dessert we select a few cheeses from the incredible cheese menu- Comte, Gouda and Penny Bu. Cheese averages $10-$12 each and comes with grapes, honey, crispbread and sourdough.  (P.S Dear Santa, Comte is my favourite cheese in all the lands, Love Suze)

Head downstairs and you’ll find cosy booths where you can continue on with more beverages or make your way through the rest of the cheeses available 😀

Big Poppa’s
96 Oxford St,
Darlinghurst

Trading hours: 7 days – 5pm – 3am