Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks, Central Park – CLOSED

EDIT: CLOSED

MEGA CRISPY CHICKEN THE SIZE OF MAH FACE!!! So like, I was reading a post by Street Food on Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks and found myself staring at all the food pics and strangely the logo just looked so familiar. It took a while but I realised I’d eaten at this chain quite a few times when I was in Malaysia with my brother when we couldn’t decide what to eat when we were wee younger tykes who at the time didn’t appreciate eating at roadside food stalls (oh the shame).

So I grabbed Helen and set off to their Central Park location (Kiosk 207, Level 2 Food Court, 28 Broadway, Chippendale) – they also have outlets in the Devonshire St Tunnel near UTS and one in Kingsford opposite Manpuku Ramen. Also, side note: I freaking love the pixel designs by Eboy at Central Park! I’m a nerd so I’ve got 3 jigsaw puzzles framed 😛

So this is the XXL Crispy Chicken ($7.50) and while they offered to cut it into pieces I really wanted to eat it whole. The super thin piece of chicken was crumb coated and then freshly fried and doused with a liberal sprinkle of chilli powder. While it did taste a little floury in some parts I still loved it because hey deep fried chicken is my friend.

Considering my brother has issues with oysters I’m not sure why he kept ordering the Handmade Oyster Mee Sua ($7.50) over the years! Obviously I can’t compare this Mee Sua to the taste of Taiwanese Mee Sua because I’ve never been to Taiwan but if I compare this Sydney version to the Malaysia version it tastes pretty much identical to my slowly deteriorating memory.

The soup is thick and is sweet, spicy and slightly sour at the same time. There was signage advising the Mee Sua to be eaten with just a spoon and the noodles are easily spooned up along with 3 plump oysters lurking under a pile of what I think is shredded chicken floss. The coriander brightens up the soup but I would’ve liked about 10 x more coriander because I heart coriander.

I was devastated when they told me that their Central Park location didn’t have the Crispy Salt Pepper Mushrooms ($5) because it was a seasonal item. No deep fried mushrooms for me. WEEPS. So I got the Sweet Plum Potato Fries ($5) instead because well, I wanted something else fried for my arteries. And they were tasty for 5 smackerooneys, burningly hot from the fryer, surprisingly crispy edges and soft sweet insides dusted with a sour plum salt that was lip smackingly tangy.

I’d go back again for the XXL chicken because I like all things novelty and really, nothing beats the taste of childhood.