Top Sydney Takeaway This Week: A Generous Japanese Banquet and Punchy Green Curry

It’s spring, we’re hitting vaccination goals and Sydney’s takeaway scene is still booming. These milestones may not be ones we’d usually celebrate, but we’ll take what we can get – and mark them with the likes of big Japanese banquets, burgers (and more burgers) and hard-hitting Thai feasts. Here’s our top takeaway picks this week.

Okami, various locations
In more typical times, Okami’s Marrickville diner has tens of people gathered out the front at 5pm, six nights a week, waiting to be let inside for two hours of all-you-can-eat feasting for a very reasonable $34.80 a head. Of course, the all-you-can-eat model doesn’t fly so well during lockdown – but Okami’s keeping the bargains coming, regardless. For $69.60, its deluxe set ostensibly feeds two. But with 13 dishes, you’ll likely have leftovers. It includes a sashimi platter, sushi rolls, beef carpaccio, chicken karaage, both prawn and vegetable gyoza, your choice of udon or fried rice, a choice of teriyaki chicken or beef, or miso beef, and loads more. Sure, it won’t win any awards. But it’s damn good value for money.

Order online here for pick up from Okami’s Marrickville, Silverwater, Cronulla, Penrith and Pennant Hills outlets. Order via Uber Eats or Menulog for delivery.

Chat Thai, various locations
I was reminded the other day just how very excellent Chat Thai is. It blows my mind that it was founded in 1989 (1989!) yet continues to turn out some of this city’s most nuanced, fiery, robust and dynamic Thai food. There are Chat Thais dotted right across the city now (Chatswood, a couple in the city, Randwick and Manly), and you can get its full menu via takeaway or get it delivered if you live nearby. But if you don’t have one close, it’s also on Providoor with a fairly impressive list of dishes and a couple of banquets available – including this one of signature dishes that serve three or four people. It includes its charcoal-kissed grilled pork skewers, a punchy green curry, a five-spice roast duck stir fry with seasonal greens, and the perfect lockdown dessert: mango sticky rice.

Order delivery and takeaway from here, or packs through Providoor here.

Bistrot 916, Potts Point
For a couple weeks at the start of Sydney’s current lockdown, this Potts Point bistro started selling cheeseburgers. A flurry of excitement ricocheted across the city, before they disappeared and head chef Daniel Pepperell turned his attention to more fancy fare. They’ve popped up a couple of times since, including a duck cheeseburger option, before reappearing on Providoor in pack form – meaning people right across Sydney can get their mouths around these beauties, rather than only those living within five kilometres. The 916 Cheeseburger pack comes with four 100-gram patties made with Rangers Valley beef, plus cheese, sauces, pickles and four potato buns for you to heat and assemble these juicy bundles. On the side? Four hash browns and two cups of soft drink to wash it all down. That’s this weekend sorted.
916 Cheeseburgers is available via Providoor for $69.

Butter, various locations
Butter is known for its fried chicken, sneakers and collabs with top chefs on everything from ramen to sandwiches. But we’re here today to talk about the latest limited-edition addition to its menu: the MC Chicken Burger (do you see where they’re going with this?). This cheeky little number pays tribute to MCs of the rapper variety – and Butter notes that “any similarities to burgers alive or dead is purely accidental”. A steamed potato bun is daubed with whole-egg mayo (the best kind) and topped with a fried smoked-chicken patty from LP’s Quality Meats and crispy shredded lettuce. Simple, but oh-so-delicious. It’s available from today until September 20.

Order here for pick up from Butter’s Surry Hills, Parramatta or Chatswood stores, or delivery.

Dear Sainte Eloise, Potts Point
With its hundreds of wine bottles to choose from, attentive staff and excellent people-watching positions at the window or in the laneway, Potts Point wine bar Dear Sainte Eloise has garnered a reputation for being a great place to come on a first date or for a solo dinner – there’s so much to talk about and see. If conversation is drying up at home, you can bring a little date-night atmosphere back to yours in the form of DSE’s “Finish at Home” dining packs. And if you’re dining alone, you can also order packs for one. The bar’s takeaway menu has pastas, bar snacks – such as the burrata with carrot XO in chilli oil for $18 – and desserts. You can also opt for gluten-free pasta or add pantry items to your order, such as pickles, marinated olives or a tin of anchovies from the north coast of Spain. If you’re going big and going home, the Eloise Feast is a two-person pack of garlic bread, burrata, Jerusalem artichoke and potato gratin, pork and veal spaghetti bolognese, and salad. It also comes with the wobbly leche flan in a bitter yuzu caramel sauce (worth ordering alone). It’s $75, but to truly up the ante add in one of DSE’s wine packs: three bottles of either skin-contact wines, Aussie reds or whites.

For pick-up or delivery from Thursday to Sunday. Same-day orders must be placed before 12pm. If picking up, collect orders between 4pm and 8pm. There’s a $50 minimum spend and $5 delivery fee. Deliveries are available within a 7km radius 5/29 Orwell St, Potts Point 2011.