papi chulo, manly

So a couple of days ago, a few of Sydney's food bloggers (Irene's Getting Fat, Nessy Eater, A Swoonful of Sugar, The Random Foodie, iFat - Food Chronicles and Milkteaxx) organised a meet up at Papi Chulo and I was lucky enough to be invited!

Papi Chulo is Merivale's first venture in Manly, located right outside the ferry terminal.

Although the 'water front' view isn't so spectacular, the interior of the restaurant is enough to keep your eyes pleased. There are hidden design details everywhere you look, vintage shutters, metal ceilings, custom made mirrors, marble tops and a huge open kitchen.

We started off with a few drinks and you'd think the photo taking process when dining with a bunch of food bloggers would take forever but it didn't take longer than a couple of minutes!

L: el mani ($8.00); R: zalamero ($8.00):

The El Mani is a house blend of peanut butter, rich caramel and chocolate sauce with creamy vanilla ice-cream. I found the peanut butter, caramel and chocolate shake to be thick and much too sweet for my liking. On the other hand, the Zalamero is a mango sorbet with fresh passion fruit is whipped up with coconut milk. It's tangy, sweet and refreshing. Also, good news, my South Asian friends! Not only is this healthy, it's also lactose-friendly!

smoked hot wings served with comeback sauce ($16.00):

The hot wings are crisp and flavoursome. It's served with a smokey chipotle sauce and if you decide to get the curly fries, keep the sauce!

curly fries ($9.00):

You can't not order this. Why? Because the fries are curly! They're golden, crunchy and when dipped into that comeback sauce, they're even better!

Okay, now for the important stuff - the reason why we're here in the first place.

Papi Chulo's barbeque is not your average barbequed meat. Everything is slowly cooked on low heat - hot smoked over wood in a special oven for at least six hours. The method originates from South America so apparently it's real deal American BBQ!

papi chulo bbq platter - serves 2-4 ($86.00):

Full rack of lamb ribs, 150g of wagyu brisket, chopped pork and pork belly, served with pickles and soft bread. The lamb ribs were sweet and fell right off the bone. The wagyu brisket was super tender and the pork belly just melted in your mouth. Oh and you won't go wrong sandwiching the pulled pork and that smokey barbecue sauce in between one of those buttery and fluffy buns. The smoked wagyu brisket and pork belly were my favourites!

ranger valley wagyu brisket - 300g ($34.00):

The brisket was so good, we just had to order an extra serving of it on the side.

pickles:

papi chulo burger ($18.00):

Grain fed beef, bacon, American cheese, tomato, lettuce and pickles served on a soft bun. A medium rare, tender beef patty is smothered in melty cheese and topped with crisp bacon, lettuce, tomato and pickle. It was a good burger but it wasn't a I-need-this-in-my-life-again-asap sort of burger.

smoked wagyu brisket sandwich ($18.00):

Spicy celery pickle, caramelised onions, horseradish mayo and a fried egg served on a soft bun.

The dessert menu is very limited with only three choices to choose from. We decide to order all three, despite being stuffed because there's always room for dessert.

pear and rhubarb cobbler ($14.00):

Pear and rhubarb cobbler, ginger crumble creme anglaise, orange and ginger ice cream. The cobbler was served warm and I loved the orange and ginger ice cream! It was a very comforting dessert for this kind of cold and windy weather.

banana split ($14.00):

You can't go wrong with the combination of peanut butter and banana ice cream. It's coated in chocolate fudge, cherry jam, peanut praline, generously topped with a dollop of whipped cream and sandwiched between two banana halves. I liked this dessert the best out of the three!

chocolate chip cookie ($14.00):

Warm chocolate chip cookie, vanilla malt ice cream, butterscotch sauce, macadamia brittle. As a non-fan of chocolate, this was my least favourite dessert of the three! The huge chewy chocolate chip cookie was served warm with oozey chocolate but I found it a tad bit too sweet with both the butterscotch and vanilla malt ice cream.

I'll definitely be back for more beef brisket and pork belly and this place should definitely be on your list when you plan a night out to taste some BBQ food from Southern America!  The meal is a little on the pricey side so I would go again as a group and share the beautiful meaty love.

Papi Chulo
22-23 Manly Wharf
Manly, NSW 2095
f: https://www.facebook.com/papichulomanly
t: (02) 9240 3000
w: http://merivale.com.au/papichulo/