Sydney :: Harry's Cafe de Wheels

Sydney's Smoke's Poutinerie

Every city has its drunk food. Toronto has Burrito Boyz and Smoke's Poutinerie while Sydney has pie. I've proclaimed Australia the land of pie. And not any kind of pie...meat pie. Really? Lard-ridden flakey shells stuffed with gravy soaked chunks of beef, pork, cheese, kangaroo, emu, crocodile...think of it, and someone probably makes it. A delicious heart attack in a pastry shell...like a hug. A hug for your heart. Aw.

After another fun night out roaming the unique streets of King's Cross and Oxford this was a natural stop. Or two. Or three. OMG. PIE.

Harry's Cafe de Wheels Verdict: Go Meal: Late late night nosh Location: Cowper Wharf Rd Sydney, Woolloomooloo 2011 Australia

Open until 4AM then again at 8:30AM, you're able to get your cardiac arrest-inducing fix after a lively night out and for breakfast before you drag yourself to work. We teetered our way over, looking forward to the infamous pie and were surprised to find a crowd. I expect a crowd at Burrito Boyz/Smokes - it's in the downtown core, right by the clubs. Harry's, however, is located at Woolloomoolloo Bay (I could never remember this correctly...Wallymalloo, Woomoolloolloo...Woollymoollywoo...), seemingly in the middle of nowhere...but people travel for this thing 'cause it's just that good. Possibly just when your senses are a little...enhanced. On K's recommendation, I opted for:

Harry's Tiger Curry Beef Pie

Mushy peas on top, mashed potatoes, gravy, and curried beef...best hug for your heart ever. Once I get rid of Jack (the Ozzie food baby), I'm going to try to make this on my own...maybe Korean-style with bulgogi. Not sure what I'll top it with - mushy kimchi is certainly not an option. Maybe mushy wild rice?

There's a plethora of sauces to try with your pie - I've never seen mint jelly as a condiment until I visited Australia. Sweet Chilli Sauce is also quite common everywhere too - diners, pubs, street-fare, and in most of the fridges where I surfed.

So glad that I got to try this! I was underwhelmed by the infamous Pie Face. I'll admit that being surrounded by rowdy Ozzies and backpackers alike who are just cramming their faces with pie pie pie from a wagon in the middle of nowhere was a lot of the fun!