Crazy Wings, Chatswood

After our all-to-brief holiday romance with Crazy Wing in Melbourne both The Boy and I were uber-keen to see if Crazy Wings in Sydney could make us fall in love all over again.

Now don't let the similarity in names fool you. Crazy Wing in Melbourne is not the same restaurant chain as Crazy WINGS is Sydney. The addition of an "s" at the end of Wings in the two Sydney restaurants should make that abundantly clear (though for awhile we were pretty confused ourselves).

In the great tradition of "same same but different" the similarities between the Sydney and Melbourne restaurants are close enough to keep us happy.

The Chatswood restaurant, where we visited, is a bit more fancy then the dingy Chinatown restaurant in Melbourne, but the food is pretty much the same. That said we did miss a few of our Melbourne favourites like corn on the cob and the flash fried BBQ prawn skewers.  The service is similar, though probably less attentive in the Chatswood restaurant.  The staff seemed to be there to chat with each other rather than take our order and bring us food - a well known crime against food blogging! At one point I started frantically waving my hands in the air to get their attention, but no-one saw me as they had their backs facing the patrons. Another dinner then barked at them in Mandarin and service seemed to be pretty swift after that.  I'm really starting to see the benefits of learning another language.

The Boy and I start our meal with drinks. Despite the positively Arctic weather outside I go for a super sweet Lychee Ice that gives me a continual brain-freeze and The Boy chooses a beer.

For us this place is all about the wings and I can't get enough of the mix of spices that season the wings (although we avoid the super hot Chill Pepper and BT Monster as the chilli hit is just too much for most humans to handle).  On this visit (which is our second in less than four day) we go for Honey Soy, Original Wings and Black Pepper - all our finger-licking good and all $2.50 per skewer.

As with the Melbourne's Crazy Wing there are loads of 'non-wing' related tidbits on offer.  The Crazy Lamb ($8.00 for a half dozen) is another must have for us, and we also try the Garlic Pork Belly Skewers ($6.00 for three skewers). I prefer the lamb skewers as I think the meat lends itself well to the moreish spice mix of pepper and chilli. That said the thin strip of crackling on the pork skewers is pretty hard to resist, and the meat is given a lighter treatment with just a dose of garlic and then sesame seeds on top.

We also order a few vegetable options just to be marginally healthy. Both the Chargrill Leek ($4.00 for three skewers) and Enokitake Mushrooms ($4.00 for three skewers) are both liberally dowsed with the chilli and pepper mix making them flavoursome and hard to resist. We also try the Sliced Potato ($4.00 for four skewers), thin slices of potato char grilled and the Pineapple and Prawn Skewers ($6.50 for two skewers).

In a Lost in Translation moment we order the Cucumber Salad but end up with Bamboo Vegie Salad ($5.80). It's a bit of a happy accident really as we never would've ordered this dish as we find it hard to pass up our beloved Cucumber Salad. The pickled vegetables were lovely, and had a slight chilli hit from pieces of dried chilli dotted throughout. The Bamboo had an interesting, almost rubbery, texture.

And, why do I love Crazy Wings so much? I think it's partly due to the novelty of food served on sticks - we all know that food on a stick tastes 100 times better than it does in its sitckless form. I also think the chilli/pepper spice mix must have crack in it as I'm totally addicted.  And in the Sydney restaurants they give you a $10 voucher for every $20 you spend with them.

Crazy Wings is at Shop 8, 1-5 Railway Street in Chatwood. This is the new Eat Street precinct. There is also a branch on Dixon Street in Chinatown which I plan to visit ASAP!