Petersham Charcoal Chicken

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  8     

For us the charcoal chicken is not bad, moist and juicy could have reduced the cooking time by 2 min, seafood rice was good, too bad we missed out pork belly sold out on the night. Will return soon to get the pork belly.

May 27, 2012 

5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  6     

Stopped on the way home to get a burger and saw how busy it was. Thought it must be something special. So I got their chicken burger with fries. Nothing special at all. The buns are nice but too big and the chicken gets lost in the middle. Or the fillet of chicken is too small.

Nothing special about the peri peri sauce and the store bought whole egg mayo. The fries are the "Maccas" variety in size and shape, but were overcooked and dry and crispy. Not really worth all the wait. And not sure why it's such a busy place. Maybe Petersham is struggling for a decent food outlet. Finally, the service leaves a lot to be desired. Grumpy seemingly overworked staff who don't look you in the eyes, smile or say please and thank you.

Apr 22, 2012 

6.3 Average

Food  9      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  7     

Great fresh succulent chicken generally 95% of the time. As it is always busy, hence, the food doesn't sit here too long for it to get dry.

There are lines even on normal weeknights, however, they go quite quickly on good days. Every now and then the service will be pretty bad, sometimes it's obvious that some staff members do not know what they are doing and are not as efficient as they should.

There has been a couple of occasions where I am waiting for 5 minutes at the Counter and no one has greeted us or wanted to serve us. Instead they were busy cleaning the cheap fryer or talking to each other, which is quite frustrating.

However, the chicken is very good, so we come here once a week for takeaway. It is on the pricey side if you eat in. So expect great fresh chicken, however, service does need work.

Mar 26, 2012 

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  8     

Dining upstairs in the restaurant, the food is great but the service can be a bit hit and miss. The staff tend to get overwhelmed during peak dining times.
Highly recommend the baccalhau (salted cod in tomato sauce) and also (of course) the charcoal chicken. The beef espetada is also very good.

Feb 28, 2012 

5.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  6     

Food is good for take away quality but the staff and owners have clearly had a personality bypass. Although having lived in Dulwich Hill for almost 8 years now I am starting to believe that this just might be a Portuguese thing.

Dec 31, 2011 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  4      Service  4      Value  2     

Food Safari brought us to this place and we're all amazed why the world Maeve ums and ahs about it. The chicken was burnt and dry and quite salty and they charged $20 for it is just ridiculous. Even we found the chips was better than the chicken but its not best chips we had either. Then chicken giblets were quite good, spicy and well cooked but it didn't save the reason we went there, roast chicken!

Dec 19, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  5     

The food is Ok but the service is absolutely dreadful. I wouldn't mind waiting in line so much if I were greeted with a smile once in a while. A fitting tagline for the shop should read 'Strictly business. Nothing personal'.

Dec 08, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

Food - Everything is good, so don't be shy to give something a crack.

Ambience - Just your general Portuguese charcoal chicken shop. Nothing more, nothing less. Has a little more seating than other establishments, though.

Service - Always polite, and sometimes funny to watch.

Value - You pay for a lot less than what you eat.

Recommendation - 7.8/10 - One of my top 3 places to get Portuguese chicken, burgers, etc. If you're in the vicinity, then you must visit here. Eat in or take away, it's all good.

Dec 04, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  10     

I have been here numerous times with large groups and not once have I had bad service or had bad food. We have always rung ahead and admittedly made quick decisions without fuss but I have always enjoyed the waiters banter (always has been fun never rude) and my whole eating experience. Best chicken ever.

Aug 31, 2011 

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  7     

Also known as FRANGO, I can understand the reviewers frustration in terms of service. This place is very popular, a long take away line, we were lucky to get a seat without booking on a wednesday night!

My friend loves this place,the chicken does taste better than your average bbq chicken but I think its there? Peri peri sauce is what my friend likes the most. I tried the pork dish which was ok but the portion size was bigger than expected.

I know there is a upstairs area but haven't seen it. What amazed me was how long the check took to come out to us, maybe 10 minutes? With people coming in and being rejected because there is no seating, its suprising it took that long!

The are obviously doing something right when they have a booked out wednesday night and a huge line for takeaway, maybe more staff would help with the service though...

Aug 10, 2011