Church Street: Rob Shehadie supports Parramatta restaurants, cafes
In a bid to support local businesses on the back of the light rail project and coronavirus fears, Fat Pizza star Rob Shehadie has revealed why Parramatta’s Church St is a must-do dining experience for all foodie lovers. SEE THE VIDEO OF HIS TOP 5 EATERIES.
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Comedian Rob Shehadie is having a foodie flashback.
The Fat Pizza star, who grew up Dundas (before it was renamed Oatlands), recalls when dining out meant a Sunday drive with the family down Parramatta Rd.
“In the ‘90s there was only Norton St, Leichhardt, and a lot of the clientele were from
this area,’’ he said.
“We used to go after church at Our Lady of Lebanon. People from the west travel.”
Back then, Sydney’s Little Italy was “the only cafe strip to get a coffee’’ but it was
also, Shehadie says, what inspired Parramatta’s fledgling dining scene to take off, thanks to a demand from locals hungry for their own “eat street”.
Soon, the aromas of Italian, Thai and Greek flavours began to perfume Church St
and western Sydney food lovers could trade inner city dining for local haunts, like the
24-hour City Extra.
“That was the go-to after a night out and we’d go out and have pumpkin soup,’’
Shehadie said.
While the Parramatta Light Rail project has hit restaurants hard on the dining strip,
Shehadie, who is still a proud local, is a regular at Church St mainstay Restaurant
317 and is no stranger to Circa Espresso, Meat and Wine Co, Bayti and The Shed cafe.
Restaurateurs along Church St have also copped a double blow because of the coronavirus plunging them into a small business crisis as diners cancel bookings and opt to eat at home.
But Shehadie is still keen to dine out in Parramatta and hopes more Sydneysiders
will head west to see what a culinary drawcard it is.
“I’m happy to go to the city or east if I have to but it’s always a big whinge for people
from the east side,’’ he said.
“I think people will be shocked to see how much Parramatta has changed. I see a lot
of suits in Parramatta. During Monday to Friday there’s a lot of suits, a lot of
students.”
Parramatta’s Western Sydney University campus is next door to the $3.2 billion
Parramatta Square redevelopment, which will accommodate 35,000 workers once
the four towers are completed in 2022.
Ruse Bar & Brasserie, Betty’s Burgers, Harvey’s Hot Sandwiches, Fishbowl and Threefold Pastry will open in the square’s domain in autumn and are sure to bolster Parramatta’s mix of fine dining and casual options.
Don’t know where to start eating out in Parramatta? Cue Rob Shehadie.
ROB’S TOP 5
The Shed
For a hearty brunch, this is one of Parramatta’s best and most photogenic cafes.
“I love the breakfast there, I like the coffee. I’m a latte drinker,’’ Shehadie says.
The Shed is popular with the corporate crowd during the week and Instagram double
tappers on weekends.
A recently-introduced special is the Mediterranean
Magic for brekkie. It has two poached eggs perched on charcoal sourdough
bread with labneh chilli, oregano, sauteed mushrooms and ajvar. “It’s like
all your first cousins on one plate,’’ Shehadie says.
Other newcomers are the corn fritter stacks with grilled halloumi, sauteed
kale, pomegranate and smashed avocado, and the banana french bread with
mascarpone, caramelised banana, salted caramel sauce, seasonal berries
and housemade granola crumble.
The Shed, Shop 8/45 Macquarie St, Parramatta
Circa Espresso
Circa Espresso is quite the establishment in Parramatta and enjoys a cult following
beyond. It has become a mecca for coffee aficionados since Aykut Sayan opened
the cafe 10 years ago with a dream to make Parramatta the home of Sydney’s best
coffee. He succeeded. Circa roasts its own blends and boasts an adventurous menu
including its signature dish of Ottoman eggs. The rich number has two poached
eggs with crumbed eggplant, garlic labneh, burnt chilli, sage butter and
fried leeks served with housemade focaccia. The dish gets Shehadie’s
blessing and, like fellow diners, he also loves the cafe’s fitout, sprawled
throughout a former terrace home with seating inside and on porches
and a courtyard. For March, the cafe is whipping up a
chaigato – a blend of oat milk, dark chocolate sorbet topped with mint and
chocolate peppermint. It also pairs delightfully well with the Ottoman eggs.
21 Wentworth St, Parramatta
Meat & Wine Co
“Look at the size of me,’’ Shehadie says. “I’m a meat eater. You don’t get this body
just eating salad.” With that declaration, it’s no surprise Meat & Wine Co, along the
banks of the Parramatta River, gets the former rugby union player’s tick of approval.
“They’ve mastered the art of making a steak,’’ he says.
Shop 6 and 7/330 Church St, Parramatta
Restaurant 317
Mediterranean staples (pizza, pasta, risotto) and an extensive cocktail list have kept Restaurant 317 in business for over a decade. Shehadie’s “usual” is the grilled seafood plate, crammed with barramundi fillets, giant king prawns, calamari and octopus in a pesto garlic sauce. For March, receive a discount off your bill from set menu bookings via The Fork, on select days.
317 Church St, Parramatta
Bayti
One of Parramatta’s new fine dining restaurants, Bayti is
next-level Lebanese cuisine. The Khouzame family has added contemporary twists to traditional dishes such as the fish roe-topped labneh. The restaurant is all about family
gatherings and Shehadie’s visit to Bayti was for a christening.
When he returned, he demolished a mezze of shanklish tomato salad, salmon kibbeh nayeh, chicken
shawarma and chicken parcels. An emphasis is supporting the Khouzames’ ancestral home and wines are sourced from Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley and from the Chateau Musar winery in Ghazir.
45 Macquarie St, Parramatta
