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24 December 2020

Kusuka ~ Indonesian/Strayan, Darling Square

Kusuka, our favourite IndoStrayan cafe, has moved again, this time to Darling Square. Any excuse to revisit Kusuka...


Sniff, sniff. Chinatown's beloved Dixon House foodcourt has finally closed it's doors. The two remaining stalls hung in there through most of 2020, they survived Covid with a smile, but those Sydney property developers will always get you in the end. 

Everybody has their favourite Dixon House stall, but most of all we miss the procession of short lived stalls that burned bright like Weng Xiao ChuTomo's Washoku and Xian Cuisine to name a few.



No wonder Chinatown's foodcourts are disappearing. Just around the corner from Dixon House and Eating World (now shrunken, dark and not quite the same) is Darling Square. As much as we love a foodcourt, the dingier the better, we can see how normal people would prefer a feed at Darling Square: it's upbeat and very pleasant sitting outside amongst the trees on a sunny day, and for only a few dollars more, if that.



While we mourn Dixon House, we are cheered to discover Kusuka has moved around the corner to Darling Square, their prior spot in Sussex Street was just a bit out of the way for us. Kusuka has a special place in our hearts, one of the few cafes that fancies up street food whilst keeping its soul. The folks at are seriously good cooks/chefs and exceptionally nice people.

Our favourite feeds at Kusuka are the pimped-out Indomie dishes, prettier versions of late nite drunken street feeds we've thoughout Indonesia, though we get the impression most folks are into Kusuka's instagram-y drinks. And we've just discovered the rissoles...



Kopi susu with a view - this little strip is a great people watching spot.



Nasi goreng - $15. Indo fried rice topped with googie and chicken schnittie. The schnittie is amazing, they really know how fry some bird at Kusuka.



The rissoles ($4.90) are a must-try - egg and beef pastramie, crumbed and fried oh so perfectly with a lovely crisp crunch. 


Cue dream sequence...


History suggests Kusuka's rissoles descended from the Dutch reign of Indonesia. And they very much reminded us of the kroketten and bitterballen that we had as beer snackages in Amsterdam last year - that same lovely crunch, oh my.

End dream sequence...




Our go-to at Kusuku is the Hurricane ($14.50) - Indomie instant noodles with corned beef, cheese, peas and a fried egg hat. A hangover favourite.



A healthier vego option is the Garden Bowl ($17.50) - Indomie with tofu, avocado, house acar pickles, pineapple, crunchy fried noodles and rendang sauce.



Coffee Tubruk ($5) - similar to a Bali coffee where you need to wait for the coffee grinds to sink to the bottom before slurping. As a black coffee lovers this really floated our boats, rich and earthy. Also available with condensed milk.



Red velvet - $5. A hot milky drink in glass, like a 1990s latte without the serviette tied around the middle. But there is no coffee,  it has pink stuff with a little chocolate and marshmallow, subtle but definitely there. It's sweet  but not too sweet, just the way we like it.



Iced red velvet and pink drink ($7) - these were kinda like strawberry Quick, it's fun, but the hot red velvet latte drink is the one we'll be back for.




Kusuka is at 13 Little Hay Street, Darling Square. See their Menu on the information superhighway. More Kusuka reviews and pics: Broadsheet, Not Quite Nigella, Instaspam.


1 comment:

  1. Very sad about Dixon House food court as there were some classics there over the years, but what they have done to Eating World is a crime against humanity.
    Stan.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).