Boom Banana: Home of the Best Chicken Schnitzel on Oxford Street, Surry Hills (12 July 2013)

27 Oxford Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

https://www.facebook.com/boombananasydney

Freshly made chicken schnitzel

Thanks to Les Szancer for inviting me to revisit Banana Boom after originally visiting 3 years ago. Since that time it has been taken over by Les from the original owners who had successfully run the shop for many years. Banana Boom is well-known to the locals for its excellent chicken schnitzel and I'm glad to see it continues to be a signature item on the menu. The No. 2 Chicken Schnitzel sandwich with lettuce and mayo ($6) is generously filled, reasonably priced, and the chicken is moist and tasty. The classic simplicity of this sandwich works a treat, especially just on your basic white sliced bread. Les says the key to a good schnitzel is being freshly made each day. If stocks run low they just make more as needed. The schnitzel is cooked in batches too so it's not sitting for too long in the bain-marie which avoids it drying out. A new item on the menu is the Hot chips ($3.50). They're good but sadly it's only a small cup and could be more generously filled up in the bag. Les has promised to relook at this to make it better value after my feedback on the day. The Boom Burger ($6.90) comes with a homemade beef patty, caramelized onion, lettuce, tomato and dijon aioli. It has potential but I find the ratio of bun to meat patty not quite right and there needs to be more meat to taste like a burger to me. Alternatively if served on a softer white bun or perhaps even white sliced bread would probably work well and I'd suggest adding some BBQ or tomato sauce for extra flavour.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Very reasonably priced menu, Chicken schnitzel made fresh each day, Efficient and friendly staff, A very popular juice bar

CONS: Narrow shop so it can get a little cosy when crowded, So many menus around the place can get a bit overwhelming for a newbie customer, No seating so only suited for takeaways

MUST TRY: No. 2 Chicken Schnitzel sandwich

VERDICT: If this shop was closer to my work I'd definitely be visiting it more often for my chicken schnitzel fix and fresh juice

—

No. 2 Chicken Schnitzel sandwich with lettuce and mayo ($6) with avocado ($1) — reasonably priced, chicken moist and tasty, schnitzel made fresh daily

SIMON FAVOURITE :-) 

Hot chips ($3.50) — good with a nice crisp although served in a very small cup and bag could be more generously filled, Les says he's going to relook at this after my feedback

Boom Burger: Homemade beef patty, caramelized onion, lettuce, tomato, dijon aioli ($6.90) — flavour OK but I found the ratio of the bun too much compared to the meat patty

Chicken schnitzel made on site and cooked throughout the day

Owner Les Szancer and his trusty service team

Alternative chicken sandwich options

View Larger Map

Social Experiment: #shootmylunch to commemorate 11.11.11, Hyde Park Sydney (11 Nov 2011)

Twitter hashtag: #shootmylunch

11 lunches unite for the 11.11.11

A big thank you to everyone that managed to find the time to visit me in Hyde Park between 12 noon til 1 pm today to have their photograph taken with their lunch. Your photo is now recorded as part of the Simon Food Favourites social experiment for the special day of 11 November 2011. I hope to do something similar next year on the 12 December 2012 aka 12.12.12 at 12 noon — I wonder if I'll get 12 people for it too. Mark in your diaries now. My lunch today was from Boom Banana which I think make a pretty good chicken schnitzel sandwich. Morning tea was from Caffé Due Mondi at around 11.11 am just to add a few more special elevens to my day. It was certainly an eventful day for me which now comes to an end as I blog post this at 11.11 pm. You can never have too many Legs Elevens in your life.

First shot of the day at 11.11 am with my Raisin Toast & Hot Chocolate ($5) from Caffé Due Mondi

Location arrival 12 noon

Location waiting shots

First arrivals for #shootmylunch arrive with Boom Banana and Rolls on Oxford sandwiches

Chanel (left) from CatsLoveCooking with friends arrive as second wave with Iku and Gomez & Guzman

Dolly from Cupcakiedolly arrives with a pork roll from Hunter Connection

Richard Elliot from Richard Elliot's Blog arrives with his home cooked pasta

Don't forget the 11 November is Remembrance Day

Two friendly randoms enjoying their fruit juices from Chifley Plaza — thanks for making the total number of people 11 for the 11.11.11 — Legends!

A few lunch closeups

Location

Above the central stairs entrance on Park Street into Hyde Park facing North

Boom Banana: Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich, Surry Hills (30 July 2010)

27 Oxford Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

BOOM BOOM schnitzel time!

I've passed this tiny juice and sandwich shop countless times, which is nestled next to the Darlinghurst IGA supermarket, but have never thought about checking it out until today when I received a reliable tip that they do a roaring trade of Chicken schnitzel sandwiches for only $5.50. They've got a menu board of around a dozen suggested sandwiches to choose from but you can also just choose your own ingredients like any other sandwich shop. Seeing the large piles of precooked chicken schnitzel gives me the impression that it's definitely one of their more popular choices. The no-nonsense service is quick and efficient and within minutes I'm off carrying my small brown paper sandwich bag to the park. The very light weight sandwich makes me think it won't be very filling but anything deep fried and crumbed is a good filler in the end.

The chicken is surprisingly moist and tender with the right amount of crunch on the crumbing. It's a simple sandwich that's tasty and cheap, especially on the stock standard white bread. If you're looking for a monster sized chicken schnitzel sandwich then head Big Bite on Pitt but I prefer Boom Banana's chicken schnitzel. If you prefer it in a tasty baguette then head to Taste to try their version.

Other reviews of Boom Banana:

• TwoThousand

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Cheap, Tasty, Fresh

CONS: Can get busy when ordering, Small space at service counter, No seating

MUST TRY: Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich

—

No. 2 sandwich: Chicken schnitzel with lettuce and mayo $5.50

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Plenty of chicken schnitzel ready for sandwiches

Small shop front

Boom Banana next to IGA

Hyde Park very close to eat your sandwich


View Larger Map