Mary's oh Mary's

On my birthday I decided I wanted my favourite food, fried chicken. So on the hunt for new places to eat fried chicken, I came across Mary's in Newtown. Set inside what was once a sexual health clinic, tucked away in an alleyway in Newtown.

Newtown is home to many wonderful places to eat, a lot of American diner style restaurants have popped up all over Newtown in recent years which is awesome for me of course. It's also the hipster capitol of Sydney, here you will see people from all walks of life, mainly hipsters. So it's not surprising to find Mary's to be exactly that. The building has no signs at the front, just a blue light above the front entrance. As you walk into the building, the loud music hits you first and I mean, it's loud. The place looks very cool though, wall murals of skeletons in Satan suits and high ceiling lights, very Newtown. There's a bar downstairs but if you want table service you gotta go upstairs. There are no menus, everything is written on walls or ceilings. Reading the drinks menu on the ceiling gave my neck a workout. It's also very dark upstairs, lit up only by candles. The menu is simple, burgers, fried chicken and mash and gravy.
 
You have 3 choices for burgers: Cheeseburger, Mary's burger or Mushroom burger for the vegetarians. You can add 'trashcan bacon' (bacon grilled in a old trashcan) to your burgers. For fried chicken you can get half a bird, whole bird or larry bird which is 2 whole chickens. 

For our visit I ordered a cheeseburger with bacon, Jules got the Mary's burger with bacon. Half a chicken, mash and gravy, I also ordered a cocktail called "red shot". The service was great, our waitress was very pleasant and knew all the drinks well. The music again, was very loud, we had to yell at each other to have a conversation. The cocktail was very strong, it was like drinking straight gin so I only had a bit. 

The food however, was worth slowly getting deaf for. When our food arrived, we were already starving so it's no surprise that we finished everything in less than 15 minutes. The cheeseburger was everything a good burger should be, the pattie was moist and juicy. The bun was super soft and sweet, accompanied by mustard, tomato sauce, tangy cheese and the bacon grilled to perfection. There was no talking, we ate our burgers in silence and finished it within 5 minutes. Then I started on my love, fried chicken. Oh fried chicken oh fried chicken how I love thee. Mary's fried chicken was crunchy on the outside and extremely juice and tender on the inside. I was too busy eating so I didn't take a photo of the bitten chicken (I'm sorry...). Some might find it a bit too salty but I didn't care at all, it was the best god darn chicken I've ever had and I've had a lot of fried chicken! Next time, I'm getting a whole chicken. The mash and gravy was very creamy and delicious, gobbled up by Tian and Jules in less than 2 minutes. 

Would love to go back again, unless I find another place with better fried chicken. Highly recommended, come for their eclectic decor and energy, awesome food and great service. Distinctively Newtown? Absolutely!