Come hungry, they said.
asserted
they → come → ?
So I do, but even an empty stomach is no match for the vast array of food options available as I eat my way along the eagerly awaited final stage of Sydney’s metro line.
asserted
I → do → line
When the metro opened in 2024, then-transport minister Jo Haylen and I did a bar hop from North Sydney to the CBD to experience just how transformational it would be for the city.
asserted
it → open → city
This time, it’s a food safari along the metro’s final stage linking Bankstown and Sydenham.
asserted
it → ’ → Bankstown
Haylen’s successor, Transport and Arts Minister John Graham, joins me.
asserted
successor → join → me
Not to play favourites, but this metro food crawl may well trump my wine tour.
uncertain
crawl → play → tour
I peak too early.
asserted
I → peak → ?
We meet Bankstown MP Jihad Dib at the spruced-up metro station.
asserted
We → meet → station
Once run-down, poorly lit and a magnet for teenagers from the nearby boys’ school wanting to sneak a ciggie, Punchbowl station has been significantly renovated for the Southwest metro.
But that is the least interesting part of Punchbowl’s metro tale.
asserted
that → run → tale
The station is surrounded by restaurants, cakes shops, spice merchants and grocers.
asserted
station → surround → restaurants
Dib, a former principal of the boys’ school, knows everyone and greets business owners in Arabic before ushering me into their shops.
asserted
Dib → know → shops
We are on The Boulevarde, the main strip which runs alongside the train tracks.
asserted
which → run → tracks
Dib takes me into Sydney Spices, run by Ahmad and Mohmad Aouf.
asserted
Dib → take → Ahmad
Dib insists I try their BBQ meat spice, made from 17 secret herbs and spices and apparently perfect on lamb.
asserted
I → insist → lamb
Ahmad reveals four ingredients in his mix – paprika, onion, oregano and cumin – but is tight-lipped about the others.
asserted
Ahmad → reveal → others
We drop into Bake’d, an Instagrammable bakery famous for its viral four-layered pancake stacks covered with everything from fairy floss to Oreos and Biscoff sauce.
asserted
We → drop → Oreos
A young girl is being treated to the Pink Barbie, smothered in white chocolate sauce and sprinkles.
asserted
girl → treat → sauce
I get a sugar rush just looking at it.
But the place Dib is eager for us to try is Al Yasmin, a family-run Lebanese restaurant well known for its breakfasts (be prepared to queue, Dib tells me) as well as its generous servings.
asserted
Dib → get → me
He is not kidding.
asserted
He → kid → ?
Ahmad, a young Syrian refugee, insists on bringing us dish after dish.
asserted
Ahmad → insist → dish
The falafel is like nothing I have tried.
asserted
I → try → nothing
“This is good,” he tells me.
asserted
he → tell → me
Ahmad keeps delivering food and I keep eating until Dib’s minders point out we have other places to try along the 13.5-kilometre line.
asserted
we → keep → line
I roll out.
asserted
I → roll → ?
“The metro is so important for Punchbowl,” Dib says.
asserted
Dib → say → Punchbowl
“We are going to become a destination for people all over Sydney because it will just be so easy to get here.
asserted
it → go → Sydney
Jump on the metro, no parking – it will be amazing for us.”
asserted
it → jump → us
Next we board the metro bound for Campsie, four stops away.
asserted
we → board → Campsie
Charcoal chicken and honey cakes are on our must-try list, I am told.
asserted
I → try → list
This time it’s the MP for Canterbury Sophie Cotsis who wants to show off the hotspots in her suburb, which has been keenly anticipating the opening of the metro.
asserted
which → ’ → metro
Campsie Charcoal Chickens is an institution, but it has found the past two years tough.
asserted
years → find → ?
The infamous pink buses, which replaced trains between Bankstown and Sydenham while the line was converted for the metro, stop right outside the shop.
asserted
line → replace → shop
Throngs of passengers have swamped the entrance, making business difficult, but Chris Conti, the manager, is convinced the new metro will only be a good thing for his establishment.
asserted
metro → swamp → establishment
Cotsis, meanwhile, tells me I will never taste a better hot chip, and she orders up big.
asserted
she → tell → chip
I can barely move but I keep eating.
asserted
I → move → ?
We still have cakes to go.
asserted
We → have → cakes
An assortment of Christina’s traditional layered cakes is packaged for me to take away.
asserted
me → package → cakes
A relief, given we still have Vietnamese in Marrickville to go.
asserted
we → give → Marrickville
Back on the metro for another four stops where Haylen, my one-time wine partner, has swapped prosecco for sticky rice and chicken.
asserted
Haylen → swap → rice
She meets us at Marrickville station to take us to VN Street Food on Illawarra Road.
asserted
She → meet → Road
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
