Originally published by Two Thousand in 2014
Friends fans rejoice! They finally named a food franchise after Chandler. Ever wondered what he did after the series finale? He spent almost two decades in Asia, devouring snacks and honing his catering skills and late last year moved to Sydney to open a franchise in Chippendale called Mr Bing.
Ignore the last paragraph, especially if you were more of a Frasier fan. A jian bing is an incredible snack from China, a great big pancake that’s equal parts omelette and equal parts crepe, wrapped around various fillings, most popular of which is fried bread and pork floss. It’s also really popular in Taiwan, and probably would be popular everywhere if it were easier to find. You used to be able to get a jian bing at the Dixon St Markets of a Friday night in Chinatown, although it was called a ‘Chinese hot dog’. I featured one in my guide to the best hot dogs in Sydney video that I made a few years back. It was delicious, but merely the tip of the egg wrapped iceberg when it came to the variety of jian bing.
In the last few months, Sydney has gained two dedicated Jian Bing joints. First the incredibly named Boom Chicken & Bing Master opened in Parramatta (we’ll be heading there next week!), and more recently Mr Bing popped up on City Rd in Chippendale. It’s a hole in the wall takeaway spot. It’s super cute and the menu is impressive, taking the humble little bing on a little holiday for each option, filling some with Korean BBQ pork and others with a weird take on an Aussie beef burger. These options are a little over the top, packed with unnecessary mayo (eggs on eggs on eggs) and odd flavours.
The namesake Mr Bing is a classic Chinese jian bing and absolutely what you should be ordering, filled with a stick of fried bread, sweet bean sauce and sesame seeds. For a couple bucks you can add an extra egg and some pork floss. It’s sweet, moreish, soft, crunchy, eggy and filling, but I still wanted two. I opted for a smaller Taiwanese style jian bings with ham and cheese. A good choice!
If you like kebabs and burritos please make some room in your diet for another cylinder you eat out of a paper bag. These jian bings are legit. It’s just a shame Mr Bing isn’t open an night, although Jian Bings are typically breakfast food, they’d go down nice with a few too many beers.
[…] a bunch of dated Friends jokes and brought to your attention the new Chippendale takeaway spot Mr Bing Gourmet Wrapz. Since the start of the year, Mr Bing has been serving piping hot jian bings, which are a Chinese / […]