Just Open: Juicy Lucy, Surry Hills

It might be the Chinese year of the monkey, but for Sydneysiders, 2016 is also shaping up to be the year of the chicken. In the last few weeks we've seen fried-chook specialist Thirsty Bird open in Darlinghurst and Butter flip the bird and sneakers in Surry Hills. Now the team from south-east Asian restaurant Sugarcane have jumped on the chicken bus.

"Chicken is just something we really enjoy eating," says Milan Strbac, who co-owns Sugarcane and Juicy Lucy with Griff Pamment. "There's a lot of Middle Eastern-style chicken restaurants around, a lot of American-style ones, but not many south-east Asian-style shops. We came up with the idea to open a store and when the site came on the market around the corner from Sugarcane we couldn't say no."

Juicy Lucy's slow-roasted whole chook spends quality time overnight in a brine of cloves, cassia bark, coriander seeds and Sichuan pepper. It's the kind of bird you can take to the park, put on the dining table or happily eat in store. There are wraps such as the Jackie Chan, filled with rice, Malay chicken, pickles and herbs, and burgers like the Lil Kim, stacked with a hunk of fried chicken, coleslaw, kimchi and Korean barbecue sauce.

The fried chicken is a lighter style than Sydney is used to, says Strbac, using a tapioca batter and gently seasoned with a salt-and-pepper spice. There are also minimum-fuss side salads such as an iceberg lettuce number dressed with coconut and lime and topped with pork crackling, steamed broccoli with chilli, and an Asian-style coleslaw.

Expect more chicken shops to open in the next 12 months. Next out of the coop is chef Ben Greeno's takeaway-only rotisserie chook shop, operating next door to The Paddington. There would be a danger of the market being flooded, except for one important thing: chicken is delicious. The more shops, the merrier, we say.

Open Monday-Saturday 11am-late.

232A Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, 02 8540 8726