Have you ever met someone who makes you feel like they’ve cast a spell upon you?

You have? Well, I haven’t and I don’t plan to.

I rather they cast a bucket of Belle’s on me.

After single-handedly keeping Barangaroo from resembling a zombie wasteland with their pop-up, Belle’s Hot Chicken have now opened a full blown store that can sit over a hundred fried chicken connoisseurs at any given time.

Let’s have a look at how hot the chicks at Belle’s are.

A new addition to the Belle’s menu, the Peach BBQ sauce coated ribs are very different to everything else on the menu. Instead of the signature spice and heat, you get an element of sweetness with the rib meat. It’s totally unexpected like when you think you’re in trouble with your wife but you get home and find that she’s made your favourite for dinner.

Very enjoyable and you might like it more than your wife’s cooking.

Just don’t tell her that.

Their bread and butter is…er…not bread and butter but tender, juicy, fried chicken. You can opt for wings (my personal favourite), drumsticks (as close as I’ll ever get to being in a band) or tenders (for everyone that can’t handle bones).

The spice level starts from southern to medium to really f*ckin hot. I personally favour medium due to the fact that my taste buds have been through enough and I just want to enjoy the flavours as opposed to raise my body temperature 98 degrees.

You know what also raises my body temperature and gets me all hot and bothered? When I see a friendly Belle’s staff member zoom towards my table with one of these:

The Baller Bucket is designed for your team of ballers to demolish after scoring buckets upon buckets on unsuspecting scrubs…it is also designed for any group of fried chicken aficionados. My favourite sides at Belle’s are the Old Bay fries. Perfectly crunchy with a kick-ass seasoning, it’s quite difficult to opt for anything else.

For people who want Belle’s minus the chicken, I present to you the hot fish sandwich.

Whilst I consider anyone who doesn’t want fried chicken to be quite fishy, I cant understand why many have love for this fish sandwich.

You get the signature Belle’s spice hit with a very different texture. Instead of juicy chicken you get flaky fish which is good in its own unique way. It’s like how I love Anna Kendrick but I perfectly understand homies who have a thing for Charlize Theron. Same love, but different feels.

If you want your chicken between two buns, Belle’s has got you covered. The chicken sandwich is one of my favourites with a tender fillet of thigh meat (of medium heat), lettuce, cheese and a dollop of mayo between two sesame seed buns. Every bite is incredibly satisfying akin to a Thai massage you received for free because your health insurance company is worried you’ll leave.

Bit of a stretch? Might’ve been a bit of a stretch.

The point of the matter is that you’ll want to wear your stretchy pants and stretch our your visit as Belle’s as it’s not whether you’ll want seconds, it’s whether you’ll want to get fifth servings.

If you’re wondering what you should get when you’re going for your fifth serving, the chicken and waffles should be that selection.

The chicken and waffles are a weekend special and something I wish I could sink my teeth into everyday.  For anyone confused as to how to approach this, my recommendation is to just go in and have some of everything with each bite.

The combination of sweet, savoury and heat had my mouth partying like it was New Year’s Eve 1999.

Here’s the TL;DR for everyone that misread the review and thought I was reviewing a brothel in Barangaroo.

• This post has been a long time coming, I just had to have Belle’s at least 7 times before I could push my post live you know what I mean?
• I sacrificed my Belle of the ball figure to enjoy Belle’s, no regrets.
• Most optimal order during lunch break: Chicken sandwich. Simply so you don’t get super messy for the homerun stretch back in the office and that you don’t get spices in your eye from handling that chicken.

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Belle’s Hot Chicken, Barangaroo

Shop 5, 33 Barangaroo Avenue

Wulgugul Walk

Opening Hours:

Monday – Saturday: 12 – 10:30

Sunday: 12 – 9:30