Whenever I am in the Woolloomooloo area I always seem to find myself at Harry’s Café de Wheels and today was no exception.
Having had a good stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens, we ended up at Woolloomooloo around lunch time having worked up an appetite and thought it would be rude not to try one of Harry’s famous pies.
Having operated for more than 70 years, Harry’s Café de Wheels now has a number of locations throughout Sydney when you require a delicious and satisfying pie. Besides the historic food truck at Woolloomooloo, you can also venture to Broadway, Burwood, Haymarket; Liverpool, Newcastle, Parramatta; Penrith, Tempe and Ultimo for that scrumptious pie!
The man behind the famous meat pie is Harry Edwards who first opened his caravan café near the front gates of the Woolloomooloo naval dockyard in 1938. As well as sailors and soldiers seeking out the popular ‘pies n peas’ or crumbed sausages as a late night snack, Harry’s dishes were also popular with cabbies, coppers and starlets.
Today, Harry’s Pies are just as popular with locals and tourists alike as well as the late night revellers looking for some food to soak up all that alcohol. In fact, even the pigeons and seagulls flock here to get a bite of the good stuff and you might have to fight them off your food if you let your guard down!
‘Harry’s Tiger’ is the signature dish which is aptly named after the founder Harry Edwards and comprises a chunky lean beef pie served with mushy peas, mash and gravy. However if mushy peas is not for you (Sorry Harry), then there are plenty more pies to choose from including the Curry Chicken Pie which I went for (can’t resist a bit of spice). You also have the Chicken and Mushroom Pie, a Seafood Pie (the pie which is next on my list to try!) as well as the Veggie Pie.
Of course you can also try out the sausage rolls, pasties and selection of rolls and hot dogs including Plain, Chilli, Hot Dog de Wheels and Harry’s Cheese Dog. If feeling extra hungry then why not add a side of wedges and you can also grab a soft drink to wash all that goodness down!
The area around Harry’s Café de Wheels was already bustling with hungry diners munching on pies, fries and hot dogs when we arrived and despite a small queue we were served extremely quickly, having to wait only a matter of minutes to pay and receive our order.
You can help yourself to a selection of sauces on top of the counter and sit either on the benches around the food truck or why not sit at the stools as part of Harry’s food truck and look at all of the photos, stories as you eat! There’s plenty to take in – why not try to identify all the celebrities that have eaten at Harry’s Café de Wheels whilst you’re at it! I spotted Sir Elton John had frequented here at one point.
The Curry Chicken Pie was piping hot and a decent size, and priced at just $5.30, it’s definitely affordable! The pie had plenty of sauce and filling and had a good kick to it, but it wasn’t too spicy. You knew that it was a curry pie as soon as you took your first bite. The pastry is light and flaky and each pie is freshly made by hand each day so you know that you’re getting the good stuff.
Don’t forget to have a boogie as you eat as Harry’s Café de Wheels blares out some toe tapping music you just want to seat bob to! Whilst I was there, there was some good 80s cheesy hits playing that I couldn’t resist bobbing to!
Overall, Harry’s Café de Wheels is a must-visit if you love a good pie, no matter whether you’re a local or a tourist. And with affordable pricing, you will be crying out for more!
Open seven days a week, there’s no excuse not to try out Harry’s Café de Wheels, especially as it is open from 8.30am Monday to Friday and 9am Saturday and Sunday until the early hours of the next morning, with food still being served until 4am on Friday and Saturday nights! I can only imagine how many pies Harry’s Café de Wheels must get through every single day!