Sri Lankan street food vendor Hopper Kadé has opened up a permanent location on Crown Street in Sydney’s Darlinghurst.
Founders Ruvanie De Zoysa and Chris Goffin spent two years on the Sydney street food circuit with a stall at Orange Grove Markets and a pop-up restaurant at Tramsheds.
“We’ve been blown away with the success of our pop-ups and are thrilled to be opening the doors to our first permanent home,” says De Zoysa.
“We’ve decided to mix things up a bit — combining subcontinental dishes with Australian ingredients and flavour combinations to create a new style of cooking.”
The team have worked closely with head chef Diago Fernandez to expand their hopper menu and create a premium food offering for casual dining.
Brunch options include Lankan jaffles, roti wraps and chai-spiced banana loaf from 8am, with the full menu offered from 11am.
Available for lunch (Tuesday to Sunday) and dinner (Thursday to Saturday), the hoppers are made in-house from fermented rice flour and coconut milk.
The menu also features roti wraps filled with biryani rice, pickle and hung yoghurt and biryani plates topped with pickle, coconut sambol and a choice of fillings such as beetroot curry or spiced chicken.
Sharing dishes include the cuttlefish salad with papaya, cashew chili curry leaf crumb, fresh herbs and lime dressing and slow-cooked Lankan lamb ribs served with kadé pickle and coconut sambol.
The drinks offering features local Aussie producers including coffee by Byron Bay’s The Black Lab and teas from Tea Craft, who have partnered with Hopper Kadé to create a bespoke chai-turmeric blend.
