We Visited The Hello Kitty Diner In Sydney And It's Cute AF

    Plus, the burgers are really good.

    Ailbhe Malone
    by Ailbhe Malone

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    The Hello Kitty Diner is a sugary-sweet 1950s diner hidden on the third floor of a Sydney shopping centre.

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    HK Diner is located in the District, Chatswood. (Dumpling fans, that's right by Tim Ho Wan). It looks like a typical 1950s diner, but with neon touches, and a lot of Hello Kitty.

    It's only been open for a week and a half, and queues for a table are competitive.

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    "We had a line last Saturday before we even opened," says general manager Dorothy Wang. "On average there is an hour and half wait for a table at the weekend."

    We visit at 11am on a Wednesday, and the diner is already busy. By 11:50am there's a 10-strong queue out the front door. The punters are a mixture of teens, families, and curious local workers. Everyone seems enchanted by Hello Kitty, taking giddy selfies and pictures of the interior.

    "We opened on November 1, as that's Hello Kitty's birthday," says Wang.

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    The diner is 100% official, and Wang worked closely with Sanrio (the creators of Hello Kitty) to pin down the details.

    "There are Hello Kitty restaurants around the world, from Dubai to Hong Kong and Taiwan, each with their own distinctive design and focus," Wang says.

    "Sanrio wanted each Hello Kitty restaurant around the world to have a different design – and each restaurant has its own special Hello Kitty. Ours is the roller skating waitress by the front door."

    Local chefs and designers are heavily involved in the restaurant.

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    The menu was created by Chur Burger's Warren Turnbull, and Michael Chiem (Bulletin Place) put together the drinks menu.

    Meanwhile, local designers worked on the decor. "Sanrio designed the graphics for the booths and the greaseproof paper, and our wallpaper. They worked with local design team Luchetti Krelle to find a look that's clean and contemporary, not kitsch."

    And the food is pretty good.

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    The Classic Burger ($12) consists of a beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard, and pickle. It's flavourful and tasty, with freshly grilled beef, cooling mustard, and crunchy lettuce. (It tastes not unlike a Chur burger, which makes sense!)

    And the desserts are dreamy.

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    The Chocolate Brownie ($8) comes with peanut butter ice cream and banana foam.

    The peanut butter ice cream isn't too dense, and the banana foam is a nice touch, though as a dessert it's intensely sweet.

    The waffles are the stars of the show though.

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    The Cinnamon Waffles ($8) come with apple pie ice cream and salted caramel, and are shaped like Hello Kitty. They are truly delicious – fresh and crisp, not too doughy. The apple pie ice cream has big chunks of apple in it too.

    Milkshake fans are well served.

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    The Pancake Milkshake ($8) is sweet and creamy, with oodles of maple syrup.

    And they even serve Hello Kitty Mozzarella Sticks.

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    The sticks are $10, and you get about 6 sticks for your money, with a mild jalapeno mayo.

    The Maple Burger has been the most popular item so far.

    Anna Mendoza/BuzzFeed

    Served with crispy pork belly, maple glazed bacon, pink lady apple, and green slaw, it's been a big hit.

    "We call the Maple Burger the Hello Kitty Diner burger, as it has apple in it. Apple is Hello Kitty's favourite food, so we made sure to incorporate it," Wang says.

    And all the items on the menu have Hello Kitty's seal of approval.

    Anna Mendoza/BuzzFeed

    There's no alcohol on the menu, only sodas.

    "When it came to the drinks section, we worked with Michael Chiem (Bulletin Place). We asked ourselves, 'What is Hello Kitty in drinks form?' How would her favourite foods (cookies and apples) taste like as a soda? So we made the Hello Kitty soda, which is an apple soda."

    As for the future? There might be another café on the way.

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    "We're thinking maybe one more restaurant on the other side of the bridge, maybe a Hello Kitty milk bar," says Wang.

    Find out more about the Hello Kitty Diner here.

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