Sydney/Chinatown Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Sydney Chinatown is located in Sydney, in the Haymarket area between Central Station and Darling Harbour in the city. It is Australia's largest, and oldest Chinatown. The district is full of good values in restaurants and food shopping.
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Get in
Chinatown is an easy 15 minute walk from Central railway station. A light rail service operates from Central to Haymarket, just outside Chinatown. The nearest Sydney Explorer stop to Chinatown is stop number 17. Other options are:
- The tram and Darling Harbour monorail have stops at Haymarket.
- Take any bus passing through George St and get off at a bus stop close to Hay St.
See
The Sydney markets on Hay St some metres west of George St at the corner of Thomas St comprise Chinatown's most recognisable landmark. Dixon St starts in front of the markets on Hay St and runs just over two blocks to Goulburn St in the north. Dixon St is a malled pedestrian area and closed to traffic.
Do
There are many things to do in the Chinatown. Including exploring the many Chinese stores, the cinema complex, the many markets and eating and the resturants and strolling around the district exploring the colourful Chinese meets Australian culture.
Buy
The chinatown contains a modern shopping centre, restaurants, boutique shops, a cinema complex, and a Friday-to-Sunday flea market known as Paddy's Market, as well as a large residential tower. The area is particularly famous for its Chinese stores, mainly in Dixon Street, selling imported clothing and homewares, Chinese herbs, and exotic foodstuffs such as pressed duck, Asian greens and dried mushrooms.
Eat
This area has an incredible range of restaurants and is one of Sydney’s best dining precincts. There are over 60 restaurants and food court stalls around Chinatown and Haymarket, offering many Chinese regional specialities, plus Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and Malaysian cuisines. Many establishments serve the ever popular yum cha, irresistible sweet and savoury snacks that are wheeled around on trolleys, generally between 10am and 2pm. For a complete contrast, visit near by Liverpool Street, where there are some excellent Spanish restaurants.
List of Resturants
- 'BBQ King
(tel 9267 2586, 18-20 Goulburn St). Entrees $4.40-8.80, mains $8.80-26. Open 11.30am-2am. As the name suggests, you come here for barbecue, and a lot of people would agree that this place is king. It's old-school, with laminex tables and folding chairs. There may be a queue, but it won't last long, and the great duck is worth the wait. Try the spinach with garlic, too.
- Lam's Seafood Restaurant
(tel 9281 2881/2, 35-7 Goulburn St, Haymarket). Entrees $4-23.80, mains $15 - market price seafood. Open noon-4am. Quick lunch? Luxurious banquet? You can do both here. Popular with locals, visitors and anyone in-between, Lam's has an extensive menu and staff who know a thing or two about getting the most out of the kitchen.
- Marigold Citymark
(tel 9281 3388, Levels 4 & 5, 683-9 George St, Haymarket). Dim sum $2.40-4.60, yum cha specials $5.70. This 800-seat yum cha palace serves lunchtime yum cha daily and has an extensive menu of other dishes. Join the hordes.
- Golden Century Seafood Restaurant
(tel 9212 3901, 393-99 Sussex St, Haymarket). Open noon-4am. With lots of fish tanks displaying your nervous-looking dinner, this place is a favourite late-night eating spot for many of Sydney's chefs and hotel workers. The flavours are exotic and engaging, the service fast and slick.
- Silver Spring
(tel 9211 2232, Level 1, 477 Pitt St, Haymarket). Entrees $5-15.80, mains $13.80-market price seafood. Open 10am-3pm (yum cha), 5.30pm-11pm (a la carte). Something of a yum cha mothership on weekends, this place offers a mind-boggling array of dishes from the a la carte menu too. Get a group together and have a feast.
- Kam Fook Shark Fin Restaurant
(tel 9211 8388, Level 3, Market City, 9 Hay St). Dishes $11 - market price seafood. Open 10am-5pm (yum cha) daily, 5.30pm-11pm Sun-Thur, until midnight Fri & Sat. This enormous place can seat about 800 people, and regularly gets filled to capacity for its yum cha sessions. Ask the waiter to recommend dishes and you'll be duly rewarded with succulent offerings. As you'd expect, shark fin is the speciality.
- Chinese Noodle Restaurant
(tel 9281 9051, Shop 7, Prince Centre, 8 Quay St). Dishes $6-8.80. At this intimate, busy eatery decorated with grapes and Persian rugs, the noodles are handmade in traditional northern Chinese style - and the crowds are glad of it.
- Emperor's Garden BBQ & Noodles
(tel 9281 9899, 213-5 Thomas St). Dishes $3.50-9. This is a popular Chinese eatery specialising in meat and poultry dishes (marinated duck tongue $6) and has a great little window area where you can choose your takeaway goodies.
- Harbour Plaza Food Court
(Cnr Dixon & Goulburn Sts, Haymarket). Dishes $5-8. Open 10am-10pm. The pagoda-style Harbour Plaza has a wide range of cheap Asian meals available.
- Market City Shopping Centre
(tel 9212 1388, Level 3, 2-13 Quay St Sydney). Dishes $3.50-10. This mammoth place has a fresh produce market on the first level, a factory outlet on the second level and more food from more places than you can imagine on the third level. You'll find Paddy's Markets and Kam Fook here too.
- Sussex Centre
(tel 401 Sussex St Sydney). Dishes $5-7. Open 9am-10pm. The food court here has a range of cheap, tasty dishes, making it a sensible choice for those who want to eat and run.
- Dixon House Food Court
(Cnr Little Hay & Dixon Sts, Haymarket). Dishes $5-8. This food court offers a selection of about 20 vendors, with low, low prices.
Sleep
There are many hotels located in the Chinatown:
- Hotel Information-The website provides information on various hotels located in the district.
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