Sydney - Great food around Central Station / Chippendale
On a recent trip we stayed in Sydney, and because the public transit is so good, we decided to pick a location a little off the beaten path. So not around Darling Harbor, The Rocks, or close to Circular Quay. Instead we stayed just off Central Station in Chippendale, right across from the University of Technology Sydney.
Travel like Just Been There
A few days in Sydney can look like this:
- The Bridge, Opera House, The Rocks - try to catch the market on a weekend, Darling Harbor and much more...
- Take the ferries to Manly as it is a great boat ride and the beach is nice (special tip below for those shoppers amongst us)
- Enjoy the great food, which is the main topic of this post
Just Been There Art
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| Bugs |
Where to Eat?
So many places, how can you choose. Well like I said, we stayed in Chippendale, just off central station. Here are some of finds, ranging from nice, date night like Tapas to sushi on the go...
Breakfast spots:
We very much loved Little Spoon, right off Chippendale Green... the place is real pretty, amazing looks and coffee and the food are excellent. Bring a news paper or a book and enjoy a bunch of their treats. We did breakfast and it was excellent. It was so excellent that I am repeating the word 3 times in 3 sentences. This is really a hidden gem, and oh, the service was amazing. Loved the Macha and the Coffee...
A bit on the opposite scale in terms of pretty... but we loved Breadtop Haymarket for it's bread, coffee, hot tea and just the convenience of dropping in and grabbing a hug variety of bread things... You can find them across Australia, and like I said, not as pretty as Little Spoon, their coffee was quite good. If you order for there, it comes in real cups and they a good job on their pretty drinks. Oh, and how can one resist that spam and egg bun...
The next one, we are still debating whether this is a breakfast place or lunch or something else... we loved grabbing sushi rolls at Sushi Hub. It is right next door to Breadtop, so it was a continuous tug of war when we walked by... where to go... And yes, we know, it is a chain... but imagine arriving in the morning in Sydney on an international flight, getting off the train and walking past this place... it will be a great meal. Trust all of us on this one...
Lunch and / or Dinner:
Ok, it is a bit of a chain restaurant, but we stumbled in after watching a game (in the somewhat between lunch and dinner time) and we really enjoyed their sushi. It is called Sushi Train Surry Hills, find their website here. And while you are here, and not in the mood for Sushi, lots of other interesting places around Surry Hills.
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| Fun Architecture in Chippendale |
Closer to home, eh, Chippendale, we head dinner at The Bowls - Central Park. It really is that, it serves casual asian food in bowls. And since it had Rendang, that was my obvious choice. And it was quite tasty, but once you have been to Indonesia, it is hard to find that killer Rendang. Nevertheless, good place for a casual, nice asian dish.
Next up: Spice Alley... this alley (duh) has tons of asian (and some other flavor) restaurants, serving casual fare with a beer / drinks station at the end.
It is likely because you are close to Indonesia, but this is the first time in over 25 years I have found a Beer Bintang to drink. So my Spice Alley was already complete at the start...
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| Beer Bintang!! |
If the drinks aren't enough, there are a few bars and casual drinks places, as well as some more high end places... One of the places we hung out at (and watched some games) was Bar Broadway, just on, you guessed it... Broadway. Their food isn't bad either btw. Just in case you get hungry during that game watching.
Our favorite however, and the more "date night place" mentioned earlier is Paripe - a really small Tapas place right in Chippendale. We loved their food, and seeing the 4.9 star rating on Google, more people do. The "Grilled Octopus Leg ..." was amazing. Loved the Boquerones. Had a nice glass of wine and finished off other things including the Paripe Iberico platter, and of course we finished with Churros (oh and another dessert, because, why not!). Now, the place is not cheap... traveling around northern Spain is a lot more cost effective, but if you are in Sydney, stop by... you'll love this place.
Dessert:
Well, when in Chippendale, you should very much stop by Anita Gelato... It is on the "wrong side" of the mall, so don't miss it...
Now, I am not a big ice cream fan, but the reviews were rave... everyone enjoyed their ice cream a lot. The shop is also very pretty, and yes, they do serve coffees, so I got my treat as well. We thought it was a local shop, but they appear to be "worldwide", with locations in the US, Europe, Israel and down under...
Some other good reasons to stay here?
Moore Park is a few stops with the light rail or a pleasant 25 minute walk. It is home to the Allianz football stadium, the Sydney Cricket Ground and just a lot of grass to hang out on. You are also a short walk away from China town and Darling Harbor. So, this is actually surprisingly central. And since Central Station is right there, you can easily go to the main attractions (2-3 stops on the train), and it is a short jump to the airport.
Shopping tip!!
As promised, a shopping tip... when in Manly, get a cool Ozzie t-shirt or some surf ware, and get it from a locally owned brand and store: Okanui.
We kind of bumbled into the store and ended up chatting with the owner for quite some time. It felt like we were locals shopping at our neighbors' store... and you will walk away with some pretty unique stuff that you won't just buy in any store in the US, Europe or Japan...
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| Amazing but cheap views! |
Oh and the other interesting thing about taking the ferry to Manly, it is a relatively cheap boat ride with some amazing views. Just hop either the public ferry (slightly cheaper) or the private one on Circular Quay.
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