We tried to come up with a 'top 5' but it ended in tears, there's just too many to choose from. So here's a list of our all time favourites in no particular order.
- Yee King Noodles ~ Sussex Street Chinatown ~ this is the place to find something unique and utterly delicious, skip the dumplings and salt'n'pepper stuff and explore the menu for new favourites. Try the Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Shallots - it's misleadingly named, and utterly, utterly delicious. Shawn is obssessed with this place.
- Kammadhenu ~ A delicious mix of Sri Lankan, Indian and Malaysian cuisines, we assume the dudes in charge are Sri Lankan Malaysian. We really enjoy the Sri Lankan twist on Malaysian classics as well as the dosai and the chili crab is to die for. King Street Newtown. Great beer selection too. We've eaten here too many times to remember.
- Alison digs the congee at Super Bowl in the Chinatown Dixon Street mall, sitting outside with fried bread and xo pippies. Mr Shawn prefers the congee and surreal other-worldly late night atmosphere of Golden Century. He also likes watching the fish.
- Singapore Shiok! ~ Eating World Chinatown - A simple hawker stall in Chinatown's Eating World food court does big bold Malaysian \ Singaporean street food classics, give it a whirl instead of lining up like sheep at Mamak, it's about 20 metres away from the end of the queue :-)
- Pondok Buyung ~ Anzac Parade, Kensington - Nasi Padang, as close as you can get to eating in Sumatra, run by lovely Indonesian mammas. Love it. Also check out Warung Ita in Lakemba for more goodness from Padang.
- $4 Boat Noodle Soup at Chon Siam ~ Campbell Street Chinatown/City - Chon Siam does an amazingly tasty and true $4 boat noodle soup. Lot's of Thai folks frequent this tiny little place, 'nuff said.
- Faheem's Fast Food ~ Enmore Road, Enmore - Amazing naan bread to soak up amazing Pakistani curries, a legend amongst Enmore\Newtown locals, Pakistan expats and taxi drivers.
- Every Vietnamese Joint in Marrickville - Like most Marrickville regulars we have favourite dishes in each of the great little hole in the wall Vietnamese joints, we find it is simply impossible to pick a favourite. I'm sure some folks would say the same thing about Cabrammatta, we're just too far away to get their often.
- Every Lebanese Bakery in Arncliffe - super fresh, super cheap Lebanese pizza whipped up by tops ladies.
- Asian Style Cuisine - Dixon House Food Court - Shawn is obsessed with this place. They have recently taken their Malaysian dishes off the menu but they still cook up some killer Chinese. Takes some time to dig through the menu, take a punt on something you've never tried before.
- Silk Road - one of the best Chinese restaurants in Sydney, everything we've had has been a winner.
- All the Turkish grill joints in Auburn - Auburn is our favourite cultural melting pot, it has a great vibe on a weekend afternoon. Follow the smoke and crowds to any of the Turkish grill joints such as Sofra, New Star Kebab and Gozde Cafe - follow it up with amazing Turkish desserts at Mado Cafe.
Recent discoveries...
Places we have been to lately and were wrapped in but haven't had a chance to return as much as we would like to...
- Kisaragi Ramen ~ Dixon House Food Court - A specialist ramen stall, soup that takes us straight back to Japan.
- Sydney Uighur Cuisine - the stir fried beef and bread nuggets is to die for. We hope the Surry Hills crowd take to it.
- Fiesta Filipino - feast Philippines style in Blacktown.
After something a bit different?
- ATL Marantha in Kensington (+ new shop in Ultimo) or Rumah Makan Immanuel in Ultimo for amazing Indonesian soft boned chicken.
- Malacca Straits in Broadway\Ultimo for BYO Singapore chili crab, it's fun buying your own crab and Chef Tan is a master.
- Kambozza in Parramatta for most interesting Burmese dishes, we reckon the smaller snack sized dishes are the best, buy a few and sample a pile of stuff that's very hard to find.
- El Cuervo Cantina - this Mexican cantina in Enmore gets very mixed reviews. The food is billed as Mexican by Mexican people, it's very different to your regular tex mex, and the service can get a bit Faulty Towers, some folks love it, some folks don't. We had a great time there - love the beer selection and live music.
- Chin Yip Coffee Lounge - wacky Hong Kong cafe food and eighties decor upstairs in Dixon House. We love it!
- Kung Fu Ramen - tacky name but amazing noodles, freshly hand pulled in front of your eyes to order, the beef skewars are also very popular. We prefer the George Street shop but it's closed for renovations at the time of listings, their other shop is round the corner in Thomas Street\Ultimo Road.
