Chinatown Restaurants, Sydney

Dixon Restaurant is a place we stumbled upon. We were walking up through Chinatown when this place was SO much more crowded than the others and with Asians mostly. So this meant we decided to check out the menu and sit down.

It is said that the Chinese cuisine, particularly the Yum Cha/Dim Sum are up with the best in the world - ie next to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, that is Southern China where the reputation for fine food has been renowned.

WE ended up at The Marigold which was always one of the well regarded before my 7 years away in Europe and the range and quality of the Dim Sum served to us was still excellent and absolutely enjoyed!
Its a little more up in price since Ive been away but for the $20 each person our 10 or so selections plus rice and tea came to - about £8 per person - thats great value for money!

Favorite Dish: Prawn dumplings, vegetable dumplings, any dumplings!, bok choy with oyster sauce, and the coconut jelly was still wow! Weve not usually had barbecued pork when having Yum Cha but it was offered and it was a delicious accompaniment as was the Jasmine Tea.

Haymarket - Chinatown

Emperors Garden Seafood - 213 Thomas Street - Chinese - 92819899

Goldren Century - 393 Sussex Street - Chinese - 92123901*For Food

Red Chilli - 51 Dixon Street - Chinese - 92118122

Marigold - Level 4 683 George Street - Chinese - 92813388 - Great Yum Cha **For Food

Dragon Star Seafood - Level 3 Market City - Chinese - 92118988

Silver Spring - 477 Pitt Street - Chinese - 92112232

Staying in Chinatown Sydney last week was great. (Definitely not the hotel) It’s a short walk to the city center and buses and cabs are everywhere so you don’t spend your holiday waiting, and the food!

One night after a late nap we awoke around 10.00pm a little hungry. Since we were in Chinatown a small something with rice was decided upon, you know no song and dance just a snack. Well, ……. We walked around the streets and came across this restaurant that was packed and had twenty plus people waiting just to get in. Curiosity, and being told we could not get in for at least half an hour was just to much and we just had to see what all the fuss was about.

Favorite Dish: We left after midnight. I had Peking duck by myself, which was fantastic and Caroline, had vegetarian rice as planned. The menu is amazing, with an incredible array of fresh seafood. Looking at the large crab and fish meals arriving at the tables around us made the wait well worth while.

I should warn you that upstairs is a bit full on, with ‘Happy Birthday’ blasted at you over the speakers every few minutes. I was also told that they are open to 4am, so in the wee hours when band members and drunk footballers decide they need to eat, it can be entertaining.

Well worth the visit and next time I will go when I am hungry and have seafood.

If you are looking for the best Yum Cha in Sydney, go straight to the Regal Restaurant in Chinatown.

The decor is beautiful - open and airy with chandeliers and crisp white tablecloths.

The food is AMAZING. Lots of steamed dumplings with prawns, scallops, different sorts of vegetables, pork; spring rolls; assorted dim sims, fried calamari, etc. The desserts too are very good.

This place is always packed, so it's probably a good idea to make a reservation or you might be waiting for a table.

Favorite Dish: It's a toss up between the vegetable dumplings and the steamed prawn dumplings. They're just so fresh, flavoursome and melt in the mouth.

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This is probably the busiest Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. There always seems to be huge queues at the door, which you don't see at any of the neighbouring restaurants. We decided to try out this restaurant, there were 13 of us, so we phoned for a reservation. We were told the earliest table would be at 9.30pm. A bit late for dinner for us, but nevertheless, we went ahead with the booking. When we got to the restaurant we had to fight our way through the crowds at the door to let the receptionist know we had arrived for our booking. Unfortunately, their booking system doesn't mean that having booked a table for 9.30pm guarantees a table for that time, so we ended up waiting an hour before we got our table. But it was well worth the wait! The seafood was fresh, they will bring over the live seafood to your table, before they cook your it, informing you of the weight of the seafood that you'll be paying for. There is a large variety of seafood to choose from, all visible from the fishtanks located at the front of the restaurant. We really wanted to try the King Crabs, they looked huge, but they worked out very pricey, so we settled for snow and mud crabs instead. One of the crab dishes we had was cooked in a salt and pepper batter - that was my favourite! I can understand now why there are always queues for this place!

Favorite Dish: Me and hubby went back to this restaurant again, just the 2 of us this time, a few days later. We went past at 8pm, and as usual, there were huge queues, so we opted to see a film first, then went back at 11pm where the queues had disappeared and we got our table as soon as we arrived. This time, we decided to try the Australian lobster, sharing a 1.1kg lobster cooked in spring onion and ginger sauce with a noodle base and we also had one baby abalone each. The lobster was lovely! The flesh was very succulent, much nicer than the lobsters we have back in the UK. Even though it worked out quite expensive, it was a good experience!

I definitely recommend this restaurant, but as you've probably gathered, either be very patient to get a table or avoid the peak eating hours (the retaurant is open up until 4am in the morning!!!).

Like any Chinese restaurant, don't expect a candle lit ambiance, instead imagine a smorgasboard of yummy food brought around using food trolleys with a casual atmosphere and with the gold and red trimmings.

Yum Cha or dim sum in Sydney is certainly a gastronimical experience not be missed. I've got to agree with my Chinese friends from Hong Kong that it's one of the best in the world!

Favorite Dish: Here's my usual order (meant to be shared) when I'm having dim sum regardless of restaurant.

- Pork dumplings (siew mai or siomai as it is called in Manila)
- Prawn dumplings (Har gaw or Ha Kao)
- Chicken feet
- BBQ bun (Char Siew Pao or asado siopao to Filipinos)
- Salt and Pepper squid
- Egg tart (Tan tart) for dessert

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I ate at Nine Dragons Chinese Restaurant one evening during my visit to Sydney in April 2006.

This restaurant is located on Dixon Street, right in the heart of Sydney's busy "Chinatown" district. You can sit at one of the numerous outdoor tables and watch the flurry of activity pass you by. Alternatively, you can eat in the restaurant's spacious interior. It was a warm night, so I chose to eat outside.

The extensive menu includes soups, appetizers, pork, chicken, lamb, beef, seafood and vegetarian stir frys and curries, rice and noodle dishes (such as chow mein and Singapore noodles).

There is also a special menu (costing just 15 AUD per person), which includes a soup, a choice of main dish (from a selection of various stir frys and curries) and a choice of either fried rice or noodles. Unfortunately, this offer only applies if there are at least 2 people eating, and I was dining alone.

The staff were rushed off their feet with it being a popular restaurant, but the service wasn't unduly slow in the circumstances.

Favorite Dish: I opted for:

Stir fried chicken with rice noodles - Cost: 12 AUD

Tender pieces of chicken in a stir fry sauce with carrots, mushrooms, brocolli and green leaves. Served with a large portion of thick rice noodles.

425ml Victoria Bitter - Cost: 4.80 AUD

Average Chinese food at average prices in the very heart of Sydney's Chinatown.