Sydney Restaurant Tips by hailun

Restaurant Name: Uighur

A great new restaurant has opened in China Town Sydney's Dixon Street. It is a Uighur restaurant. Uighur are an ethnic minority in north-west China / Central Asia. They are from Xinjiang Province, China. The religion is Muslim.

The Uighurs are famous for their unique noodles. The noodles are made on the spot, and can be served with finely chopped vegetables, lamb and chili, or in various ways. There are soups with pasta, kebabs, other meat dishes, etc etc. It is Muslim food.

Favorite Dish: The Noodle dishes - they are hard to describe, but are even more delicious than Italian and Chinese noodles (if that is possible !!).

The soups are also delicious.

They serve hot tea with the meal.

The prices are low, but the servings are HUGE. Go with an empty stomach, because it is hard to finish the meal.

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Theme: Kosher/Halal
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Dixon Street, Sydney's China Town
Directions: Sydney's China Town.

Restaurant Name: Mamma's Kitchen

A busy little restaurant with outside tables, inside tables, and an upstairs room for functions or large groups.

They have bruschetta, herb & garlic bread, salads and potato wedges amongst the entrees. For main meals, there is a very large selection of pastas of various styles with various sauces, and both vegetarian and meat dishes. There are also some seafoood dishes.

There is also an extensive dessert menu, as well as coffees.

Favorite Dish: Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli in Pesto sauce, Vegetarian Lasagna, Baby Octopus Linguini, Beef Canneloni, Fettucini Boscaiola, Fettucini Carbonara.

There is a large variety of non-pasta Italian dishes too - but I usually opt for a pasta dish!

Prices are good, and the food is piled high !! For a 3 course meal, it probably costs around $20 - $30 Australian each, depending on what you order, of course.

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Liverpool St, Sydney (b/n George and Sussex Sts)
Directions: A short walk from Town Hall Train Station.

Restaurant Name: The Caribbean Hideaway

The restaurant is colourful, happy, festive, musical and fun!! There are dishes from all over the Caribbean. After you have finished the meal, the waiters hand out musical instruments which you are encouraged to play. The reggae is played, and everyone is encouraged to dance. Sometimes the manager will ask you for a dance -- especially if it is your birthday !!

Favorite Dish: Try a bit of everything by ordering the banquet specials.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Glebe, and Parramatta
Directions: Glebe is in the inner city, and Parramatta is in the western suburbs.
Website: try the name of the restaurant itself

Restaurant Name: Incas

This restuaurant is in Enmore / Newtown in Sydney's inner west. The restaurant is very cosy. The food is freshly prepared once it is ordered. The food is delicious. There are vegetarian meals, as well as meals with meat. There is a delicious dessert menu, too. They also have music.

Favorite Dish: A lot of the dishes involved potato or rice. Everything that I tasted was delicious. They also serve delicious fruit frappes : try the mango or strawberry.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: 94 Enmore Road, Enmore
Directions: not far from the Enmore Theatre

Restaurant Name: Encasa

Encasa offers authentic and delicious Spanish cuisine. It caters for large groups by offering good value set menu banquets, as well as a la carte.

If you have a large group, it is probably best to make a booking, because it is a very popular lunch and dinner spot.

Favorite Dish: The potato dishes, chili prawns, mushrooms, vegetarian pizza, meatballs, ..... all delicious!!

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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 9211 4257
Address: 427 Pitt Street, Sydney
Directions: Not far from Central Station.

Restaurant Name: Don Quixote

Even the front doors make you feel like you are about to walk into a restaurant in the heart of Spain!

There was a large selection of meals, including tapas.

The food was delicious.

Bookings may not be essential, but the restaurant was certainly filling up quickly on Saturday night, so, it might be wise.

Also, you can get the resaturant to validate your parking, (if you parked at the nearby Parking Station) and the parking will cost you only $7 all day for a Saturday. It is a great saving on the parking.

Favorite Dish: My friend and I ate vegetarian selections from the tapas menu : pimientos, ensalada, Catalan bread, patatas bravas. All were delicious. I finished my meal off with cheesecake and mango ice cream.

There were also many meals containing meat, and seafood on offer.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 9264 5903
Address: 545 Kent St (near cnr with Liverpool St) Sydney
Directions: Part of the Spanish Quarter. Not far from Town Hall Station, and China Town.
Website: www.donquixoterestaurant.com.au

Restaurant Name: The Italian Village

The setting of the restaurant is perfect for a warm evening. We had an outside table with a splendid view of the Sydney Harbour.

The waiters were friendly, and the food was nicely presented and tasty. I ordered the gnocchi con pollo and a side order of bocconcini and sliced tomato. For dessert, I had lemon creme brulee with almond biscuits.

And let's not forget my wonderful company for the evening : none other than VT members aussiedoug (from Sydney), BerniShand (from England) and her husband Carl, better known as Camcorderman! It was a splendid evening!

Open 7 days per week from noon until midnight.

Favorite Dish: I cannot go past the pasta dishes.

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: 7 Cicular Quay West, The Rocks, Sydney
Directions: Head to Circular Quay, and the restaurant is not far from Doyles Restaurant and the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
Website: http://www.italianvillage.com.au

Restaurant Name: Chilli Cha Cha Thai Restaurant

This is a simple restaurant with authentic Thai food, which is busy because of its very good food and relatively low prices. They have dine-in, delivery and take away options. The menu is in both Thai and English.

The food is fresh and the restaurant is clean. As the name "Chili Cha Cha" may suggest or invoke, there is "chili" red decor.

It is probably slightly less expensive than average for a restaurant. The prices are probably equal to meals you can buy at food-courts, but in the restaurant, you have more comfort and less crowding and noise than the food court seating.

Favorite Dish: I like the Duck Noodle Soup with Flat Rice Noodles ($9 AUD), and the coconut juice ($2.50 AUD) the best.

You have the option of selecting from a variety of noodles such as egg noodles, vermicelli, Hokkien, and rice noodles.

The restaurant offers entree, soups, BBQ, Thai Salads, Curries, Stir Fried dishes, Noodles, Rice dishes, Seafood, Fish and also vegetarian options.

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Theme: Pan-Asian and Pacific Rim
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 9211 2025
Address: Shop 462 / 40-50 Campbell Street, Sydney
Directions: near the corner with (323) Castlereagh Street Sydney. Near Haymarket.

A short walk from Central Train Station and Belmore Park.

Restaurant Name: Happy Inn

This restaurant has been recently refurbished. They won a local Restuarant of the Year award in 2007, and deservedly so. There are large round tables for large groups and typical banquet style Chinese eating, and smaller table settings for 2-4 people. The staff are friendly and can advise you on whether they believe you are making the "error" of ordering more than you can finish. The food is tasty and excellent. The interior design of the restaurant is clean, enjoyable and roomy.

This really is an outstanding restaurant, and the prices are good and affordable. You certainly get your money's worth, considering the amount of food they serve you. What you cannot finish, you can ask to take-away.

Favorite Dish: I have many favourite dishes from this restaurant. To name a few, I love the steamed whole fish in soy, ginger & garlic. I love the Mongolian Lamb, the Combination Chow Mein, the BBQ Pork in Plum Sauce, the beef in black bean. The soups such as Short Soup and Long Soup are delicious. They vegetable dishes (especially the bok choy) are tasty too. They seem to have removed another favourite of mine off the menu - the Hot & Sour soup. What a pity!

They serve a LOT of food in each dish, so keep that in mind!

I always enjoy going to this restaurant, and usually go on special occasions, such as birthdays.

Cavite_Cowboy and I celebrated our joint birthdays at this restaurant on 21.10 See his Australia page for his perspective :-)

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Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: + 61 2 47315352
Address: 401 High Street, PENRITH
Directions: High Street is the main street of Penrith. Penrith is 1 hour west of Central Train Station/Sydney, and it is at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
Website: www.happyinn.com.au
Other Contact: Manager is Vincent Wong

Restaurant Name: Blackbird Cafe

This is a very busy, large restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and a bar. The food on offer is a variety, including pizzas and pastas and salads.

The food is nice, but sometimes the staff seem so run off their feet (and that is when small mistakes with orders can happen). They seem a bit frantic sometimes.

The water views of Darling Harbour of the outside seating is very nice.

Favorite Dish: We shared a delicious pizza, some panini with olive paste for entree which was delicious, and a salad.

The food was delicious.

The prices were about average taking into consideration the type of food and the location.

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: +61 2 9283 7385
Address: Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Directions: There are a number and variety of restaurants and bars along Cockle Bay Wharf at Darling Harbour.
Website: www.blackbirdcafe.com.au