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Overview
I spent two weeks here while meeting and spending time with distant family. We were able to do a mix of “touristy” things and visiting lots of different suburbs and neighborhoods, which gave me a deep appreciation for this city! We had mobility limitations in our party, but there was still quite a lot to see.
Here are a few random things I loved about Sydney:
Notes and Things
- The transit is PRETTY GOOD! when its running. Yes, the double-decker trains seem a little slow and the signage is confusing until you learn how it works, but the bar is low coming from New York. The timetables are factual and the trains/buses/ferries come relatively often. Also, they have comfy movable seats.
- I noticed very New-York esque train maintenance schedules, but it seems well-run regardless and covers a large portion of the city quite reliably. They have very helpful workers guiding ppl to train replacement shuttles and carrying luggage when the lifts are down.
- The playgrounds are massive. This has no impact on me as an adult, but I love seeing how absolutely bonkers the jungle gyms are. Modern American parents could never
- The food!! This city is so asian and the diversity and quality of food reflects that. There are so many different neighborhoods with entrenched cuisines and they are all. damn. tasty. New York does not have the same quality of vietnamese, indonesian, filipino, malaysian food and certainly not the quality of seafood unless you shell out $$$. maybe thai...
- There are public restrooms everywhere, and they are all well maintained. We visited so many public bathrooms.
- The beaches and coastal walks. The water is pristine, the beaches are lovely, and they have grassy fields near them which just makes sense and uh do we have this anywhere in the U.S.? Also some parks have public-use beanbags like a muji but outside
Visiting? Take note…
- Most restaurants have a card surcharge, usually 1-3% but sometimes 5% and up to even 10% for popular restaurants. In addition, most restaurants have a Sunday surcharge and a few even had Saturday/all-weekend charges.
- Pay your bill at the front/cashier!
- Transport is really easy with train, bus, and ferry. I found the Opal Travel app to be better at directions than Google Maps, and really powerful for planning trips especially in the future since it knows when train lines stop running and such. In addition, Didi and Uber are both common here for carsharing.
Navigation
⛵🚣♂️🌅Overview🥘🍲 Eating through Sydney 🍛🍜Cabramatta - VietnameseStrathfield, Lidcombe - KoreanSurrey Hill - AussieChinatown (Central), Burwood, AshfieldMascot - Indonesian, MalaysianMiscellaneous🏃⛰️🍿 Go do stuff 🏃⛰️🍿Beaches and Coastal WalksNational Parks and Scenic AreasCity CircleTaronga ZooSydney Fish MarketShopping
🥘🍲 Eating through Sydney 🍛🍜
Cabramatta - Vietnamese
Cabramatta (Cabra) is a neighborhood in Western Sydney, about an hour out by train from the inner city and known as Little Saigon due to its high Vietnamese population.
Cabra is packed with great Vietnamese food, snacks, and drinks, along with open markets for fish, meats, and vegetables. I loved walking around and eating everything in sight, including:
- Ube and pandan waffles / drinks
- Taro and other assorted sesame balls, mochi balls, & many many baked goods
- Sugarcane juice
- Banh Canh Cua (crab-based tapioca drop noodle soup)
- Crispy pork (belly) banh mi
If you’re able to, I would also look into grabbing yum-cha (dim sum) at Cabra-Vale Diggers Club, which was recommended to me.
Strathfield, Lidcombe - Korean
Strathfield is relatively small, but has some of the best Korean food in Sydney. We had all-you-can-eat korean bbq here at Butcher’s Buffet and it was glorious (although yes, they have multiple locations.)
Thisneighborhood also has mandoo (The Mandoo) and ice cream (Duo Duo), the latter of which serves both “normal” and fried ice cream.
Lidcombe appears to be quite korean as well if you need more korean food.
Surrey Hill - Aussie
Surrey Hill is located centrally in Sydney and is home to a ton of hotels and hip cafes and restaurants for brunch and dinner.
We only got to visit A.P. Bakery, which has its main location (A.P. House) on the rooftop of a hotel and a takeaway location (A.P. Supply) down the street with a few specialty offerings, including a variety of cream puffs. Try a mix of sweet and savory (the smoked brisket pie is tasty as heck.)
Other places recommended to me include..
- Chin Chin - A “Melbourne institution” serving modern Asian fusion cuisine
- Zushi - Japanese sushi / omakase! And other things if you’d rather.
- Rivareno Gelato, Gelato Messina - two different gelato spots :) I went to Rivareno and loved the banoffee (banana coffee) flavor.
Chinatown (Central), Burwood, Ashfield
Sydney is home to a large Chinese population. Although there is a Chinatown in the city circle / central area, I would recommend venturing out west to Burwood and Ashfield to find the best Chinese food. This is purely based on reddit and not any real experience, since the food I had in central chinatown was fairly standard and unremarkable.
We visited a few spots in Chinatown for snacks, and also walked over to Darling Square to chill.
Mascot - Indonesian, Malaysian
Mascot is home to a large number of Chinese and Indonesian immigrants. We had our favorite Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine here, including Sam Po Malaysian (incredibly tender hainanese chicken and beef rendeng) and Tera Java (a casual spot for large portions of rice meal sets, spare ribs, intense , and overly sweetened drinks 😭)
For Laksa, I would probably recommend finding another spot. The Assam Laksa at Sam Po was delicate and tasty, but a little underwhelming compared to the quality of their other dishes.
Miscellaneous
- We had a kangaroo steak at Meat District Co, which was surprisingly tasty (tender, lean, and rich beefy flavor.) You can also get emu steak and crocodile if you search for it…
- We visited Doodee King in the Darling Quarter. Pretty good thai.
- More recommendations from friends!
- Three Blue Ducks in Rosebery. Looks tasty.
- Jasmin1 in Auburn. Lebanese.
- Metro One Kabab in Ashfield. “HSP” (Halal snack pack)
- Happy Chef Noodle in Haymarket. Laksa
🏃⛰️🍿 Go do stuff 🏃⛰️🍿
Beaches and Coastal Walks
The beaches in Sydney are incredibly nice. In addition to having excellent surf waves and crystal clear waters, they maintain a variety of social spaces (sand, grassy areas occasionally with beanbags, ice cream and food zones) and are often situated along coastal walks which showcase the beauty of the Pacific coast.
- Bondi Beach and Coastal Walk: Incredible walk. We had a great fish and chips at Fishmonger’s in Bondi, and I would also recommend checking out Uncut Seafood Delicatessen for super fresh, quality seafood. This was probably one of my favorite locations on this trip.
- Spit to Manly Walk: Another beautiful beach and walk, which we didn’t get to do. Recommend walking towards Manly cuz it looks nicer and has more transport options out. Alternatively, you can take a ferry to Watson, grab some fish and chips, and then ferry over to Manly Beach directly.
National Parks and Scenic Areas
- Blue Mountains National Park: Blue Mountains is accessible by public train (two hours from Central to Leura or Katoomba.)
- Online you’ll find recommendations to visit Scenic World, which can be visited via short shuttle bus from Katoomba and offers three different experiences — a skyline, railway, and tram.
- Hot take: Not worth it! The lines are long at Scenic World even on weekdays, and the rides and provided trails are not super interesting. I would recommend planning your own itinerary visiting some of the Falls, Echo Point, trails etc. on your own and then having food and checking out shops in Leura.
- Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park: Didn’t go, but looks like a lovely place to hike or paddle out into the water. North of Sydney.
- Royal National Park: See above. Didn’t go, but this is the oldest NP in Australia. You can go paragliding at Stanwell Tops if that’s your thing.
City Circle
The city circle encompasses the central area of Sydney, including…
- Sydney Opera House: What Sydney is known for. It’s a lovely building and depending on the season, you can go book tickets for theater, music, mainstream concerts, and lots of other things. Bar has an excellent view of the water.
- Royal Botanical Gardens: Right by the opera house and free.
- Museums: The Museum of Contemporary Art offers modern art and has an excellent view in the top floor cafe, while the Art Gallery of new South Wales offers indigenous art.
- Harbours: Sydney hosts a number of nice harbours, so it can be nice to just walk around Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, and the Rocks.
- George St: Poppin’ place. The Event Cinemas there always has something going on. We happened upon a Hong Kong film festival here and went to see a film there with a special Q&A from a ~real movie star~
- Cruises: Book a cruise! If you’re looking for something a little bougie, you can book Captain Cook lunch and dinner cruises. These are massive boats that serve you a seated meal.
- You can also book a Sydney Tall Ship cruise, which is just riding an old sailing ship around and getting a little meal (no assigned seating/tables.) That’s totally different but the crew was very fun and kind on that one.
Taronga Zoo
People love this zoo! I appreciate the whole experience of taking a ferry to get there, and all the animals are well-taken care of. There are regular talks throughout the day, although the Seal show is the main attraction. I mean, you get to see sleeping koalas, kangaroos, dingos, red pandas, giraffes, tiny monkeys, sometimes the chimpanzees get into fights… what more do you need??
Sydney Fish Market
This is a tourist hotspot for grabbing fresh seafood, including local oysters and New Zealand green bay mussels (please get these.)
There used to be a buffet restaurant on the second floor. Just avoid anything sitting under a heat lamp and you’ll be okay.
Shopping
Compared to Melbourne, Sydney apparently has less going on in terms of arts and culture. However, I still enjoyed exploring the city and finding places for prints, ceramics, and ~things~.
Newtown is kind of a hectic hippie neighborhood that has good brunch/lunch spots and lots of local artist craft shops and clothing thrift stores. I bought lots of gifts, knick-knacks, and a cross-body bag from places like Hands, Monsterthreads, Artistans’ Nest, and Blue Dog Posters and Prints.
There are also regular artisan markets that happen within Sydney, such as the Bondi Markets, Kirribilli Markets, Paddington Markets, The Rocks Market, etc. If you’re in the area, they can have some nice pickups. Look up specialty markets like Sydney Made for more curated selections <3
If you are into small press publishing, Wolfbound Books is doing wonderful community work in the zine space and hosts monthly open days and appointment-based hours. Other Worlds, Rizzeria Mini Zine Fair, and Western Sydney Zine Fair are all events that happen throughout the year and feature local books and zinesters.
Also, there are malls here. Lots and lots of malls.