5 Cheap Eats in Sydney You Can Try

Roti at Mamak Haymarket - Credit: Mamak Haymarket

Dining out in Sydney can be a fancy (and expensive) affair. But there are plenty of delicious options for those on a budget, from bulging burgers and loaded banh mi sandwiches to cheap-as-chips dumplings and drool-worthy roti canai.

1) Mamak

If you have joined the line at Chinatown’s Mamak, you – like everyone else – are most likely here for the famous roti. Served either sweet (served with freshly sliced bananas and ice-cream or pandan and coconut) or savoury (accompanied by curry dips and spicy sambal), the signature is the roti canai. All are mouth-wateringly cooked to perfection: crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Head to the Chatswood or Parramatta branches to avoid the crowds.
Where: Chinatown

2) VN Street Foods

VN Street Foods, Marrickville

Other Vietnamese delights in the neighbourhood include VN Street Foods, known for its Vietnamese meal boxes, which you order on cleverly-designed wipeable menus and customise to yours tastes: sit down on a plastic hair and choose your preferred rice, main, vegetable, salad and soup. It’s hard not to get stumped by the many options available, but whatever you choose, it’s guaranteed to be fresh and flavourful.
Where: Marrickville

3) Xi’an Cuisine

Noodles at Xi'an Cuisine in Chinatown - Credit: Nick Shi

Boasting several pages worth of eats you’d typically find in China’s Shaanxi Province, this gem is hidden away on a side street of Chinatown. The biang biang noodles are the signature dish – visit any day of the week and you should be able to spot a table or two of visitors slurping enormous bowls filled to almost overflowing with ribbon-wide noodles. The rou jia mo – also knows as Chinese burgers – are also a hit.
Where: Chinatown

4) Cairo Takeaway

Cairo Takeaway, Enmore

Hesham El Masry is the brains behind this no-frills eatery serving Egyptian street food on a little corner of Enmore Road. His aim: to acquaint Australians with the food that he grew up with and remembers so fondly. Think falafel, charcoal meats, salads, dips, pita wraps and much more (including slow-cooked breakfast fava beans and freshly squeezed cane juice in the mornings).
Where: Enmore

5) Mr Chen Beef Noodle

beef noodles at Mr Chen Beef Noodle, Chinatown -

Credit: Natarsha Brown Henrietta

Chef Gary Yuen heads up the kitchen at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant. And he sure knows what he’s doing when it comes to slinging and hand stretching noodles – they’re all made fresh on site, and windows into the kitchen give you a glimpse of the action. Needless to say, the beef noodles are the most popular, but other versions come topped with pickled cabbage, pork-and-chicken wontons and slow-cooked beef brisket.
Where: Chinatown