Sydney’s Chinese food ceiling! Good Food selects the top ten famous stores, with check-in guide

This article is reproduced from the WeChat public account: Sydney Today

Some people say they don’t like Chinese food, and most likely they just haven’t tasted many authentic Chinese delicacies. Chinese food far surpasses other cuisines in terms of heritage, diversity and ingenuity.

Nowadays, Sydney has long bid farewell to the era when only honey-glazed prawns were the main attraction. Sichuan restaurants and large-scale Cantonese restaurants, Chongqing noodle shops, and Xinjiang skewers shops can be seen in the streets and alleys. This change is really gratifying.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg in the delicate Chinese food world. There are many high-quality Chinese food restaurants that are not included in the food app Good Food.

But I hope this list can provide you with some inspiration for booking a Chinese New Year family dinner in the coming weeks.

Grandfathers, CBD

In the history of Sydney dining, which Chinese restaurant has a full fish tank but does not stock fresh seafood?

This underground restaurant, jointly built by Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and Andy Tyson (who created Pellegrino 2000 and Clam Bar), hides a live fish tank in the back kitchen. The fish tank in the dining area is full of tropical ornamental fish.

This is not the only amazing thing about this restaurant: the cabbage pickled in red oil and the fungus soaked in black vinegar have a rich and mellow taste; the squab is slow-cooked and fried until golden brown, and is sprinkled with five-spice salt to enhance the taste after serving. The immersive dining experience and amazing taste of the dishes made this store quickly become popular once it opened.

Address: Angel Place, Sydney

Official website:grandfathers.com

Lee Ho Fook, CBD

In 2013, the first store of Li Haofu Restaurant opened in Melbourne. At that time, it set off a revolution in Chinese food in a low-key manner.

Chinese-American chef Victor Liong has dug deep into his Chinese culinary heritage and integrated his experience in high-end restaurants in Sydney to create refreshing and creative Chinese food.

In September 2025, Victor Liong finally opened in Sydney. The store launched tasting packages, as well as ceiling-level shrimp toast.

Here, you can ignite your curiosity about creative Chinese dishes and taste the surprises of new recipes of old dishes; you can experience high-end and exquisite Chinese cuisine, or indulge in home-cooked delicacies – Fujian fried rice with XO sauce filled with swimming crab sauce, paired with fresh seafood, you will be addicted in one bite.

Address: 203 Castlereagh Street, Sydney

Official website: porterhouseprecinct.com.au

Grape Garden，Potts Point

Lobby manager Ecca Zhang is one of the reasons why diners come back to this family-owned Chinese restaurant in Kings Cross again and again: He is cheerful, warm-hearted, and knowledgeable about the dishes. He always allows diners to put aside the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a pleasant dining time.

And the food is another big reason.

The owners are a couple from Beijing. The two hand-stretched noodles are paired with minced meat and rich soup to make authentic dandan noodles. The thin-skin dumplings are boiled or fried and dipped in the store’s homemade balsamic vinegar and fragrant Sichuan chili oil, which is full of flavor.

Address: Shop 3, 2/14 Bayswater Road, Potts Point

Official website: grapegardenbeijingcuisine.com

Yan，Wolli Creek

This store is located on the first floor of a high-density apartment building. Unless you make a special trip, people who come to Wolli Creek for a walk on the weekend will most likely not notice it. But it has captured the hearts of a large number of local diners – just because diners can tell once they taste it that the cooking here is top-notch.

“Yan” means “smoke” in Chinese. Chef Ewa Goralewski sticks to this theme and creates a variety of smoky-flavored dishes: smoked prawns, with progressive flavors; smoked beef short ribs sliced ​​on top of freshly fried kale, rich in taste. The dark walnut wood seats and soft lighting make the dining area feel much warmer than the apartment building where it is located. The attentive service of the owner Narada Kudinar makes this warmth even better.

Address: G03/19 Arncliffe Street, Wolli Creek

Official website: yanrestaurant.com.au

Golden Sands, Hurstville

This local long-established Chinese restaurant is hidden upstairs in Hurstville Times Plaza. After the Sunshine Seafood Restaurant closed in 2021, it has become the undisputed king of tea drinking in the area.

The steamed pork ribs and siomai have authentic and precise taste; the roast goose with golden skin has juicy and sweet meat. It is a classic dish for high-end tea banquets and is suitable for ordering when gathering with many people.

地址：Hurstville Times Plaza, 127-141 Forest Road, Hurstville

Official website: goldensandshurstville.com.au

Taste of Shunde, Hurstville

Shunde is the hometown of Bruce Lee, and this Foshan district located in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta is also famous for its delicious food. Hurstville’s Shunde flavor allows you to taste Shunde’s classic delicacies in one stop.

The seafood here is excellent: the fish cakes are light in texture and amazing in the mouth; the dace fish stuffed with green peppers is smooth and fried with a sweet taste.

There is also a signature bamboo plate feast, where the whole steamed fish is served with wide noodles, drizzled with fragrant sauce, and topped with clams and prawns. This delicacy is enough to become an unforgettable taste memory.

Address: 9-11 Crofts Avenue, Hurstville; there are also branches in Eastwood, Shop 15 A5, A7/1 Lakeside Road

Official website: tasteofshunde.com

Royal Palace, Haymarket

When you come to this restaurant, ordering a table of fresh seafood is standard. In the fish tank on one wall, you can find all kinds of fresh seafood such as eastern star spot, snow crab, rock lobster, etc. But the barbecued pork here is also worth a try: the meat is roasted until juicy and tender, brushed with a sticky honey sauce, and spread on crispy peanuts, giving it a rich texture.

Then order the stir-fried romanesco with garlic and black beans, free-range chicken, roasted duck in the hanging oven, roasted pigeon, and a bowl of raw porridge for a late night snack, perfect. How many dishes you can order just depends on the number of people in your party and your budget.

Address: 393-399 Sussex Street, Haymarket

Official website: royalpalace.au

Golden Century, Barangaroo

This well-established restaurant in Chinatown has captured the hearts of discerning diners for thirty years with its clams in XO sauce, roasted squab, beef casserole and fresh seafood. Now it is back with a new look.

Four years ago, Jin Tang Seafood Restaurant bid farewell to Sussex Street. Now owners Eric Wong and Linda Wong, together with their son Billy, have opened in Crown Sydney, specializing in Cantonese cuisine. The style is completely different from the old restaurant.

Exquisite and shiny decoration, floor-to-ceiling window views, brand-new seafood fish tank – traces of the old restaurant are almost hard to find. Can this still be called Jintang Seafood Restaurant? The answer is yes.

On the menu, there are still those fresh sea fish, fat crabs, and clams cooked with top cooking skills, and the tea here is still at the top level in Sydney.

地址 except Sydney Sydney, Level 3/1 Mention Avenue, Bas

Official website: crownsydney.com.au

Traditional Cantonese Taste, Eastwood

Going deep into Eastwood Village Square, you can find many delicious foods: handmade tofu, luxurious seafood platter with Shunde flavor, fresh river shrimp and fresh seafood from the fishmonger’s shop. But when it comes to fresh-to-order rice rolls, it has to be Lao Guangji.

Rice milk is steamed into a thin, tough vermicelli, then wrapped with fillings such as shrimp, scallops or chicken and cordyceps flowers. After being rolled into rice rolls, sweet soy sauce is poured on them. The sauce penetrates into every crevice of the vermicelli, filling your mouth with delicious flavor. Don’t miss the raw porridge here, it is heart-warming and stomach-warming.

Address: Suite 14/1 Lakeside Road, Eastwood

My Aunt’s Handmade Noodles, Burwood

Soup noodles, dry noodles, fried noodles, rice noodles, almost all the noodles you can think of are available here. If the portion is not enough, you can refill it for free. Start with the cumin lamb chops, which look firm but are actually so tender that they fall off the bone; then order the signature oil-splashed noodles for a satisfying bite.

There are also a variety of vegetarian options in the store, which is very inclusive. It’s recommended to get there early or be prepared to queue – either way, you’ll be sure to leave with a full meal and a satisfying meal.

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