From Dim Sum to Goi Cuon: A Gourmet Guide to Sydney Lunar Festival 2022
Eat your way through this list for a delicious time this Lunar New Year.
From Dim Sum to Goi Cuon: A Gourmet Guide to Sydney Lunar Festival 2022
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Eat your way through this list for a delicious time this Lunar New Year.
Something you've probably figured out about us at Concrete Playground is that we love to eat. And, when it comes to Sydney Lunar Festival, we really are spoilt for choice when it comes to incredible dining options. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the seemingly endless excellent options for eating and drinking around town, we're here to help.
Loads of restaurants and bars will serving up special Lunar New Year-themed dishes and drinks to ring in the upcoming Year of the Tiger. So, to make things easier for you, we've scoured many menus to bring you our top picks. Thankfully, the festival runs from Friday, January 29–Sunday, February 13, so you've got plenty of time to eat your way through this list.
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If you’re after a prosperous 2022, usher in the new lunar year at Ho Jiak. The much-loved Haymarket haunt will be serving up a special yee sang loaded with fresh salmon slices and a bright and colourful selection of fresh vegetables, all topped with tasty trout roe. The dish will set you back $88 but it’s a generous group serve. Plus, the venue is both licensed and BYO that you can enjoy a tasty tipple with your yee sang right in the heart of Haymarket. Just be sure to make a reservation because this spot has a line out the door most days.
Images: Trent van der Jagt
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If cocktails are your thing, head to Bancho Bar in Haymarket for a ridiculously tasty tipple. The impressive cocktail list, which showcases Asian ingredients sourced from Chinatown’s nearby grocers and markets, takes influence from China, Japan, Korea and Thailand, while the menu of bar snacks accompany the drinks perfectly, too. Try the Murasaki, a mix of Toki Japanese whisky, coconut cream, ube, chestnut paste and walnut bitters, and pair it with a next-level bar snack like soft shell crab bao or potato croquettes served with mixed vegetables and tonkatsu dipping sauce. If that doesn’t provide good omens for the new lunary year, we don’t know what will.
Images: Jeremy Plaisance.
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Neil Perry opened subterranean Chinese restaurant Spice Temple in 2009, the same year Rockpool Bar and Grill expanded his empire at the same address. Numerous bestselling cookbooks later, Spice Temple is still going strong as one of Sydney’s leading pan-Asian dining experiences.
For Lunar New Year, the venue will celebrate the Year of the Tiger via a special banquet featuring delicious and auspicious dishes. The menu will be available from Tuesday, February 1 till Saturday, February 12 and includes the likes of pipis with pork and Shoaoxing wine, roast duck with pancakes and tamarind, treacle tart with jasmine chantilly cream and more.
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Old Town Hong Kong brings the city’s late-night culture to Sydney. If you’re looking for somewhere to eat after checking out the sights and sounds of the festivities, this casual, two-floor spot is for you. The peking duck in steamed buns is particularly tasty, but the menu is far more expansive than that. As well as dumplings and stir fried noodles you can also get duck tongue, chicken feet and durian desserts. The entire menu is on offer late, with the venue open until 2am seven nights a week. You can also nab a table at its second location in Barangaroo but be mindful that the younger sibling restaurant isn’t doing late night dining.
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Credited with pioneering Sydney’s vegan yum cha and pan-Asian dining landscape, the folks at Bodhi have over 30 years of providing environmentally sustainable dining under their belts. That many years is nothing to scoff at — and neither is its selection of incredible, award-winning vegetarian dishes. This Lunar New Year, the venue will have a number of special dishes available including a spicy tofu, broccolini, jicama and carrot dumpling and a prosperity salad loaded with konnyaku noodles, cucumber, wonton crisps, peanut, radish and jicama. We also can’t wait to try the cocktail special featuring gin, maraschino, orange liqueur, Okar amaro, lime and pineapple.
For more information on Sydney Lunar New Year, visit the website. COVID-19 safety plans are in place for all City of Sydney Lunar New Year events and all NSW Health regulations will be followed. The City of Sydney strongly encourages all visitors to be vaccinated and to wear masks. If you’re feeling unwell, please stay home.
