Overview
Sydney's south may be better known for its beautiful beaches and slow-living lifestyle, but it's also home to a bustling hotspot filled with food, fashion and entertainment. Since the surge in Chinese migration to Sydney in the 90s and 00s, Hurstville has been considered a hub for Chinese — and, more broadly, Asian — culture with a wealth of quality Asian groceries, yum cha joints and herbal medicine stores to check out. And that's just the start of your shopping adventures — scattered between these Asian shops, you'll find more small businesses dedicated to other cultures and distinct interests.
We've teamed up with American Express to showcase a selection of awesome local businesses to shop small in Hurstville and its surrounding suburbs. When you're next searching for that obscure ingredient for a recipe, a gift, or a really good feed, this list is here to help — and you can shop small at all of these spots with your American Express Card.
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Nestled in the back streets of shady Hurstville Grove is a purveyor of fine wines, beers and spirits. While small, this bottle shop is sure to stock everything you need for a cocktail party, a backyard barbecue or a fancy dinner party.
Unlike some of the bigger liquor chains, this joint stocks some rarer labels that are notoriously difficult to find. Even if it doesn’t stock some hard-to-find Argentinian wine made from special grapes plucked at the full moon, the friendly staff behind the counter will go above and beyond to try and source it for you.
Images: Trent van der Jagt
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This family-owned establishment is a top pick among the locals in Hurstville. Known especially for its noodle soups, Like Noodle is a fantastic spot to recharge with a hot and filling meal after a morning of shopping. It’s excellent value for money, with big portions coming in at around $12 a dish. Service is speedy and the seating ample — even during the lunchtime rush — so don’t worry about getting too ‘hangry’ while you wait.
You can’t go wrong with the signature meatball noodle soup or fresh xiao long bao, but if you’re looking for something a tad more adventurous, try the pork intestine soup — it’s a favourite of Shanghai natives.
Image: Trent van der Jagt
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Priding themselves on being behind one of the St George area’s best florists, the dedicated team at Hillcrest Florist are on hand for any occasion that marks the need for a new arrangement.
Hillcrest delivers on the same day to homes, offices, hospitals, churches, nursing homes, schools and wedding venues in and around Hurstville Grove — you name the place, the team will get your blooms there. And we’re not just talking traditional blooms like roses, lilies and gerberas, but native Australian arrangements and plants, too.
Oh, and if you’re prone to sending house plants to an early death, the team will give you step-by-step instructions on keeping your leafy companion alive.
Images: Trent van der Jagt
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Christopher’s Cake Shop first opened the doors of its Surry Hills shop way back in 1955 (originally as Athens Cake Shop). In the years since, the business has stretched its reach from Sydney’s inner city to the suburbs with stores in Ashfield, Eastgardens, Kogarah and Hurstville.
Here, you’ll find traditional Greek sweets such as baklava, kataifi, paximathia, melomakarona (an almond honey biscuit), plus a wide range of cakes and other biscuits.
Although it might seem a little mainstream, take the opportunity to pick up the mud cake — it’s as perfect as cake and chocolate put together could possibly get. Hint: take it home and warm it up in the microwave for 20 seconds — it’ll melt the fine layer of chocolate on top and make the ganache centre oh-so-perfectly gooey.
Image: Trent van der Jagt
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There are your regular neighbourhood delis and butchers — and then there is Bexley North’s German Butchery Deli & Cafe. This place stocks everything you’d expect from a German butchery and deli, from cold cuts, sausage links (yes, including bratwurst) and pâté to traditional German smallgoods and bread.
If you’ve got a craving for a particular German delight, perhaps while reminiscing about that trip you took a few years back or reconnecting with old family traditions, this shop should have it. You’ll find knödel (potato or bread boiled dumplings), sauerkraut, gherkins and, of course, salt pretzels. You may also stumble across some products that are common on European supermarket shelves, but not so much here, including curry ketchup, Austrian Almdudler herbal lemonade and Czech Kitl flavoured syrups. Planning a party? The team here can put together platters that’ll set you back as little as $8 a head, too.
Image: Trent van der Jagt
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In a time when the Southeast Asian cookbooks are leaping off the shelves, there has never been more of a demand for authentic Asian supermarkets. Wellmay Asian Mart is set up with everything you could possibly need to put on that Chinese feast for your friends — barbecue pork buns, dumplings, fresh noodles and piles upon piles of fresh Asian greens.
If you’re a real food lover and have a higher talent for cooking than most, it’s here you will find those hard-to-find gems to centre recipes around — think dried scallops, spiced abalone and makrut lime. It’s always fun to try something new — from sweet sesame rice balls and aloe vera jelly to pickled chickens feet. Be as adventurous as you dare.
Images: Trent van der Jagt