District 8

Overview

A modern, local riff on the hawker market concept, District 8 is Cabra-Vale Diggers' 600-seat food precinct, promising your tastebuds a trip down the Mekong River, without the flight to Southeast Asia.

Here, a diverse lineup of restaurants and food stations delivers authentic flavours from across Vietnam, Thailand, China, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. You can drop in for a classic Malaysian-style seafood laksa, dive into a big bowl of Hanoi-worthy pho, carb-load on some Asian baked goods, or round up the crew for a proper dim sum feast. The $9.99 weekday specials also includes some pretty tasty dishes, including Monday's char siu pork and a barbecue Cantonese duck each Thursdays.

Meanwhile, loud and lively Chinese restaurant Horizon is a favourite for its daily yum cha offering, as well as the hefty selection of fresh seafood tempting the dinner crowd each night.

To match District 8's real-deal culinary offering, expect a fitout that wholly embraces those Southeast Asian roots throughout, from the wall of authentic maneki neko 'waving cats', to the thousands of red timber squares, hanging Chinese-style from the ceiling.

If you're well practised in the art of devouring tasty Asian fare, you'll want to catch District 8's annual pho challenge. If you conquer the super-sized 2.2 kilogram bowl ($35) of meat, aromatic broth, rice noodles, bean sprouts and other additions solo in less than 30 minutes, you'll score a $50 District 8 voucher. Keep an eye on this space for dates.