Sydney's 15 Cheap Eats to Try Before You Die

Sydney's 15 cheap eats of high quality! Sydney has the best eateries and here's why!

Hey guys, if you’re anything like the crew at YOMM HQ, food’s a biggie on the list!

But not food that’s going to break the bank.

In no particular order, we’ve put together some of Sydney’s best cheap meals we think everyone needs to try >>>

15. Ho Jiak Haymarket

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqGfUE9gz6K/

Price: Mains average $15 ~ $25

Location: 92 Hay St, Haymarket, China Town, Sydney City

Are you ever craving the taste of authentic Malaysian food? Look no further than Ho Jiak Haymarket! This diner has a tight feel to it, but that’s all part of the experience. When you set foot in this place you immediately feel like you have been taken on a holiday. The food here is also something of legend as all of the dishes you can order look incredible and taste even better. When you order your meal here you can’t sit still, you just get so excited. The smells that sail in from the kitchen treat you to what is to come with the aroma of garlic, chilli and soy sauce. This place accepts bookings, so get onto that now so you can enjoy this cuisine now rather than never!

14. Spice I Am

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm2DlD7AfYw/

Price: Whole menu $11.50 ~ $29.50

Location: 90 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills, Sydney City

With 82 options on their menu for you to love, we are sure you will find a new favourite dish. The co-owner and head chef of Spice I Am has been in Sydney since 1985 and opened his restaurant in 2004. The food is a blend of professionally crafted dishes and home-cooked meals with recipes only his mother can teach him. This place offers the traditional comforts of the red, green and yellow curries as well as many stir-fries. It also offers some more interesting dishes for those brave enough to face them. One example is an omelette in a sour Thai soup which is so rich in flavour but sounds so strange. With so many dishes to try, you have to get started now! Head down to Spice I Am and experience top quality Thai food.

13. Wish Bone

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Price: 2 Piece $10 – 8 Piece $37

Location: 125 Enmore Road, Enmore

A fried chicken dinner with optional sides of many American classics, what more could you ask for? This place is very rustic and has a more adult feel to it as they do serve alcohol. The chicken is not simply fast food quality, they take pride in the making of their signature dish and ensure that it tastes the best it can possibly taste. The chicken is brined and plumped for 24 hours to make sure the flavour pops. Then it’s time for the spices. This is what gives their chicken the golden taste that you need to experience for yourself. After being cooked in a vacuum bag, bathed in buttermilk, battered and fried, it is time for consumption. But wait! There is one last thing to consider. Do you sauce up your delicious tender, do you add the spicy hot sauce that Wish Bone has designed themselves, or do you leave the chicken as it is, in a delicious state of perfection? This definitely deserves a try if you are a lover of chicken or simply food.

12. Dainty Sichuan Noodle Express

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkjM-w9gd3g/

Price: Mains $5.80 ~ $17.80

Location: 19B World Square, 644 George St, Sydney

Sichuan food has risen in popularity in recent years and by now i’m sure you are familiar with either it’s taste or it’s name. The unmistakeable taste of Sichuan is the reason many people enjoy the bite of the spice. The taste is not as straightforward as most other spices as it contains flavours of a lemony nature. With the Dainty Sichuan making the flavour even more commercially available everyone is winning! As regular customers we get to enjoy the taste of Sichuan and they get all the business they could want. Basing their restaurant off this particular flavour may be seen as a risk but when you get a taste of their food for yourself you will understand why they are so popular.

These guys also specialise in Hot Pots which are awesome fun for a group – basically a big pot full of delicious soup/stock and you drop raw ingredients in, let them cook and then enjoy!

We are in love with their desserts too – so cute, so different and so delish.

11. Mr Crackles

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Price: Mains $9 – $18.50

Location: 155 Oxford St, Darlinghurst

Say no more – just check out the pic above and drool! Mr Crackles specialises in pork and lamb sandwiches which means that if you go there you know you will get a quality sandwich. With the owners and head chefs being fine dining experts Carlos Justo and Sam Horowitz, the dishes here are of a very high quality. Now when you enter Oxford Street you can catch the aroma of roasting pork and salty crackling. They offer hot dogs, cheese loaded fried and the finest crackling in town, but we always head straight for the pork rolls. Being their specialty meal you can expect that it is the best on the menu and you would be absolutely right. Not only the best on their menu but the best we have had! Be sure to head on down to Darlinghurst for an absolute treat of a sandwich!

10. Kebab Al-Hojat

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Price:  Whole Menu $6 – $22

Location: 2/254 Pitt St, Merrylands

This Afghan / Iranian style barbecue shop has some of the tastiest kebabs you can find. They even cook the meat right in front of you so you can see the effort that goes into creating their meals. This also ensures you know all of their food is fresh as can be. Grilling lamb is something that Kebab Al-Hojat does impeccably well but if you don’t feel in the mood for lamb then you can get chicken. The special thing about this chicken is that it does not suffer from being dry, where most other places are. Even you feel like getting both lamb and chicken they offer a mixed plate which is the best of both worlds!

9. Shanghai Night

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Price: Mains $7.50 ~ $30, Dumplings $10.80 / $12.80

Location: 275 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield

Liverpool Road is filled with dumpling houses these days but Shanghai Night is by far our favourite. When you eat here you can see them making the dumplings which enhances the experience here. The portions are quite generous as well so you wont be left unsatisfied at all. You can enjoy many different variations of their dumplings including pork, chicken, lamb, beef, fish and shallot. You can also get vegetarian versions of their dumplings if that is you preferred choice of filling. The dumplings here are the main attractions but the main meals are also very appealing to those with a bigger appetite. Make sure you check this place out to get some top quality dumplings.

Because life would suck without dumplings … !

8. Tipica Pizza

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Price: Traditional Pizzas $21.50 ~ $29.50

Location: 76 Hall St, Bondi

Being located in Bondi is a very positive part of the business as it means that you can enjoy the beautiful scenery while you eat you pizza. Tipica uses a wood-fired oven to cook their pizzas which gives them a much more authentic and smoky taste than some other pizza places. The Tuscan style pizza bases are part of the reason that their pizzas are so delicious. The dough used in the bases are rested for 48 hours which makes them a crusty base with a nice fragrance. The restaurant plays a techno based soundtrack during it’s opening hours, which can be intimidating and unnerving for some, but also makes it all the better for others. Whether you dine in or take away we know you will enjoy your pizza.

Wood fired all the way!

7. Swagath Biryani House

Price: Mains $11.90 – $14.90

Location: 46 Station St, Wentworthville

An Indian restaurant that serves cheap food AND tastes great? Yep, YOMM definitely recommends Swagath Biryani House. This placed is not for the faint of heart however, this is due to the amount of spice that is present in almost all of the meals here. Servings of basmati rice and saffron are always exciting to see on the menu when you are trying to decide which of the incredible dishes to choose. Reading the menu will make your mouth water guaranteed. From the massive range of items you can order to the tasty sides to snack on you will be sure to enjoy a filling meal.

6. Pho Pasteur

Price: Mains $11 – $28

Location: Argyle St, Parramatta

A nice hot broth with thin strips of beef, thin rice noodles, cut up green onion, a squeeze of lemon, crunchy bean sprouts and a seasoning of basil. This is what to expect when you order traditional style pho from Pho Pasteur. You get nothing less than the best pho here and to go with that you can order some super-sized spring rolls as well. The interior of the restaurant is interesting as it has very similar design to what you may find in Vietnam itself. A mismatch of styles creates a fun atmosphere to sit with friends and enjoy your meals. The drinks here a served in old fashion glasses similar to what you might expect at an American diner. No matter the occasion, Pho Pasteur is a great place to visit and hang out.

5. Kapamilya Grocery and Eatery

Price: Whole menu $2.50 – $12

Location: 28 Waltz Street, Rockdale

As Filipino cuisine is rare amongst the eateries in Sydney, we are glad to see that Kapamilya is representing the food so well. The difference in their food is welcomed as it brings a change to the regular Asian meals we have come to expect. With an ever changing menu also, we never know what to expect! Well, that’s not entirely true, because we always expect a delicious meal at a very low price. They also provide a wide selection of Filipino desserts, but can cater to your needs if you simply notify them before you come. Kapamilya also provides a catering service so be sure to consider them when organising your next big event!

4. BCD Tofu House

Price: Main Menu $15 – $28, Premium Cuisine $15 – $50

Location: 74-76 Rawson Street, Epping

For those who prefer the Tofu variety, this Korean restaurant is perfect for you. With many dishes that include their signature savoury delights. But that’s not all they offer. You can also ask for seafood, kimchi or dumplings in combination with your already delicious tofu soup. If you don’t like the look of any of those than there are 13 variations you can browse through and decide on! Not only is this a place for people who enjoy tofu but also a  place for those with a taste for spice. This eatery is known for it’s spice which comes in amounts that are spicy enough to feel it but not so spicy you struggle. Don’t be fooled by the name either! This place offers much more than tofu! You can pick yourself up some braised beef, or some spicy pork. The list goes on but you will have to see for yourself what your favourite is.

3. Lao Village

Price: $11 – $15

Location: 29 Dale Street, Fairfield

Wow we love Laos! This place offers a unique dining experience where you can order food found nowhere else. One thing I found when I was reading the menu was that you can basically order the whole cow! From the ‘Spicy Minced Beef (Raw)’, moving to the ‘Spicy Liver Salad’ and next the ‘BBQ Marinated OX Tongue’! The craziest thing about this is that is all delicious! Never had I thought I would enjoy such a thing as OX tongue, but the traditional Laotian way in which it was cooked has me hooked! Although if you are on the less adventurous side of dining than there is still quite a menu for you. A healthy amount of traditional meals await you at Lao Village. You can visit their Facebook page to stay up to date as well.

2. Fujiyama Noodle Bar

Price: Whole Menu $3.90 – $20.90

Location: Level 2, Mandarin Centre, 61-65 Albert Avenue

Such cheap prices in Chatswood? This place is a mirage of hope in the food court of the Mandarin Centre. Every time I wander into Chatswood I find myself drifting towards the Fujiyama Noodle Bar. This Japanese eatery has much competition where it is situated but has managed to shine out in front of the others as being the best. With such cheap prices and such nice food it is no wonder Fujiyama is so popular! This place offers a quick feed for under a fiver, which is a rare sight and certainly welcome when you are hungry and on a budget. But this isn’t such a large portion for a hungry bloke. But do not fear! The option to upgrade to large is here! For only one or two dollars more you can receive portions worthy of any hungry soul. Next time you visit Chatswood, be sure to check out Fujiyama Noodle Bar.

1. La Paula

Price: Full Meal ~ $20

Location: 9 Barbara Street, Fairfield

Chilean food is not a common sight to see in Sydney but it is certainly worth a try. La Paula is a simple looking place with all types of food that will impress you. Not only will you have the option of traditional Chilean cuisine but you can enjoy an amazing desert afterwards because they offer quite an impressive selection of tasty treats. As well as small sweet treats you can order customisable cakes. However they are not the main feature of the eatery as the Chilean food is certainly a highlight. Lomitos, empanadas, Pupusas and traditional Barros Luco sandwiches are the personal favourites of many who visit. For a very cheap feed make sure to check out La Paula, you will not be disappointed.

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WOW! So many amazing places to eat and such incredible prices!

What’s your opinion about Cheap Eats in Sydney? Are any of these places your favourites? Reckon you’ll check them out?

Let us know in the comments and we will be sure to check your answers out!