Best Cheap Eats in Sydney

If you are longing for a holiday to Asia to wander the streets of Shanghai, Vietnam or Tokyo to enjoy traditional Asian hawker food, head to Spice Alley in the Kensington Street precinct in Chippendale, 5 minutes from the CBD. Wander the laneways and choose from Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese cuisine all at very reasonable prices. This bustling little alley has multiple Asian street food restaurants within its confines. The walls of alley itself features several Asian restaurants that focus on their speciality of street food, with seating seating with overhead colourful lanterns adding to the atmosphere. A great choice to take the kids, there is something here to offer everyone and parents will love the choice of BYO. SPICE ALLEY DOES NOT TAKE RESERVATIONS.

Monday to Sunday 11am – late

In the heart of Thaitown opposite the Capitol Theatre, Chat Thai is renowned as one of Sydney's most authentic South East Asian restaurants. Everything here is fast, fresh and easy on the wallet. The only problem you'll have is choosing just one dish from the menu. This Haymarket favourite has an around-the-clock queue of hungry diners waiting to get a table from opening time until 2.00am. 

Thai Rock Restaurant in Potts Point offers all of your favourite Thai dishes, with plenty of meat, seafood and vegan options. Thai Rock restaurant is also well known for its specialty - a volcanic heated rock brought to your table with your choice of meats or seafood to cook to your liking. Consider booking Thai Rock for your next private or corporate event. With packages and spaces to cater for small intimate gatherings to large scale events and reasonably priced banquet menus, you can be assured your event will be a success.   

Dinner daily from 5pm

Spice I Am restaurant has wooed Sydney-siders with its fiery fare and simple surrounds, making for an authentic taste of Thailand in inner-city Sydney. After opening in 2004 to the rapture of Thai diners, Spice I Am has since garnered a strong reputation for dishing up the best Thai food this side of Khao San. Spice I Am has opened in Victoria Street Darlinghurst.

Photography: Reef Gaha

Bar Reggio's Italian-born staff have continually satisfied customers with generous servings of traditional Italian and modern Australian cuisine for over 20 years. The restaurant is located in the trendy shopping, entertainment and dining strip of Crown Street at Darlinghurst, ten minutes walk from the CBD. If you love Italian flavours and like to eat abundantly in a relaxed environment, Reggio's is highly recommended. Great value for families.

Situated in new premised in a terrace house in  Stanley Street, Darlinghurst, The Colonial Indian cuisine hails from the old North-West Frontier Province, which was a term used during British occupation. There is a large selection of curries available, all marinated and cooked in the traditional clay tandoor.

In the heart of Thaitown opposite the Capitol Theatre, Chat Thai is renowned as one of Sydney's most authentic South East Asian restaurants. Everything here is fast, fresh and easy on the wallet. The only problem you'll have is choosing just one dish from the menu. This Haymarket favourite has an around-the-clock queue of hungry diners waiting to get a table from opening time until 2.00am.

A cheap Italian that's been around for yonks, Bill and Toni's is the joint you drop into for a satisfying feed on a shoestring budget. We're talking a $10 bowl of spaghetti, served with a jug of orange cordial and a side salad of lettuce soaked in vinegar. The cafe-style decor comes complete with old Italian men sipping espressos and, following your meal, some of Sydney's best bars are just a stone's throw away.

Leichhardt's authentic Italian past lives on in one of its oldest and most beloved cafe restaurants, Bar Italia. You can get a decent meal here and get change from a $20 note, but don't expect anything fancy. Bar Italia dishes up home-style Italian pastas and paninos, but what people really come for is the gelato. Service is brisk and you can only pay in cash, but this is little Italy, baby.

Packed in like sardines, customers to this Potts Point stalwart know what they're here for, and it's certainly not the service or décor. You'll have to wait outside until you're briskly summoned indoors to perch on plastic chairs or rub shoulders with a random on a wooden bench. We wouldn't suggest coming as a group, this place is best enjoyed with your other-half over a plateful of mixed pan fried dumplings.

You'll be transported directly to Jakarta when you visit Ayam Goreng 99 restaurant in Kingsford with its menu of enticing, yet cheap, Indonesian favourites. The satay chicken is a must try and the beef rendang curry is tender, juicy and bursting with flavour. For the more daring diners, the oxtail and vegetable soup is also recommended.