Sydney's ultimate food hall!
Ever find yourself wandering blindly through food halls and shopping malls looking for lunch, all to no avail? Myffy Rigby picks her favourite snacks from all around town and bundles them into one awesome food court
The Food Hall at MLC... not yet perfect
Grape Garden
Best for: Shallot pancake
It's cheap, it's simple, it's a salty, green onion-encrusted northern Chinese favourite sliced and served finger scorchingly hot. This is a tiny little outlet and you may find yourself lining for a while (they also do fresh hand-pulled noodles) but stick it out - it's worth it.
Lemon Grove Shopping Centre, 427-441 Victoria Ave, Chatswood 2067. (02 94113933)
Din Tai Fung
Best for: Soup filled dumplings
World famous for the dumplings (Jackie Chan lines up for ‘em) the trick here is to not stuff the whole thing in your gob for fear of second degree burns. Instead delicately bite the top off and let the soup cool. The pork and shrimp dumplings are sensational too.
Shop 11, level 1 World Square Shopping Centre; 644 George St, 2000. (02 9264 6010)
The Bagel House
Best for: Blueberry bagel and cream cheese
There's a big range of bagels (their cinnamon and raisin are also right up there on the boiled-then-baked-Jewish-bread list) but the raw sugar-crusted blueberry with a big schmear of cream cheese is our idea of morning tea heaven.
Level 6 Shop 26, MLC centre, Martin Place 2000. (02 9231 1338)
Dixon House food court
Best for: Sugarcane juice
Drinking a cup of sugar juice sounds a bit like mainlining crack (we can stop any time, y'know, really we can). Watch as whole sticks of sugarcane are pushed through the machine that spits up the mangled remains of the plant on one side and spurts juice from the other.
Dixon House, cnr Dixon & Little Hay St, Sydney 2000
Ichi Ban Boshi
Best for: Tokyo ramen
Rich broth, slippery noodles, thin slices of roast pork and lines down the escalator. Take a number, pop your name on the list and share a table for quicker service.
The Galleries Victoria ?Level 2, 500 George St, 2000. (02 9262 7677)
Sayong Curry and Laksa
Best for: Fried koay teow
Don't bother with the noodles sweating it out in the hotbox. Instead, order off the menu. Flat rice noodles are stir fried with bits of chicken, fish cake and prawns and dark soy. It's not an everyday type of lunch (unless you have aspirations to grow to the size of a house) but it's certainly tasty.
LG Food Court, Pittsway Arcade, 303 Pitt St, Sydney, 2000.
Kam Fook
Best for: Yum cha
The staff here are nice and, unlike some others we know, don't throw rice rolls at you when you ask for dumplings. Flat rice noodles rolled and fried and served with sweet sesame paste, prawn dumplings and pork wrapped in beancurd are highlights.
Westfield Shopping Centre 500 Oxford St, Bondi Junction, 2022. (02 9386 9889)
David Jones Food Hall: The Carvery
Best for: Roast beef & gravy roll
Forget the oyster bar or the wok tossers, the tastiest option here is to order the thick-cut, pipin' hot roast beef roll and ask for extra gravy. There's relish and all sorts of other frills on offer but it's best to play it straight.
David Jones Food Hall, Lower Ground Level Market St (cnr Castlereagh) 2000. (02 9266 5544)
Euro lounge
Best for: High tea
Dainty little cakes, chocolates, smoked salmon and cucumber finger sandwiches and bottomless tea offered everyday with a selection of 40 different types of tea for the drinking.
Castle Towers, 274 Old Northern Rd Castle Hill, 2154. (02 8850 7077)
GPO Cheese Room
Best for: Cheese plate and a glass of wine
The cheese selection is more about quality than quantity. Best to choose a few different ones, order a half bottle of fancy wine and get some cured meats on the go, too.
GPO Building, Lower Ground Floor 1 Martin Pl, 2000. (02 9229 7701)