Pauline Morrissey

Summer 2025 update: Cut back on spending, not flavour, with our guide to Sydney’s best affordable eats. My current faves include new Thai-Chinese eatery Ama, colourful late-night Indian diner Derrel's, and Vietnamese eatery Tan Viet Noodle House, home to excellent crisp-skinned chicken. Because life’s too short to eat sh*t food. Going out for a meal is sometimes a big occasion, worth the splurge. But it doesn't have to be that way. From banh mi to tonkotsu ramen, biang biang noodles to vegan burgers, and pretty much everything else in between, some of Sydney's greatest culinary hits are the cheapest. Time Out Sydney's local food writers, including Food & Drink Editor Avril Treasure, have eaten their way around town to bring you this list, and while cheap isn't what it used to be, there are still lots of excellent affordable venues to check out. These are the ones well worth their salt. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Want to spend less at the big-ticket players? Check out our cheap fine-dining hacks.

Where in Sydney does the best banh mi? Are you a Hong Ha Bakery fanatic? Or are you a die-hard for Marrickville Pork Roll? It seems that any time the words 'banh mi' are mentioned, people across the city will immediately jump in to pledge their allegiance to one place or another. No matter where your loyalties lie, one thing's for sure: Sydney loves a banh mi. If ever there was an example of a trusty, uncomplicated, yet still legendary feed, it would have to be the quintessential Vietnamese baguette sandwich. They give great bang for your buck, they’re delicious, and they deliver on the flavour and texture fronts like few other sandos can. Maybe it’s the traditional meat filling, which combines not one or two, but three different types of pork. Or maybe it’s the brightness and crunch of all those fresh and pickled vegetables and herbs. Add the Vietnamese-French fusion of pâté and mayonnaise, plus soy sauce and chilli, and it starts to become clear why most sangas don’t even come close. Below, we've pulled together the best banh mi in Sydney, curated by Time Out Sydney's critics, including Food & Drink Editor Avril Treasure (who has spent weeks eating her fair share – and then some – of banh mi throughout Vietnam). Enjoy. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Love your buns, hon? Check out Sydney's best burgers here On a carb roll? Have a look at the tastiest sandwiches

Filipino food is influenced by a variety of culinary cultures from around the world, taking cues from Chinese, Japanese and Spanish cuisine. But make no mistake, the dishes that are born and bred in the Philippines have a distinct deliciousness all their own. For example, there’s the famous adobo (meaning ‘marinade’ in Spanish), a dish of either chicken or pork, marinated in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. And then, of course, there’s halo halo (meaning ‘mixed together’ in Filipino), a cheeky dessert containing ice shavings, evaporated milk and trimmings like sweetened beans, coconut gel and ube ice cream. And don’t even get us started on crispy pata – a perfectly deep-fried pork leg, served with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce – or sinigang, a delicious sour broth of vegetables and meat of your choice. The list truly goes on and on... Lucky for you, we've shortened it to the best places to get your Filipino food fix in Sydney, curated by Time Out Sydney's critics and full-time eaters. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. On the hunt for a bargain? These are the best cheap eats in Sydney.

Simple but sumptuous lunchtime offerings are the order of the day in Pyrmont, where the office crowd only ever seems to increase, and the faithful Obunmee does not disappoint. Named after the pronunciation of the Vietnamese word for bread (Ổ Bánh mì), the quaint shop, shoehorned into one of the heritage sandstone terraces on Harris Street, has been open since 2014. The banh mi offerings are uniquely varied, ranging from the traditional pork roll to twists like the Veggies Delight – a mix of stir-fried vegetables with salad and a fried vegetarian spring roll. But the pick of the bunch for a hearty lunch is the chicken schnitzel banh mi, a crumbed, fried chicken breast served on a crunchy-crusted toasted baguette, crammed full of thick cucumber slices and grated carrot, and topped off with a tantalizing herb and chilli mayo.

Marrickville’s eat scene is a true melting pot of flavours, with a reputation for quick but quality meals, so it should come as no surprise that the suburb’s banh mi offerings continue to expand and impress. It takes some guts to challenge Marrickville Pork Roll, but Alex ‘N’ Rolls – just a few metres down the road in a humble, converted terrace – puts up a mighty good fight. Banh mi and sticky rice dishes are the only items on the menu, with just the right amount of care taken in the ingredients and preparation. The roast pork roll is a flavourful delight, a well-blended balance of saltiness and fattiness, with thick-cut pork carved fresh at the counter, and served up on a hefty and firm roll that easily accommodates the pork drippings in its fluffy filling. Maximise your pleasure by taking a seat at one of the tables in the sunny courtyard.

Family-run Banh Mi Bay Ngo is a well-known Bankstown establishment, with a respected track record of over 30 years of good service and even better food. The shop was first named Jasmine’s Ice Cream after the owners’ daughter, then later Jasmine’s Takeaway. Now co-owner Jasmine Dinh is all grown up and she affectionately renamed the shop in her father’s honour, just prior to his passing. (‘Banh Mi’ for bread, ‘Bay’ means ‘seven’ in Vietnamese, with Jasmine's father being the seventh uncle in the family, and ‘Ngo’ was her father’s Vietnamese name.) The family’s love of food and passion for cooking is undoubtedly why this banh mi is heralded across Sydney; each ingredient complements the other – from the rich pâté and mayo, made in-house, to freshly pickled shreds of carrot and daikon, spicy chilli and the secret barbecue pork recipe. The barbecue pork banh mi balances savoury, sour, and salty flavours well, and the ratio of meat to salad is right on the mark. This is how you do it.

So 9 is definitely not your traditional Vietnamese restaurant. The pastel hues and minimalist vibe stand out in stark contrast to the menu's classic street-food offerings. There's a full-service restaurant with all the bells and whistles (pho, bun, banh xeo and banh cuon), but there's also a dedicated tuck-shop window that faces the street, where a decent selection of banh mi is available.

Sydney has long been served by a host of Vietnamese bakeries, but if there’s one that transcends suburban lines and draws crowds from near and far, Mascot’s Hong Ha Bakery has to be it. Operating for over 30 years on the retail stretch of Botany Road, the non-descript shopfront has been serving up the same fresh rolls since day dot. You'll almost always spot a queue that snakes out the door, but it moves quickly thanks to multiple servers manning the counter. Hong Ha’s traditional pork roll is about doing the simple things right – the bread is the hero of the roll, still warm in the hand, straight from the ovens out back, with a golden crunchy crust and a soft, airy interior. Three types of pork (Vietnamese devon, cured and barbecued pork) with a hearty slathering of pâté, mayo and a fistful of crunchy salad make this quite the stomach-pleasing two-hander. And the special chilli sauce hits with a sweet tinge before bringing the fire – each element combining perfectly to keep the devoted customer coming back for more.

A modest grocery store popular amongst western Sydney's Filipino community takes over the shop next door, piles it with simple furniture, paints a colourful jeepney mural on the wall and launches a full-service restaurant. The result? A total crowd-pleaser with a menu that serves up everything from BBQ pork skewers to a classic crispy pata, a dish of deep-fried pork knuckle, perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The restaurant also invokes summer vibes with the faithful Filipino shaved-ice dessert, halo halo, available year-round and playfully served up in a coconut and topped with all the usual trimmings.

This casual takeaway and eat-in restaurant, located in the small Mount Druitt Village shopping mall, packs one heck of a punch. Serving up a fusion of Filipino and American-style cooking, Mate Burger is a bricks-and-mortar home for the popular food truck that has been doing the Sydney rounds for a number of years. Expect hearty burgers and fries with a distinct Filipino twist. The Ensaymada Burger, the most popular dish, features a smashed beef patty, creamy kraft cheese, and candied maple and sriracha bacon, in a sweet Filipino-style bun. There’s also some reinventions of Filipino mainstays, like the chicken adobo loaded fries, which piles the classic slow-cooked style chicken on a bed of hot chips, drizzled with peri peri sauce, aioli and crackling. The menu is also always changing, with monthly burger specials and rice bowls, as well as a Filipino-style spaghetti and fried chicken dish, a nod to the family-favourite meal served at the beloved Filipino fast-food chain, Jollibee.

Business in front, party in the back, Panlasang Pinoy appears to be a humble grocery store when you first enter, but as you continue to walk through, you will find that this restaurant-grocer brings a lot to the table. The sheer range of dishes available on the ever-changing menu is impressive, and includes Filo favourites like crispy pata, a slow-cooked and deep-fried pork knuckle, as well as kare-kare, a dish made up of oxtail, eggplant and beans with a thick peanut gravy. Panlasang Pinoy has also gained a cult following for their barbecue offerings, serving everything from sticky pork skewers and lemongrass and tomato-stuffed squid, to chicken feet and pork intestines. And as for that party in the back, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night the place turns into a $20 all-you-can-eat buffet with live karaoke. If that's not a party, we don't know what is.

Western Sydney suburb Rooty Hill has a large Filipino population, so it should come as no surprise that there are a number of Filipino eateries dotted about the local area. From the bunch, Mama Lor Restaurant & Bakery stands out for its barbecue dishes — the very heart and soul of Filipino street-food culture, as well as a range of baked delights prepared in the restaurant’s very own in-house bakery. On the barbecue, options such as the inihaw na pusit, a grilled whole squid stuffed with onion and tomato, or the inihaw na liempo , a grilled marinated pork belly, topped with homemade barbecue sauce. As for the baked goods, there’s the ube macapuno cake, a sweet purple yam confection with sweet shredded coconut, or the cheesecake flan, a flan variation made with cream cheese, egg and milk. They’ve also got many pre-packaged Filipino-style breads and pastries you can buy, just in case you get hungry again on the way home.

Tucked in the dining precinct of the Kogarah Town Square development, this no-fuss eatery has a small set menu full of Filipino staples like sisig, a combination of minced pork cheek and pork belly that blends tangy and spicy flavours, and the all-time favourite crispy pata, a deep-fried succulent pork leg, perfect for sharing. There’s a killer chicken adobo, too, the simple slow-cooked type made from a combination of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and peppercorns. However, if you’re after some quick and cheap eats, the changing buffet menu is ever dependable, regularly changing to include dishes such as sinagang na hipon, a savoury, sour broth laden with vegetables and large succulent prawns, or pancit – a noodle stir-fry combination of pork, cabbage, carrots, and onions.

Proudly flying the Filipino food flag in the inner city, Rey’s Place is situated in a cosy terrace, right on the fringe of the CBD at the Darlinghurst end of Crown Street. Rey’s menu is designed for sharing, and hits the sweet spot between simple Filipino home-cooking and a more modern, slightly fancified approach. Start with a snack-type dish like chicharon na manok, a crisp chicken skin dish with a spiced soy and vinegar sauce, or the traditional longganisa, a sweet garlic and pepper cured pork sausage. Follow this up by sampling larger dishes, like the namesake lechon, a delicious slow-roasted suckling pig, served with a housemade sarsa and chilli-mansi dipping sauce. Up the ante with a cocktail from the list of tropical, island-inspired ingredients, as well as San Miguel beer and Don Papa rum imported straight from the source.