Chinatown Night Market

Every Friday from 4pm, the main strip of Chinatown along Dixon Street transforms into a vibrant night market selling Asian street food, desserts and gifts. It attracts a wide mix of visitors, from tourists and homesick international students to the post-work crowd, who you’ll find wisely padding their stomachs with cumin lamb skewers before hitting the next bar. During peak times the narrow walkway can get a bit squishy, but the hustle and bustle is also what makes it fun.

A number of Chinatown stalwarts run stalls each week, which means you’ll find yum cha favourites like har gow and mango pancakes from East Ocean, or have the joy of pulling apart Mamak’s fluffy roti canai without waiting 40 minutes in line outside their permanent eateries. As tempting as those options might be, ration stomach space for the takoyaki – a Japanese savoury doughnut hole snack filled with seafood – or dragon beard candy and potato chips on a stick.

You’ll also find stalls selling clothes and sunglasses to jewellery and phone cases – on some weeks, there’s even a Scientology stall offering ‘free stress tests’ to the curious. There are no artisanal goods, but more mass-produced, imported products à la Paddy’s Markets downstream.

Read more about Sydney's best markets.