Peking duck at Song Bird
Photograph: Petrina Tinslay
Photograph: Petrina Tinslay

The best Lunar New Year lunches and dinners in Sydney

Celebrate the Year of the Snake by feasting on fresh seafood, roast duck, longevity noodles and prosperity salads

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No Lunar New Year celebration is complete without a feast, and there are many auspicious and symbolic dishes that are a must on any holiday menu: noodles for longevity, whole fish and salad for prosperity, rice cakes for advancement to new heights, and more.

Beyond invoking luck and fortune, Lunar New Year fare is also damn delicious. So it's the perfect time to gather your friends and family together for a festive feed. We've found the best spots to celebrate the Year of the Snake.

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RECOMMENDED:

The best Lunar New Year events in Sydney. 

Feel like more? Check out our guide to the finest Chinese restaurants in Sydney.

Where to eat for Lunar New Year in Sydney

  • Chinese
  • Double Bay
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Fly on over to Songbird, Neil Perry’s latest restaurant in Double Bay, and experience elegant Cantonese fare this Lunar New Year. The eight-course set menu includes crisp lobster and scallop money bag dumplings, Peking duck with condiments and mandarin pancakes, and blue swimmer crab with Shanghai noodles in XO sauce. There will also be a special lion dance performance on Wednesday, January 29. Book here.
When: Jan 27–Feb 10
Cost: $148 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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  • Chinese
  • The Rocks

Celebrate the Year of the Snake with sweeping harbour views at Luna Lu. Enjoy a four-course pan-Asian menu featuring dishes like Merimbula oysters with yuzu Sriracha dressing and fresh papaya salad with a tangy dressing. Book here.
When: Jan 29–Feb 13
Cost: $140 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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  • Modern Australian
  • Surry Hills

Beautiful neighbourhood diner Arthur will be offering two menus this Lunar New Year, featuring traditional Chinese dishes infused with a distinctive Australian flair. Local and native produce will be showcased, like zucchini flowers stuffed with pork and scallop and served with a vibrant lemon aspen dressing – their take on a siu mai. An optional Lunar New Year wine-pairing is available too. Book here.
When: Jan 29–Feb 17
Cost: $120 and $160 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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  • Hotels
  • Sydney

To celebrate the Year of the Snake with a refined nod to Chinese culture, Sydney’s award-winning luxury hotel Capella is hosting a series of elegant high teas. Want to welcome in the new lunar year with caviar and Champagne? This is your place. Plus, if you swing by the hotel at 11am on Tuesday, January 28, you’ll witness a traditional Eye-Dotting and Lion Dance Ceremony – an ancient tradition designed to “awaken” the lion dancers. The ceremony will be attended by Tai Chi Grandmaster Gary Khor, and will take place at 11am at Farrer Place (just outside Capella Sydney). Book here.
When: Jan 29–Feb 16
Cost: $125 per person

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Winnie Stubbs
Lifestyle Writer
  • Indigenous Australian
  • Sydney

Midden by Mark Olive, an Indigenous restaurant located in Sydney’s iconic Opera House, is serving up a Lunar New Year lunch and dinner this Year of the Snake. Enjoy a cocktail on arrival, followed by dumplings, your choice of barramundi or chicken longevity stir-fried noodles, and an orange pavlova for dessert to symbolise prosperity. Book here.
When: Jan 29–Feb 4
Cost: From $88 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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  • Chinese
  • Sydney

Circular Quay’s Cantonese diner Pearl is hosting a five-day Lunar New Year celebration featuring a six-course menu that includes its signature dry-aged, double-roasted Peking duck. A lion dance performance will also take place on Friday. Book here.
When: Jan 28–Feb 1
Cost: $148 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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  • Darling Harbour

Luke Nguyen’s flavour-packed eatery at The Star is serving a luxe six-course banquet for Lunar New Year. Highlights include fatt choy yu sheng with Australian king salmon, Kaluga caviar, sesame peanuts and a lime mango dressing, and braised pork ravioli with yam taro, lotus chips and Luke’s master stock. Book here.
When: Feb 4
Cost: $128 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
  • Breweries
  • Marrickville
  • price 2 of 4

Lucky Prawn, the old-school-style Chinese restaurant located within Marrickville’s excellent brewery, the Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, has created a Lunar New Year banquet to celebrate the season. You can also get around their yum cha offering on Sunday, Feb 2. The Jin Wu Koon Lion Dancers will bring good luck and fortune on two key dates: Jan 30 at 7pm, and Feb 2 at 3pm. Book here.
When: Jan 30–Feb 2
Cost: $89 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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  • Fusion
  • Circular Quay

Marinated scampi crackers with yuzu and green mango, scallop “silk” with ’nduja XO, and sea urchin-topped spring onion piadina are just some of the standout dishes on Lana’s multi-course prosperity menu for Lunar New Year. Book here.
When: Jan 30–Feb 15
Cost: $188 per person

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
  • Chinese
  • Chatswood
  • price 1 of 4

Double Chin Eats, a casual modern Asian diner with locations at World Square, Broadway, Martin Place and more, is celebrating Lunar New Year with two special offerings. The first is a super-cute soft-pink bun filled with lava-like chocolate, called the Year of the Snake Bun. There’s also the Prosperity Toss salad, symbolising abundance, health, and joy.
When: Jan 22–Feb 12
Cost: $8.80 for two buns; from $28.80 for the salad

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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Lunar New Year at Market City

Market City in Haymarket is putting on a show for this Lunar New Year. As well as lion dance performances, giveaways and workshops, there will be special Lunar New Year dishes available, including at The Dolar Shop Hot Pot and Fuji Seafood Restaurant.
When: Jan 8-Feb 16

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Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney

Lunar New Year at Darling Square

Expect live snake shows, an incredible lantern display, cultural performances, festive food and beverage offerings, and special offers at Darling Square this Lunar New Year. Food highlights include a delicious banquet menu at XOPP by Golden Century, and a mango and black sesame donut filled with mango jam and dipped in a fresh mango glaze from Shortstop Coffee and Donuts, and much more.
When: Jan 22-Feb 16

https://media.timeout.com/images/106082023/image.jpg
Avril Treasure
Food & Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
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