Sydney Eat Street: Parramatta Lanes Festival

Over four nights, 40 food stalls and 120 music acts, the Parramatta Lanes Festival will transform the streets into a celebration of Western Sydney’s diversisity.

Parramatta Lanes Festival is on October 11-14.

Over four nights from October 11 to 14, 40 food stalls and 120 music acts, and an array of entertainment the Parramatta Lanes Festival will transform the streets into a celebration of Western Sydney’s cultural diversity.

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EATING HERE OUT WEST

@ Riverside Theatre

Dinner and a (sort of) movie is the climax of the four-day Parramatta Lanes Festival on

Saturday, October 14, 2023, with a special screening of the ABC TV series 8 Nights Out

West, eight nine-minute shorts that explore the diverse culinary hotspots shaping Western

Sydney.

In each episode, the show’s producer, Akra Das, meets actors from the dramatic film,

Here Out West, to explore their respective suburbs.

Potato gems with diced chorizo from Milky Lane at Macquarie St.

A must-see series for Sydney foodies, Eating Here Out West will also welcome Western Sydney food truck faves, including Kocagoz’s (Turkish street food), Mate Pinoy by Mate Burgers (Filipino and American fusion flavours), and Num Nums’ Indian street food, sweets, and bakery.

Akra says, “After having travelled to many cities around the world, I always come back home and feel like the diversity and quality of food and cuisine in Western Sydney is unparalleled.

If you look around, you can get almost any type of cuisine you want! It feels very special to showcase it all again for one more night in Parramatta.”

This one-night-only event runs from 5pm-10pm.

To keep you grooving through the night, there’ll also be live music from south-west Sydney-

born and raised rapper L-FRESH The LION [sic] and tunes from Zeadala, MRVZ and DJ

Slays. 

CHURCH ST & MARKET ST

BURGER HEAD

@ Church St South

Chef Timothy Rosenstrauss, co-owner of the premium burger truck Burger Head, declares

that the crew will go all out for this year’s Festival.

“We’re absolutely stoked to be a part of such a great community event in the heart of western Sydney,” Timothy said.

A double cheese burger from Burger Head.

“We’ll be bringing all the choice goods from our stores down to Parramatta Lanes, but we’ll be serving it out of our truck!

“We’re not cutting any corners and bringing the same great burgers down, including The Americana!”, a smashed Angus beef patty, cheese, pulled BBQ brisket, grilled onion, and their housemade mustard mayo.

Burger Head is the brainchild of fine dining chefs Rosenstrauss, Richard Borg and Joshua DeLuca.

The trio credit their delectable burgers to their training at hatted and Michelin-starred restaurants (Quay, Momofuku, Ormeggio, and more).

Rosenstrauss adds, “It’s easy to get a good product, but to get a great one takes technique, and you must really know your ingredients.

“We make our own sauces and pickles; we mince our patties with meat from a range of farmers in Northern NSW.”

Burger Head doesn’t fill you up with oversized sandwiches, instead focusing on the pure flavour from the Angus beef patties and their housemade pickles and sauces.

Also at the Church St location will be Samaras Food Truck’s Lebanese meat and veggie platters, Satay Brothers’ classic skewers, crispy pork burgers and Thai loaded fries, El’s Fried Chicken’s “fried chicken frenzy on wheels”, and Sri Daskin Food Truck’s fusion of modern Indian and Mexican fare, along with music from Sunny Bin Sound Systems.

CHURCH ST & MACQUARIE ST

FIREPOP

@ Levins Lane 

Meat on a stick — for carnivores, it probably doesn’t get any better.

Walking past the Firepop food truck without catching the intoxicating aroma of grilled Wagyu skewers is impossible.

Husband-and-wife team Raymond Hou and Alina Van had been grilling their tender lamb

skewers at Chinatown markets since 2006, that is until July 2019, when they took delivery of

their fire-engine-red food truck; that’s when they transitioned to premium Wagyu skewers,

“From day one when we started in the markets, customers have loved it,” Hou said.

Wagyu skewers from Firepop.

“The best part of Wagyu is when we cut it. We get so excited seeing all that beautiful marbling.”

He’s so passionate about the nuances of this top-tier meat that they’ve added a custom glass-

enclosed temperature-controlled cool room so people can watch every step of the process.

Ray Hou slicing the Wagyu.

“The producers (wagyu farmers) work so hard to get to this point for them to get to this point

— we want to honour that and showcase something that is usually hidden,” he says.

Their signature “pop”, “The Butter,” is made with award-winning and internationally renowned Blackmore Wagyu beef and, when perfectly grilled, “melts in your mouth … like butter,” says Raymond.

Wagyu skewers on the grill.

At the Levins Lane precinct, there’ll also be The Onigiri Lab and 15 Cenci Japanese Cheesecake, Gacha Gacha vending machines, DJs spinning RNB and K-pop tunes,

and top hits from the 2000s.

LEVINS LANE & GEORGE ST

KOI DESSERT BAR

@ Parramatta Square

The culinary artists at KOI are all in at this year’s festival, revealing their new and novel

seasonal cakes — each design as delectable in flavour as it is in design.

“Parramatta Lane is a yearly event that we always look forward to! It is such an amazing feeling to be able to support my local council,” says Ronald Poernomo, KOI co-owner and resident.

A sample of KOI’s desserts.

“This year, we’re sharing something new and exciting at the festival — our Spring Collection cakes. You can expect bright colours and bold flavours”.

And in keeping with the seasonal influences, there are nods to nature, with chocolate fondant blossoms and butterflies, pastels, and jewel tones, such as the sky-blue mirror-glaze of Daydream — with flavours of vanilla, thyme, elderflower, blueberry, and mint. 

Daydream by KOI.

Like all of KOI’s desserts, each cake balances artistry and innovative flavours, an ethos

perfectly aligned with the festival’s “Eats and Art” themes.

Also at Parramatta Square will be Filipino street food and BBQ from Hoy Pinoy and the fluffy Greek doughnut balls (Loukoumades) from Yiayias Honey Balls, plus local musos and a funk-soul stage with radio station 2SER.

DARCY ST & MACQUARIE ST

THICC COOKIES

@ Pup Culture at Lennox Bridge

Follow the intoxicating smell of freshly baked chocolate chip biscuits to Pup Culture, the

dog-friendly precinct at Lenox Bridge, where you’ll find THICC Cookies and their snooker

ball-sized morsels of ooey-gooey goodness.

Their sweet sensations are a regular at Sydney markets and festivals, but for co-owner Christopher Scheldrik, Parramatta Lanes is a particularly special event.

Chocolate chip cookie from THICC cookies.

“THICC Cookies is absolutely thrilled to be a part of this year’s Parramatta Lanes Festival!” he said.

“As a local business located within the Parramatta LGA, being invited to this event holds special significance to us, and we are excited at the opportunity to showcase our new THICC Cookie Pies exclusively for this event!

Chocolate chip cookie from THICC cookies.

“Our classic THICC Cookies, baked into a pie with a variety of delicious toppings to smash together a classic combo of warm cookies and chocolate, with cold cooling ice cream”.

Here, you’ll also find chocolate-covered fruit from James & the Chocolate Berry and delicious plant-based doughnuts from OMG! Decadent Donuts.

For your canine companions, there’s an agility course and an array of handmade doggie treats. Commemorate the moment with some pics in the doggie photo zones, then kick back and enjoy the silent cinema.

LENNOX BRIDGE, CHURCH ST