Often billed as Sydney’s second Chinatown, Burwood has a deserved reputation as one of Sydney’s most delicious suburbs, but the past five years have seen it go from locals’ haunt to serious destination. Plenty of it has to do with the 2019 launch of its official Chinatown precinct, a neon-lit eating extravaganza, while council has plans to pedestrianise Burwood Road in the coming years.

For Miriam Wassef, executive manager of place management and communication at Burwood Council, Burwood’s appeal can be explained in part by its residents.

“We have such a multicultural community,” she says, citing that over 40 per cent of residents are from an Asian background, with more than 70 per cent speaking a language other than English at home. “For us, food is synonymous with culture, and it’s an incredible opportunity for our community to be exposed to and celebrate traditions over a bite to eat.”

And as much as Haymarket’s Chinatown should be celebrated, Wassef says Burwood offers something different.

“For us, what we think is the unique selling point of Burwood Chinatown is that we have a mix of more anchor, restaurant-style business, but also very hawker-style eateries,” she says. “It doesn’t really matter what your budget is, it doesn’t matter if you want to walk through or spend a few hours in Burwood Chinatown, you kind of feel like there’s something for everyone.”

Hong Kong Bing Sutt

Burwood train station puts you right in the thick of the action. Head right and the first stop is Hong Kong Bing Sutt just off Burwood Road, which also happens to be an excellent choice for breakfast. A cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style cafe), the Burwood branch is the original, and the place to pair lai cha, or milk tea, with a soft pineapple bun loaded with scrambled eggs and butter, or bowls of steaming congee. The pork chop rice is also a classic, while their neighbouring space specialises in cart noodles.

Shop 8, 11-15 Deane Street, Burwood

Taste of Shanghai

Back on Burwood Road, and opposite Burwood Park, you’ll find Taste of Shanghai. Founded by Shanghai-born Jennifer Du, Burwood is the brand’s flashiest outpost, and features the likes of live lobster or abalone (try the former two ways, first as sashimi, then flash-fried with ginger-shallot; try the second dipped in master stock) alongside golden bursting sheng jian bao dumplings, braised bamboo shoots and the saucy Shanghainese noodles known as cu chao mian.

Westfield, 173-5, 100 Burwood Road, Burwood

1915 Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Cross the underpass and head towards Burwood Chinatown proper, and it’s worth checking in on The Burwood Hotel, which often hosts competitive mahjong nights on Mondays. Straight over the road, though, in the 1892 former post office, is perpetually pumping 1915 Lanzhou Beef Noodles. The namesake, a specialty of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province in north-central China, is one very special bowl. Expect hand-pulled wheat noodles in clear, sweet beef broth topped with chilli oil, slips of daikon, a slice or three of beef and spring onion and coriander. Add sides, like pickled cabbage or a soy sauce egg, to round it out.

168A Burwood Road, Burwood

Isan Tum Zaap and Lovin’ Lamb

Skip back across the road and there’s a chance to hit a couple of takeaway stalls, including Isan Tum Zaap and Lovin’ Lamb. Stop at the former and the north-eastern Thai specialties shine, particularly the som tum, available in three spice levels and with the optional additions of pickled crab and fermented fish, as does the larb, and the fermented Isaan sausages known as sai krog Isaan, which are available to buy raw. Pull up at the latter and it’s the Northern Chinese Xinjiang lamb skewers, hot from the grill and heady with cumin and chilli, that are the order of the day.

Burwood Chinatown, shop 125A Burwood Road, Burwood (Isan Tum Zaap); shop 3 (Lovin’ Lamb)

Burwood Chinatown

First announced in 2017 and developed in stages, Burwood Chinatown now features more than 50 stalls spread over two levels and an alleyway. Throughout, neon lights blaze and hungry diners flit from stall to stall – many set up hawker-style.

Highlights in the upstairs food court include Perfect Tofu for gelatinous mung bean noodles in chilli sauce (liang fen) and stinky tofu, Kwafood Fried Skewer for flash-fried skewers dusted in chilli (try the giblet, potato or beef sticks) and Singapore Hawker for Hainanese chicken rice.

On the ground floor, Hello Pot Stew offers phoenix claws (chicken feet) braised to tenderness or crisp fried, along with gelatinous pork trotters hit with chilli and spring onion, while Guo Kui Master serves tandoor-baked flatbreads stuffed with the likes of lamb or preserved vegetable.

Out back, there’s cooked-to-order Japanese takoyaki at Go Go Yaki, Korean rice cakes at Siroo, plus night markets offering grilled chicken wings stuffed with sticky rice and Filipino-style pork belly skewers every Thursday to Sunday.

127-133 Burwood Road, Burwood

Ice Kirin Bar and Kariton Sorbetes

All those snacks mean it’s dessert time. Cross back over to Ice Kirin Bar, a “tea-infused gelato” specialist to sample Earl Grey milk tea, genmaicha or premium Kuki black-sesame gelato, flavours rarely seen elsewhere in Sydney, along with wildly popular frozen mochi gelato. “Burwood is slowly becoming the new symbol of the latest Chinatown in Sydney,” says owner John Chan. “I literally didn’t think of anywhere else to be the starting point.”

Meanwhile, John Rivera of Melbourne’s cult Filipino gelateria Kariton Sorbetes opened the brand’s first Sydney shopfront last May right here in Burwood. Rivera notes it was the suburb’s vibrancy and energy that encouraged him to launch here, and the kaleidoscopic fit-out is made to match. Go for one scoop of indigo ube gelato with purple-yam fudge, another of durian chiffon, and eat them in a cup, or stuffed into a pandesal, the Filipino sweet bun.

Shop G03, 180-186 Burwood Road, Burwood; 173 Burwood Road, Burwood

Leung Tim Choppers Co

A Burwood staple for more than 25 years, Leung Tim is the only shop in Australia specialising in the renowned Hong Kong-manufactured cleavers. Compared with Western and Japanese knives, Leung Tim “choppers” tend to put function over form, but there’s beauty in their utility. Choose between carbon steel or stainless, between a hefty gu dao or a lighter cai dao – one for going through bone, the other for slicing – or a chopper, blurring the line. Whatever the angle, Monica Leung and James Hon, who work the counter, will steer you expertly. A standby for home cooks, and countless chefs across Sydney, from those at Mr Wong and China Doll to the local barbecue shop.

198 Burwood Road, Burwood

My Aunt’s Handmade Noodles

It’s all in the name at this brightly lit newcomer, which has quickly gained a dedicated fan base for its noodles – so many noodles – hand-pulled to order. The menu is vast, with soup noodles, dry noodles, fried noodles, rice noodles and more, plus juicy lamb ribs dredged in cumin salt. Kick off with a plate of vinegary thwacked cucumber salad, then follow it up with the signature biang biang noodles (so named for the slapping noise they make when they hit the bench), slick and spicy with chilli oil and powder, and satisfyingly chewy. Another plus? Free refills.

226 Burwood Road, Burwood

Xi’an Eatery

Less new, but just as essential is Xi’an Eatery, where biang biang noodles are also a headline order, the Shaanxi staple handmade daily and served hot or cold under a rubbly topping of egg, tomato, pork, spring onions and chilli. The liang pi, or cold skin noodles, are equally appealing, while the roujiamo – flatbread stuffed with fatty pork or cumin-scented beef – is an essential add-on.

183D Burwood Road, Burwood

Apandim Uyghur Restaurant

Uighur cuisine puts the spotlight on the north-west of China and its signature dishes. Roll up to Apandim Uyghur Restaurant for the Uighur-style pilaf known as polo, topped with fatty lamb, pair it with a tiger salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, coriander and chilli, then add a plate of ding ding noodles and goshnan, which sees pastry stuffed with cumin-rich lamb and fried. And don’t skip the tawa kawap, a house special featuring more slow-cooked lamb served enticingly over naan.

189 Burwood Road, Burwood