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With all respect to Sydney’s omakase counters, tasting menus, seafood temples and grand brasseries, a lot of the time we just want a great bowl of noodles. Or a cracking sandwich. Maybe some fried chicken. A steadying pasta. A little lamb shashlik. And dumplings, of course. Always dumplings.

As the cost of living keeps rising, restaurants that provide affordable and delicious food are set to become even more vital to Sydney’s dining culture. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite semi-hidden gems, hot new eateries and old faithfuls where you can order a two-course meal (or the equivalent in snacks) for less than $40. Enjoy!

North and North-West

At The Coffee Shop x Sou Ramen Lab, North Sydney

“Coffee and ramen” is the straight-up pitch of this newcomer in North Sydney’s business hub. The coffee: rich and Colombian. The ramen: largely chicken-based and courtesy of one-time Gumshara chef Takeshi Sekigawa. Complex broths, such as the “Ritchi Ritchi” slow-cooked with chicken feet and apple, sustain daytime workers, and a Saturday service recently launched, so you can also fill up on gyoza without needing to return to the office.

5/141 Walker Street, North Sydney, atthecoffeeshopns.square.site

Chatkazz, Bella Vista

Efficient staff manage a mammoth menu of Indian street-food dishes and categories, from “Mumbai Roadside Specials” to “Sweets and Sizzling Desserts”. For some, it’s an excellent adventure. For many others, it’s just dinner. Whatever section you delve into, dosa pancakes are a given, but consider vada too (little black-lentil doughnuts served with coconut and tomato chutneys). Also at Harris Park.

A1/24-32 Lexington Drive, Bella Vista, chatkazz.com.au

La Latina, Chatswood

A compact eatery and grocery in one, but also an inviting portal into Latin American cuisine, whether you’re ordering obleas (caramel-sealed wafers the size of a face shield), waiting for your empanada of melted cheese and guava to cool, or grabbing a sweet Argentinian alfajore sandwich cookie from the fridge.

82 Archer Street, Chatswood, lalatina.yqme.com.au

Nanyang Malaya, Macquarie Park

Billy Chong and Kaisern Ching missed travelling to South-East Asia to eat when the pandemic set in, so the longtime pals opened their own take on Singaporean-Malay kopitiam coffee-shop-style cooking in Marrickville in 2021. A Macquarie Park location launched last year, and it’s a bright and busy joint for laksa, chicken rice, rendang, roti and superb char kway teow. We’re big fans of the beer and wine selection too.

297 Lane Cove Road, Macquarie Park, nanyangmalaya.com.au

Norma’s Deli, Manly

A big fat Greek deli by a big shimmering ocean. James Sideris, founder of Manly croissant hotspot Rollers Bakehouse, launched this sprawling diner, grocer and sourdough specialist in January. There are cold cuts, tarts and heaving focaccias to take home, while a herby moussaka is the go at lunch. Also note the taramasalata toast with soft-boiled eggs for breakfast.

74/78 The Corso, Manly, normasdeli.com

Randy’s Wine, Avalon

The team behind Avalon’s Bar Elvina opened Randy’s last year, just in time for summer. It’s a chic little joint pouring natural wine and shucking oysters to order, and perfect for a post-beach Negroni Sbagliato in your favourite pair of thongs. Hand-filleted sardines with lemon zest and thyme are the vibe for sundowners, and crowd-pleasing sandwiches like Moreton Bay bug on a milk bun can turn afternoon drinks into dinner.

Shop 1/50 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach, randyswine.com.au

Shahrood Restaurant, Ryde

In the shadow of the Top Ryde shopping centre, family-run Shahrood provides some of Sydney’s most comforting Persian food. Cooling and yoghurt-y kashke bademjan eggplant dip is a must, topped with craggy bits of fried onion and served with soft and blistered flatbread. From there, it’s barberry rice with juicy chicken marylands, perhaps, or herby lamb stew ghormeh sabzi and a chopped shirazi salad of tomatoes and cucumber.

120 Blaxland Road, Ryde, shahrood-restaurant-ryde.yumbojumbo.com.au

CBD and East

Beau & Dough, Surry Hills

Sydney has hundreds of places to score a great zaatar manoush – surely one of the world’s great breakfasts – but none of them are baked in a chic brutalist space quite like this, the Nomad crew’s new celebration of pizza-like Levantine bread. Zingy spiced lamb manoush flatbread makes for quick, light-ish lunch, perhaps with a Middle Eastern chopped salad and spot of people-watching on the side.

52 Reservoir Street, Surry Hills, beau.sydney

Caysorn, Haymarket

Located in a sleepy commercial complex, Caysorn’s decor is understated, but the staff are always smiling and keen to recommend favourite dishes – many with sweat-inducing spice levels and bold, pungent, sour flavours. Kanom jeen (fermented rice noodles) is available in six variations including nam ya, a hot and spicy curry flecked with fresh crab, and the noodles do a bang-up job absorbing all the coconut goodness.

Shop 106-108A, 8 Quay Street, Haymarket, caysorn.com.au

Fabbrica, CBD

A sandwich, pasta and retail store by day from the team behind Ragazzi in Angel Place, Fabbrica is also a swell little spot for post-work supper. The menu expands in the evening with more snacky things such as pork croquettes and fried artichoke with salsa verde, while larger dishes such as mafaldine all’Amatriciana and springy trottole pasta with peas and cotechino sausage keep things under budget. Also in Balmain.

161 King Street, Sydney, ciaofabbrica.com

Grape Garden, Potts Point

Hand-pulled noodle fans missing Grape Garden’s spicy, porky dan-dan soup from its old Chatswood stall will be thrilled to know the family has resurfaced at a humble hole-in-the-wall in Kings Cross. Dumplings are a major focus too, available poached or pan-fried with lacy bottoms, and stuffed with punchy one-two combinations such as beef and celery, and lamb and zucchini.

Shop 3, 2/14 Bayswater Road, Potts Point, instagram.com/grapegardenbeijingcuisine

Kabul Social, CBD

Similar to its sister venue, Enmore’s Colombo Social, this place is big on social impact, flavour and effort. Ashak, usually saved for weddings and special occasions in Afghanistan, takes two women all day to make, and the hand-rolled dumplings topped with spiced tomato and lentils are always rewarding to eat. Other highlights include lamb mantu dumplings and a fried eggplant burger.

Shop T15, MetCentre, 60 Margaret Street, Sydney, kabulsocial.com

Mother Chu’s Taiwanese Gourmet, Haymarket

In Taiwan, eating is guided less by the clock than it is by your cravings. That all-day spirit is on full display at this three-decade-old Dixon Street eatery where students scoff oyster omelettes under wooden awnings, grandfathers linger over scallion pancakes and you’re more than likely to be interrupted by a rogue toddler brandishing a golden-brown youtiao dough stick.

Shop 1, 84-88 Dixon Street, Haymarket, facebook.com/MyChuMama

Takam, Darlinghurst

When the owner of Don’t Doughnuts decided his bakery was too big for just one operator, he invited his chef friends from home-delivery service Takam to come down and cook their vibrant Filipino food. Dinners are on the cards, but for now it’s all about a brunch service starring garlicky longganisa sausage with egg and fried rice, smoked eggplant omelette, and coal-roasted chicken inasal marinated in lemongrass and served with pickled pawpaw.

324 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, instagram.com/takam.syd

Tento, Surry Hills

Since the Japanese Edo period, people have revitalised leftover rice by pouring green tea over cold grains. Tento levels up the comfort by filling teapots with a creamy seven-vegetable broth. Pour it over the sculptural rice ball and the air blooms with the scent of buttered popcorn. A Kyoto alleyway feel is backed by flourishes such as ramen bowls handcrafted by co-owner Ryota Kumasaka, and the matcha dessert resembles a raked Japanese garden.

3/8 Hill Street, Surry Hills, tento.com.au

Bar Copo, Bondi

It’s a Friday afternoon, it’s hot, and you’re in Bondi. In that case, there are few more fun ways to cool down than with an ocean dip followed by a Fernet-Branca and cola at Copo. The lively boozer channels Brazilian beach-bar culture with highball cocktails and a smart menu of snacks and sandwiches. Chicken heart skewers and pickled mussels are the right idea, and the chorizo and chimichurri choripan roll demands another margarita.

101 Hall Street, Bondi, barcopo.com

Fish Shop, Bondi

A cool-as-ice locals’ favourite and celebration of everything pescatarian. There’s much to love about a hunk of AP Bakery sourdough slathered with aioli and mussels, or the bowl of tender calamari lazing in a pool of aromatic garlic oil, but it’s the day’s pasta selection – maybe cuttlefish rigatoni in a creamy red-pepper sauce – that makes the biggest splash.

87 Glenayr Avenue, Bondi, fishshop.com.au

Savion, North Bondi

As hummus continues its world domination, take a moment to revisit one of the best versions in Sydney. Since 1996, Bondi locals have been popping by this much-loved Israeli takeaway for a falafel fix after the beach. Get your lamb shashlik in a pita pocket to go, or dine in with a chicken shawarma plate heaving with super fresh salads, baba ghanoush and that deliriously creamy hummus.

1/38 Wairoa Ave, North Bondi

South and South-West

Ayam Bakar 7 Saudara, Penshurst

It’s strictly home-style Indonesian cooking here, with the namesake dish (grilled chicken) involving tender, marinated pieces of chook thigh or breast with a touch of kecap manis sweetness. Beef rendang is perfect with coconut rice, the giving parcels of meat tearing apart with the slightest touch of a fork, while tahu telor is a gently deep-fried tofu omelette with crisp edges drizzled in spicy-sweet sauce. Brilliant.

34 Penshurst Street, Penshurst, facebook.com/ab7saudara

Flyover Fritterie and Chai Bar, Redfern

A colourful spot popular with local students and young families. Everyone loves the dosa potato jaffle bursting with peanut chutney and turmeric-yellow spuds, plus the brilliant chai made from scratch each day. Individual silverbeet, broccoli and cabbage pakoras are piled onto a mixed fritter plate and everything is vegetarian (but mostly vegan).

88 Regent Street, Redfern, flyoverfritterie.com.au

Golden Unicorn, Maroubra

The Unicorn has been easing hangovers and feeding families for the past two decades. A bustling yum cha service is the big drawcard (don’t miss the silky prawn cheung fun rice noodle rolls and crispy taro puffs), and if there’s six or more in your group, a banquet option becomes available featuring all the dim sum hits.

2/193 Maroubra Road, Maroubra, goldenunicorn.com.au

Han Soup Bar, Mascot

Thanks to a flurry of residential development over the past few years, Mascot has become a food destination worth travelling many postcodes for. Han, especially, attracts non-local customers, keen to inhale double-boiled soups as eastern medicine. Ingredients range from the familiar (quail, pork ribs) to shark bone, dried roots and sea snail. Dumplings and lotus-leaf-steamed rice round out the menu.

Shop 5, 6 Galloway Street, Mascot

Itacate & Mexican Deli, Redfern

An outpost of Rosa Cienfuegos’ Dulwich Hill tamaleria, this is a market stall at heart, brightly presented as an eat-in and takeaway cafe and Mexican deli. It’s also a mini masterclass in Mexican street eats, from soft little corn tacos of chicken tinga (the meat shredded into a sauce of chipotle chillies in adobo) to plump burritos of beans and cheese, and tamales of poblano pepper.

Shop 2 and 3, 129-133 Redfern Street, Redfern, mexicanfoodaustralia.com/itacate

Mrs Ding, Botany

From the metaphorical ashes of former Kensington stalwart Chairman Mao, loved by hatted chefs and students alike, this bright, modern eatery marked the restaurant return of Andrew Bao and the home-style Hunan cooking of Dingjun Li. While flavours are often dialled up to 11, dishes are also beautifully balanced, from silky stir-fried eggplant glossed with black bean sauce and fiery green chilli, to unctuous, melting, steamed five-spice pork belly.

Shop 1-2, 1366 Botany Road, Botany, mrsding.com.au

Shalom, Kingsford

The stretch of Anzac Parade near Kingsford tram stop is packed with delicious eateries, including Malaysian stalwart Albee’s and Indonesian chicken specialist Ayam Goreng 99. Shalom also has our heart, particularly for its marinated steak pulsing with fresh chilli sambal, and soto betawi (Jakarta-style beef soup), deeply flavoured with coconut, cardamom and all manner of spices. Also in the CBD and Mascot.

2/458 Anzac Parade, Kingsford, shalomrestaurant.com.au

Sun Ming, Hurstville

Cha chaan teng cafes like Sun Ming are known for seafood, and second-generation owner-chef David Chan excels at steamed and butterflied garlic king prawns that delicately pull apart from their shells. Pucks of lightly fried silken tofu served on a sizzling plate are delicious over rice, while the signature dish belongs to Chan’s grandmother – sticky rice with lap cheong sausage that’s smoky and sweet.

173A Forest Road, Hurstville, sunminghurstville.com.au

West and Inner-West

Al Shami, Merrylands

One of Sydney’s few Syrian restaurants, Al Shami is a bright and smartly run spot for kibbeh, lamb skewers and all your favourite dips and cold mezze. The “home-style” section of the menu is rich with rarer dishes such as shakriyeh (fall-apart lamb shank and yoghurt stew) and kabsa rice cooked with aromatic spices. The marinated chicken is excellent too.

102-106 Railway Terrace, Merrylands, alshamirestaurant.com.au

An Restaurant, Bankstown

12.45: Arrive at a spotlessly clean table. 12.46: Choose one of nine beef pho noodle soups, or one of five chicken. 12.47: Platters of fresh chilli, bean sprouts and leafy herbs land on the table. 12.48: Steaming bowls of pho arrive, smelling sweetly of star anise and cardamom, and you become as one with your fellow An devotees, adding fish sauce and tearing leaves into the pure, clean-tasting broth.

27 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown, anrestaurant.com.au

Apandim Uyghur Restaurant, Burwood

If there’s one pie you need in life, it’s the goshnan – a bundle of lamb, onion and cumin encased in home-made pastry and pan-fried to a bubbled crisp. Daub it with the chilli sauce on each table. Eat. Enjoy. Arrive hungry for Apandim, which is often busy with expats and locals chatting over plates of hand-pulled noodles and giant metal skewers of lamb fragrant with more cumin.

189 Burwood Road, Burwood, apandim-uyghur-restaurant.business.site

Cairo Takeaway, Newtown

Order the falafel. They’re wonderfully crisp, and when served as part of the mixed vegetarian plate, they’re paired with eggah (baked parsley and onion omelette), charred cauliflower, pickled vegetables and soft pita. The koshari is a must, a nest of golden-fried onions on tomato and garlic salsa, chickpeas, lentils and tiny tubes of ditalini pasta. Share dishes over a BYO bottle if you’re early enough to score a table.

81 Enmore Road, Newtown, cairotakeaway.com

Gursha Ethiopian, Blacktown

So what … is wot? If you don’t know Ethiopian cuisine just yet, this friendly eatery hung with flags of the world can get you up to speed in the most delicious way. Simmered-sauce dishes (wot) are heady with earthy spices and teem with chicken and beef, or lentils, split peas, kale and more. Start with a dollop of raw beef, white cheese and chilli, then head straight to the wot with injera (Ethiopian flatbread).

3/115 Main Street, Blacktown, gurshaethiopian.au

Hai Au Lang Nuong, Canley Vale

It’s always a delightful sensory overload at this cheery eatery, where smoke from the charcoal grill billows across decorative rickshaws. In a dining room strung with blinking fairy lights and vines, families hunker over simmering steamboats and regional specialities, including mudfish claypot and betel-leaf parcels of marinated beef.

48 Canley Vale Road, Canley Vale, haiaulangnuong.cafeleader.com

Hansang, Strathfield

Be prepared to wait for a table at this giant-sized space where patience is rewarded with spicy pork-neck hot pot and a dizzying procession of banchan (small Korean side dishes). Chicken and ginseng soup restores body and spirit, a kimchi pancake is delightfully crisp, and the stone pots are Korean cooking at its most nourishing. But, at the end of the day, it’s all about the oxtail soup with its unctuous, milky broth.

Shop 2, 8-14 Lyons Street, Strathfield, hansangsydney.com.au

La Mono, Casula

El Jannah is fine and all, but south-west families in the know flock to La Mono for a juicier charcoal chook – one with crinkly, sticky, golden skin that would love nothing more than to be wrapped in Lebanese bread and loaded with pickles and highly addictive garlic sauce (don’t think about the calories). Fattoush salad, hummus and vine leaves are all nifty sides, and chips are more or less mandatory. Also at Merrylands.

613 Hume Highway, Casula, lamono.com.au

Mamu Penang Coffee Stall, Guildford

There’s “authentic”, and then there’s this collection of eight-or-so separately run stalls, which transport you straight to an open-air hawker centre in Penang. Come with a group to get across myriad Malay street-food specialities such as nasi goreng, epic char kway teow, and a refreshing bihun sup (beef noodle soup) with lime. The aroma of charcoal-grilled chicken satay skewers carries at least two blocks. Lucky Guildford.

316 Railway Terrace, Guildford

Naija Jollof, Enmore

Call your mates, fill your plates and get sharing. Dishes rotate regularly at this Nigerian eatery, but you’ll likely find the eponymous jollof rice, all smoky richness and heat, as well as a warming red beef stew and salty-sweet fried plantains. Other players might include a nutty egusi soup made with melon seeds, tangy peanut stew, and crisp-skinned chicken Maryland pieces with red chilli sauce. Big flavours, big fun. Assemble your crew.

205 Enmore Road, Enmore, naijajollofsydney.com

Ruby’s, Concord

Could Nashville-style be the greatest type of fried chicken? A controversial opinion – and all respect to hyper-crunchy Korean fried chook – but there’s something about the cayenne-heavy coating of Nashville hot chicken that keeps us coming back for more. Find one of Sydney’s best versions in wings or sandwich form at Ruby’s and grab a rib-sticking mac and cheese on the side.

55 Majors Bay Road, Concord, rubysfriedchicken.com.au

Song Fang Khong, Fairfield

Lao food is similar, but often more bitter and pungent than Thai cuisine, and nearly every table here orders the raw beef salad (served with fresh herbs and grounded roasted rice), which is savoury and zesty before hitting you with a big wallop of spice. Meanwhile, crispy fried rice with pickled ham and dried school prawns is a crunch-fest with every bite, featuring perfectly crisped-up chunks of rice immersed among tender cured pork.

7 Anzac Avenue, Fairfield

Swanky Noodle, Parramatta

Swanky is a stalwart in the shadow of Westfield shopping centre, and its new owners, who took over last year, have the chops to make it a success for decades to come. Thick and chewy hand-pulled noodles are a speciality – perhaps sliding about with Sichuan oil and paper-thin beef – but the menu holds plenty of Northern Chinese favourites, including cumin-rubbed lamb and Xinjiang “big plate” chicken loaded with fat noodles and self-assured spice.

131 Church Street, Parramatta, swankynoodle.com.au

VN Street Foods, Marrickville

Bright flavours and generous portions are a big part of the charm at this Vietnamese diner. In summer, an icy coconut drink with delicate rice-paper rolls is your go-to speedy supper. In winter, soupy bowls of bun cha (pork meatballs). Huge banana-leaf platters are always excellent value, strewn with snowy threads of vermicelli or sticky rice, tender herbs and crisp chicken or beef rolled in peppery betel-leaf cigars.

294 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, vnstreetfoods.com.au