James O'Brien

For many years I’ve been a fan of the two dumpling/noodle restaurants in the Burlington Centre in Sydney’s Chinatown. There’s the “popular one” (the one on the left) which always has a queue, and there’s the “less popular one” (on the right) where you can usually get a table fairly quickly. Both sell reasonably cheap, good quality dumplings and noodles. There are countless other restaurants and cafes in Chinatown where you can purchase steamed or pan-fried dumplings, in both Northern and Southern Chinese styles, but these two seem to be the most popular in the part of Chinatown close to where I work.

But even closer, around the corner, there’s far better offering in my opinion at the Chinatown Noodle House on Quay Street. Unlike many other restaurants who pre-prepare and often freeze their noodles and dumplings, these guys appear to make them for you “on demand”. You have to wait a bit longer, but they’re definitely worth the wait. They also have a really fantastic eggplant dish. Highly recommended.