Enjoying delicious food is one of my favorite things to do and it gave me a great reason to explore all over Sydney. Sydney cuisine is a unique mix that provides traditional British meals like meat pies, authentic Asian dishes, Mediterranean foods, and American plates like barbeque. If you like trying new food, Sydney is the perfect city. The following list provides restaurants and locations that I have found around the city so far with great food at more than reasonable prices.
- Two Wolves Community Cantina
Two Wolves is a non-profit community-driven restaurant that is founded in culture and good company. It is located right next to the University of Sydney’s main campus, on the corner of Broadway Street. The entire wait staff is comprised of volunteers and all the profits go to funding service opportunities for Australian youth to serve in disadvantage communities locally and overseas. Not only does Two Wolves have a great mission and atmosphere, it has great deals on food and drinks. My favorite is Wednesday 50 cent wing night where you can easily fill up on 3 different flavors of wings for under $10. My favorite flavor is agave. A few times I have been there they have also had live music, which adds to the attraction of the cozy and welcoming atmosphere of Two Wolves. This is a great spot to indulge in a plate of wings after a long day of classes.
- El Camino
El Camino is a bar/restaurant in The Rocks district near the Sydney Harbor. It mixes American Tex-Mex with Rock and Roll and plays classic rock music through a juke box located in the back of the bar. El Camino has food deals every day of the week, including endless chips and salsa as well as cheap margaritas. Tuesday is my favorite time to go as this spot offers $2 taco night. You can pick between a choice of beef or chicken soft shell tacos with free queso on the side. One Tuesday, my friend won a friendly bet by destroying 20 of these tacos in 20 minutes. Unfortunately, food challenges are not popular in Australia and the surprised wait staff did not reward him with a free t-shirt or picture on the wall as is customary in the States. According to their website, El Camino also has 10 cent wing Wednesdays and bottomless brunches on Saturday and Sunday. This Australian take on American Tex-Mex and Rock and Roll provides food deals for the budget conscious student and a great atmosphere in one of the coolest districts in Sydney.
- Salts, Meats, and Cheeses
Right across from Broadway Shopping Center is the restaurant Salts, Meats, and Cheeses. Typically, these gourmet pizzas fall out of my price range, but on Monday’s Salts, Meats, and Cheeses has all you can eat pizza for $20. Although all the you can eat option doesn’t include the whole menu, there are six options including vegetarian to cater to all tastes. Due to the way the all you can eat is set up, it is best to go with a small group. After the first round the waiter is only able to bring out two pies, the one pie per round after that. Although you can technically stay all night and eat as much as you want, it took us as a group of six people 2 hours to be served 4 rounds. It took a long time but we left full and happy. If you like quality all you can eat pizza, check out Salts, Meats, and Cheeses on Mondays for $20.
These are three great places for large budget meals. Another great way to find extraordinary meals that don’t break the bank are to explore neighborhoods of Sydney. My two favorite areas to find awesome food at reasonable prices are Newtown and Chinatown.
- Newtown is on the outskirts of the city center, sharing a border with the University of Sydney’s main campus. Reminiscent of the Allston or Brookline neighborhoods In Boston, Newtown is colorful cultural hub dominated by delicious restaurants, vintage stores, and art outlets. I was able to find many specialty restaurants along King Street, which dominates this neighborhood. Newtown is awesome to explore at all hours of the day and has an exciting nightlife to complement the many delicious eats. For more information check out the neighborhood’s personalized website: http://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/inner-sydney/newtown
- Another great neighborhood to explore is Chinatown. In addition to offering great shops and rich history, Chinatown offers the best traditional Chinese cuisine. All the restaurants offer an authentic atmosphere and reasonably priced dishes. Hidden restaurants and busy, crowded markets offer endless exploration opportunities to find and try new foods. For more information check out the website: http://sydney-chinatown.info/
Although Sydney offers countless food options, the University of Sydney’s campus also has multiple restaurants to cater to hungry college students. I recommend buying an Access card from the University website. This card is required to participate in all school clubs and organizations and it gives students discounts at all food and coffee shops on campus as well as access to occasional free food deals. For example, this past week I used my access card to get a free coffee from a promotional stand on campus. My favorite eateries on campus is Kebab Bros in the Wentworth Building and the Coffee Shop in the Abercrombie Business School. At Kebab Bros, you can get a meat box combo – rice or fries and your choice of meat – for $8.50 with the access card. This massive box has often fed me for two full meals. The coffee shop in Abercrombie Business School has arguable the best cup of Long Black (plain black coffee in Australian) and delicious hot food meals for reasonable prices.
This list sums up some of the best restaurants and locations in Sydney for a college-student budget that I have found so far, I plan on updating this list when I find more so check back in!
