Cheap eats? (Mostly interested in Inner West Sydney around Burwood/Strathfield)

illumination on 12/01/2015 - 00:03
Last edited 13/01/2015 - 23:03

The poll question is..
How much do you tend to spend on main meals?

I'm a big fan of cheap Asian food.
Around Burwood/Strathfield…

there used to be:

Cafe Aroma, Burwood Rd, Burwood - HK style cafe food - was good for baked rice - they have now moved to Croydon Park
Bagan, The Boulevard, Strathfield - Burmese food (similar to Thai) - was very good value for money and had a great value veggie dish (Steamed Kai Lan for about $6) - suddenly closed down a few months ago and no idea where they are now.
Pom's Thai, Burwood Rd, Burwood - Thai place with lunch special every day of the week for $8.50 until 3pm. They had awesome chicken fried rice.

All three of these places have now closed/moved.

In particular, I really miss Bagan because it's been a few months since they closed, and I am struggling to find a place that sells a veggie dish for cheap. I always feel guilty for not eating veggies with my meals, but a lot of places charge $10+ for a veggie dish which feels very expensive relative to the price of meat dishes.

Cafe Aroma still exist, just that they have moved but they are still good.

Pom's Thai only closed within the last 2 weeks and are supposedly moving to Parramatta Rd, Homebush - but I have no idea when and where exactly. Pom's Thai were special because they had the worst interior and exterior. A classic case of "don't judge a book by its cover". I liked it though, because it meant it was always quiet. Hidden gem, I call it.

Other good places in Sydney:

Albee's Kitchen, Beamish St, Campsie ; Card payments for $35+ (paypass accepted) ; Open 7 days - huge portions, great tasting Malaysian food and awesome curry puffs. Has lines during busy periods.
Cinta Rasa, Beamish St, Campsie ; Cash only ; Closed Tuesdays - also great tasting Malaysian food, slightly cheaper than Albee's Kitchen (and great price for their teh tarek, $2) - also a bit of a hidden gem.
Pine Inn, Parramatta Rd, Burwood - cheap "bar" food (fish and chips, steak, spaghetti bolognese, calamari rings) with a huge portion of salad + chips for $11.
My Chinese Kitchen, Burwood Rd, Burwood ; debit cards only - similar to Pom's Thai above in that it is a bit of a "don't judge a book by its cover" kind of place. Design is very "meh", but in particular their pork dumpling buns (xiao long bao) are quite good, and considering most people go to Ashfield to line up for this kind of thing, it's great to have one close by that is not busy.
Tea+, Clarence St, Burwood ; Cash only - famous for its soil milk tea drink, but also has decent portions for meals as well. Consistently has people waiting for seats.
Ashfield Wests Yum Cha ; Cards accepted (paypass accepted) - has probably the most consistent tasting/quality yum cha that I have had in Sydney. Their siu mai are very good.
Thai On Wok, Glebe Point Rd, Glebe ; Cash only - their pad see ew is the best I have had anywhere in Sydney. However, I find that their pad see ew is terrible for takeaway. Quite odd. They have $9 lunch specials. Their Pad thai is also good too, but doesn't taste quite like the pad thai served it other places (less saucy). Not so cheap for dinner.
Delicious Satay Restaurant, Kingsford ; Cash only - their steamed rice/chicken rice is very tasty. Could almost eat it alone. Great value too. Their set meals come with soup and a small dessert (usually slices of rock melon or orange)
Sushizilla, Central Park, Broadway ; Card accepted (paypass accepted) ; Open 7 days - sushi train for $2/plate after 5pm weekdays and all day weekend. decent variety

My questions are:

1) What are your favourite cheap places to eat? Factor in portion size and taste. I don't really care too much about service and ambience, as long as it is not crap. To me, being able to get a main that can fill you up for $8-12 is key. No sides/drinks necessary.
2) Where can you find good tasting, cheapo and reasonably sized veggie dishes? By cheap (specifically for veggie) I mean about $4-8.

Poll Options

1
$5-10
5
$10.01-$15.00
1
$15.01-$20.00
0
$20.01-$25.00
0
$25.01-$30.00

Food & Grocery

Comments

[Deactivated] on 12/01/2015 - 00:32

Se Jong Korean BBQ Buffet Campsie

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/1681411/restaurant/Sydney/Can…

$13 lunches for all you can eat buffet. Not a massive buffet, but wide enough variety to get you waddling out stuffed to the brim.

I fill myself up with their delicious Korean salads and eat way too much kimchi than I should. Love that place SO much.

They even made up the 'salad bar' to a DIY bibimbap bar a month or two back when I visited. Rice and sauces were available to the side, and everything you could possibly need on a bibimbap was there on offer. So cool. Those alone are $10-15 in restaurants/takeaways/foodcourts. Quality stuff too… all fresh. Like home cooked food :)

nom nom
- illumination on 12/01/2015 - 00:35
  
  Funny you mention this place. I tried them today for lunch for the first time ever. Only thing is I'm not really a fan of Korean food, although I found enough food I liked there today to be satisfied.
  
  They are $15 on weekends for lunch (didn't see their weekday prices). $30+ for dinner. Note that their lunch buffet doesn't include BBQ.
  - [Deactivated] on 12/01/2015 - 00:42
    
    Yep, you beat me to the edit, I just remembered they're $15 now, not $13 anymore lol. Shame.
    
    And I should've made it more clear that the BBQ meats aren't part of the lunch buffet - true.
    
    The cooked foods don't tend to be too 'Korean' (seafood, stir fries, chicken wings, erm, fried rice, what else? sushi, fresh prawns..) but I guess if you don't like Korean food, that does indeed limit the number of dishes you could enjoy from the buffet. It is a tricky place to really suggest to people as it's not a typical 'buffet', so you kinda have to describe it a bit in case it's not what they're expecting or into.
    
    ninjaedit: bloggers experience of their lunch with pics, if anyone's curious :)
    - iridiumstem on 12/01/2015 - 00:58
      
      God, those pictures probably were not the best pictures to see at this time of the hour :S I am drooling.
      
      Anyways, those look genuine enough for me to go and try them. The food looks nice, real nice. Need to honour my heritage once in a while, even though no one I know have ever recognised my nationality in one go.
      
      Also, on similar topic, do you know any decent place to eat near the Haymarket area? :S
    - illumination on 12/01/2015 - 11:12
      
      You're right it's not typically Korean. That's why I was able to kind of enjoy it! And agreed - not your typical buffet.
      
      But yea for example I didn't eat kimchi at all.
      
      I liked their garlic bread… so simple, ugly yet tasty.
    - illumination on 12/01/2015 - 11:24
      
      @AznMitch:
      
      I like the takeaway Satang Thai place on Quay St (near UTS library). Sub-$10 for mains and generous servings. Disclaimer: this place is purely for food. do not take a girl on a date here. She will walk out on you….
      
      Also, make sure you go to the right one. There's Satang Thai restaurant, and there's takeaway. It's quite obvious which one is the cheaper one. They're on opposite sides of the road.
      
      There's also yokyor on Campbell St (same street as Chat Thai). Little bit pricier than the places I have mentioned though, but food is quite good.
    - umamandy on 12/01/2015 - 12:36
      
      @illumination:
      As AznMitch's girlfriend (who got a Ozbargain account under his instruction), too late. He's already thinking of going there for lunch today. :P
    - iridiumstem on 12/01/2015 - 12:56
      
      @umamandy: Who are you?
    - iridiumstem on 12/01/2015 - 13:34
      
      @illumination: Thank you, the meal I had from them were simply amazing :D :D :D
    - illumination on 12/01/2015 - 13:36
      
      @AznMitch:
      
      Get a room guys.
    - illumination on 12/01/2015 - 13:36
      
      @AznMitch:
      
      Where did you eat? Satang Thai or Se Jong?
    - iridiumstem on 12/01/2015 - 13:41
      
      @illumination: Satang Thai. Turns out that it's like 2 minutes walk from where I am staying. I might go Se Jong tomorrow, probably for dinner. :D
[Deactivated] on 12/01/2015 - 00:47

Been to this one? http://www.b-kyu.com/2012/03/ashfield-cafe-malaysian-hercule…

I haven't, but that food blog is pretty awesome when it comes to cheap eats and Asian street food around Sydney, though they do focus more on the city areas.
- illumination on 12/01/2015 - 11:27
  
  Wow I am very impressed. Tempted to try it.. looks decent.
billp on 12/01/2015 - 03:02

ino op said burwood/strathfield but campsie/punchbowl/lakemba have always had the bv cheap eats imo

$5 gets you a large bowl of jook at prosper bun shop on beamish, at the other end the no1 bbq has always been vg, their duck is superb.($12 or $13 eat in? with free soup). there would be 20-30 asian restaurants (sushi/malay/korean/viet rolls/viet noodles/cakes/taiwanese (inside vplus supermarket in campsie centre or on burwood rd, sth side) in between all competing. 4,5 or more of each chemist, asian groceries, korean groceries, massive cheapie/$2 shops, fishmongers, optometrists, heath fund rebateable massages, butchers (eg sirloin $9.50), green groceries is a bit of a cartel imo, great mix of cultures, predominently asian but very multi

belmore still has best korean restaurants - smokey with lotsa soju (& exc. greek butchers), plus fab fresh dofu
punchbowl has leb bakeries/jasmin2 & next door exc. guongdong style restaurant
lakemba has some of the best lebanese in oz
still can't beat cabramatta for a day trip to hanoi…
- illumination on 12/01/2015 - 11:32
  
  "Jook"? Congee?? Not a fan of congee. I can have a big bowl and it not only doesn't feel like it has filled me up, but it usually tastes bland. I mean I know I can add soy sauce to make it tastier but then I just feel guilty. Congee is supposed to be healthy lol.
  
  I haven't tried any of the places you've mentioned, but interesting..
  
  I know of a famous Korean BBQ buffet around Belmore too, but haven't tried that yet. $30ish/person.
  
  Cabramatta - I'd like to try Iron Chef for yum cha. I'm also not a big fan of Vietnamese food so don't know how much I'd enjoy what else Cabramatta has to offer…
derkyft on 12/01/2015 - 10:56

Have you tried Sea Bay Hand Mand Noodles?

181D Burwood Road, Burwood NSW 2134

Sub 10 dollar noodles and the portions are quite big

Give them a shot. Always has people waiting outside

Guess you're in my area too OP :)
- illumination on 12/01/2015 - 11:33
  
  I have and to be honest I don't like it!! I've been there probably about 5 times over the last 6 or 7 years that I've been in the area and the only thing I find decent at sea bay is their fried dumpling bun thing (guo tie?).
  Which noodles do you normally get which are <$10? I thought they were all $10-13. $10-13 is fine to me, just that I don't find sea bay's noodles that good so I don't rate it.
  - derkyft on 12/01/2015 - 11:45
    
    Yea, I've only been a handful of times myself. Everyone seems to like it so I thought I'd suggest it to you too. I'm not a big fan of their signature beef noodles besides it's serving size. I just get the Hot & Sour chopped noodle soup. I think most of the noodle dishes there are 8.5-9.5?
    
    We also go to Ahn Dao up the road when we're too lazy to cook. Pho, crispy chicken and tomato rice etc. Been there for years so it's kind of a staple for me. Just a quick cheap fix for dinner.
    
    Ashfield Yum Cha is solid quality too. Ceci in Strathfield is decent, but a tad pricier. $13-14 dollars a meal but you get side dishes.
    
    edit Oh and also Burwood BBQ Restaurant at 93 Burwood Rd, Burwood 2134. Cheap 2-4 people meals, where you pick a combination of dishes and you get veges/soup/rice/dessert with it. It's pretty good value if you're not eating alone.
    - illumination on 12/01/2015 - 12:00
      
      Nah I'm quite sure the noodle dishes are 10-13ish. Maybe a handful of them are about 9.80?
      
      I've been to Anh Dao. Definitely quite cheap but I find it underwhelming. Mind you.. it does taste quite healthy so I like to go there to get veggie w/ rice meals.
      
      I've walked past Ceci but because I'm not a fan of Korean I haven't eaten there.
      
      Ah, yes Burwood BBQ is quite cheap. But I also find it underwhelming.
      
      In fact, for a similar price (but much further away), I really like Delicious Satay Restaurant in Kingsford. Their steamed rice/chicken rice is great.
illumination on 12/01/2015 - 11:26

Added Thai On Wok in Glebe to the list.. now I feel like eating their pad see ew.
Added Delicious Satay Restaurant, Anzac Parade, Kingsford. Their steamed rice/chicken rice is awesome and they are great value for money.
kati on 12/01/2015 - 13:36

Hey OP, we eat at similar places. I wonder if the rent went up too much and that's why Café Aroma moved to Croydon Park.

Yum cha at Ashfield Wests is good and the bistro is also good for an occasional meal.

Here are the places I frequent for cheap eats

Botoli Burwood (Vietnamese) on Burwood Rd opposite Burwood park
Fusion Burwood (HK style cafe) on Burwood Rd opposite Burwood park
Anh Doa Burwood (Vietnamese) on Burwood Rd a couple of blocks south of Burwood stn
Tasty House Chinese (Vietnamese - despite the name!) on Liverpool Rd, Ashfield
endless dumpling restaurants (Shanghainese) on Liverpool Rd, Ashfield
Doytao Thai Croydon (Thai) on the Strand, Croydon station
HK Kitchen (Campsie)

I also quite like Manmuraya at Ashfield or Campsie, but as with all Japanese, it's a bit more exxy.
- illumination on 13/01/2015 - 23:02
  
  I think the chef actually got sick, so they closed because of it… then he got better, and they were bored at home with nothing to do so they decided to re-open. They were only closed for 6 months. This is what the wife (I think she's the wife?) told me.
  
  Haven't eaten at the Ashfield Wests bistro, but I've seen the food.
  
  Botoli Burwood (Vietnamese) on Burwood Rd opposite Burwood park
  
  I used to eat at Botoli, years ago. I don't remember whether it's cheap or not.
  
  Fusion Burwood (HK style cafe) on Burwood Rd opposite Burwood park
  
  I've eaten here a few times. To be honest I find their main meals mediocre (taste/quality-wise) relative to the price that you pay. Even for the other stuff like French toast, it's quite good, but a little pricier than you could get at other places. I guess that is only to be expected though, given the environment (it is a little bit "higher class" than other HK cafes)
  
  Anh Doa Burwood (Vietnamese) on Burwood Rd a couple of blocks south of Burwood stn
  
  Yep I've eaten here a few times. This place is definitely cheap, but I don't find it particularly good. But I do think that their food generally tastes quite healthy and the portion sizes are reasonable.
  
  Tasty House Chinese (Vietnamese - despite the name!) on Liverpool Rd, Ashfield
  
  Never heard of it. What do you recommend here? Pho? Not a big fan of Vietnamese.
  
  endless dumpling restaurants (Shanghainese) on Liverpool Rd, Ashfield
  
  Never heard of this place either. What's good here? Keen to try this one.
  
  Doytao Thai Croydon (Thai) on the Strand, Croydon station
  
  Seen the name, seen the menu, and decided not to bother because it's not cheap lol. Any good?
  
  HK Kitchen (Campsie)
  
  Never heard of it but keen to try. There's actually a place I've been waiting to try in Campsie, it's closer to the Croydon Park/Burwood end of Beamish St and it has a yellow sign and Chinese writing. I think it is a HK cafe.. wonder if this is the place.. what do you recommend here?
  
  Haven't heard of Manmuraya, but I don't find that Japanese is very good value for money. The exceptions to this are Menya/Mappen/Tenkomori in the city, which are like the Tiger airways of restaurants. Cheap "base" prices (bowl of noodles/rice with limited toppings/sides), and they lure you in with their extras. Overall, still cheap though. I usually pay about $6-10 when I eat at these places.
  
  Oh and for sushi train, Sushizilla in Central Park. $2 for all plates w/ pretty good variety for its price. You can get grilled salmon, soft shell crab sushi, crab croquette off the train. Plan B would be the one upstairs in Market City, $2.50 for all plates with a student card/Market city parking ticket, or Sushi Rio? the one on the corner of Sussex St/Liverpool St.
  - kati on 14/01/2015 - 20:09
    
    Lol sorry, by "endless dumpling restaurants" I mean all the dumpling restaurants that line Liverpool rd. eg. New Shanghai, Shanghai nights, and a whole lot of others. Some have queues outside them, I find Shanghainese is really good for cheap eats.