Spice Alley @ Chippendale - The Cheap Asian Cuisine Alleyway in Sydney

Sydney is never short of Asian food options - but talking about a one stop shop for different kinds of Asian cuisine in a single alleyway? That’s right, make sure you check out Spice Alley @ Chippendale. Not just there is a variety of Asian cuisines options, the prices are very reasonable as well. Not too mention as well, the Chinese lanterns hanging above my head were so nice to look at as well. Make sure you check out my YouTube video below for the full review!

Before I start, just a gentle reminder that remember to bring your debit or credit card with you, as Spice Alley is completely cashless! Sometimes I’m amazed by how far technology has come these days.

So I’ve decided to a progressive dinner thing - which means I had get entree, main and dessert at different places at Spice Alley. Let’s go!

First Stop: Kyo-to

The first place that I’ve checked out was a Japanese place called Kyo-to - and nope you won’t find sushi here. Instead, you will find a good selection of ramen and a variety of Japanese side dishes to choose from.

Pork Okonomiyaki from Kyo-to for $12.5

And I have picked the pork okonomiyaki - a replicate of the Osaka delicacy that costed me $12.5. Kind of. This one looked a bit different than the usual okonomiyaki that I’ve come across as it came with an additional sunny side egg on top.

Despite the okonomiyaki was slightly thinner than the ones that I would find in Japan, I particularly enjoyed the crispy sides of the pancake. And apart from pork belly, they also put in bacon into the pancake - hence I really liked that subtle smoky flavour coming from this. Overall the combination of the ingredients worked really well all together, and the sunny side egg was definitely a nice additional touch to the okonomiyaki. A solid 9/10 from me.

Second Stop: Hong Kong Diner

And the second place that I checked out was Hong Kong Diner. I got pretty excited when I saw they had congee on the menu, but unfortunately that wasn’t offered after breakfast time. Oh well, I could only settle for a nice bowl of wonton noodles on a chilly evening.

Wonton Noodles Soup for $12.5

The thing that caught my attention about this bowl of wonton noodles soup was the size - it was pretty huge and they put a total of eight wontons in it! Considering that it was a generous proportion - despite the wontons looked a bit like Shumais with the yellow dough.

The looks of the wontons didn’t matter that much though, as the shrimps inside were very fresh and I really enjoyed the al-dente texture of the egg noodles. It definitely warmed me up in the cold weather and reminded me of some of the hometown classics that I could get from Hong Kong.

Last Stop: Old Jim Kee for the Happy Ending

After having all these amazing food, surprisingly I still had room for some dessert, so why not? I checked out this Malaysian place which I thought it’s called “Happy Ending” (as you can see in the photo), but it’s actually a part of Old Jim Kee.

Ice Kacang for $7

To wrap it up I had this Malaysian dessert called Ice Kacang - which translates to red bean ice in Malay. This is a very popular shaved ice dessert that you would find on the streets of Malaysia. Apart from red beans, they also put in peanuts and grass jelly - but what surprised me was definitely the corn. This unexpected combination actually worked really well with the fruity flavoured shaved ice. It is definitely a steal for $7 with this big portion!

Overall I really enjoyed the vibe there - think of it as a high class food court with beautiful decors all over the area, ranging from light lanterns and murals on the walls.

The place indeed looks very nice, but that doesn’t mean they have bumped up the prices because of that - I personally find them very reasonable with the quality and portions that they are offering! So make sure to check out this place if you’re craving for some Asian food.

Spice Alley

Kensington Street, Chippendale NSW 2008