Darling Harbour’s 10 most slurpable noodle dishes
In Northwestern China, they were eating noodles over 4,000 years ago and we’re still enjoying them all over the world today, with good reason. These moreish, stringy little delicacies are one of mankind’s most delicious and versatile foods.
There’s nothing like a steaming, savoury bowl of ramen, full of sweet, fatty pork chashu. A pad thai bursting with salty, sweet flavour. Or a bowl of pho, fragrant with fresh herbs and a rich bone broth.
Hungry yet? Satisfy your cravings with our list of the 10 best noodle dishes at Darling Harbour restaurants.
1. XOPP wok fried pippies with XO sauce from XOPP
David Chang, perhaps the most successful and famous chef of his generation, once called the XO wok fried pippies the best dish in the world. We tend to agree. This dish combines vermicelli noodles, fresh, sweet pippies, and an XO sauce that will blow your mind with flavours sweet, salty and spicy. We think you’ll agree eating a bowl of this is one of the best things to do in Sydney.
2. Dan dan mazesoba at IIKO Mazesoba
IIKO Mazaesoba serves a special kind of ramen that doesn’t have a broth - instead you’ll get thick mazesoba noodles served with moreish toppings and savoury chilli and vinegar sauce. Our favourite is the punchy Dan Dan Mazesoba, featuring spicy Sichuan pork mince, onsen egg, shredded nori and roasted sesame seeds.
3. White Tonkotsu ramen from Hakatamon Ramen
There’s no better place for authentic Japanese ramen in Sydney than Hakatamon Ramen. They serve a style known as Hakata, which originated in Fukuoka, a prefecture in Japan's southern island famous for its pork dishes. If it's your first visit, start with the original white Tonkatsu ramen - it’s a no-frills masterpiece featuring a hearty pork broth and super- slurpable, thin noodles.
4. Char Kway teow from Chinta Ria Buddha Love
Chinta means love and Ria means happiness, and that’s exactly how this iconic Darling Harbour Malaysian restaurant makes us feel. They’re famous for their flavour-packed Malay-Cantonese style cuisine, forever friendly welcomes and phenomenal noodles dishes. We can’t go past the Char Kway Teow, prepared just as it is in Malaysia, with flat rice noodles kissed by the wok’s breath, Chinese sausage, chives and seafood.
5. Crispy skin chicken at Tan Viet Noodle House
Tan Viet Noodle House serves authentic Chinese-Vietnamese cuisine and a phenomenal plate of fried chicken. Do yourself a favour and grab the crispy skin chicken with egg noodles and this place will be your new favourite restaurant after the first bite.
6. Pad Thai from Nok Nok Thai
On the bustling streets of Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Pad Thai is served from flaming woks. It’s hot, salty, nutty and just a little bit sweet - the perfect balance of classic Thai flavours. And that’s exactly how they serve it at Nok Nok Thai, our favourite Thai restaurant in Darling Harbour.
7. Miso soba from Fishbowl
Fishbowl serves insanely tasty, healthy poke bowls laced with fresh fish and lashings of delicious sauces. The highlight of their menu is their only noodle dish, the Miso Soba. This little beauty comes with soba noodles, cucumber, shallots and chilli with sesame dressing and your choice of protein (go for the poached chicken).
8. Pho ga chien at Hello Auntie
Hello Auntie’s chef and owner Cuong Nguyen has taken the traditional cuisine of Vietnam and blended it with modern Australian tastes. The Pho ga Chien is the perfect example of this creative fusion style, featuring rice noodles in a beef broth that tastes just like it does in Vietnam. The 12-hour pho brined fried chicken is the dishes’ fusion element, adding a satisfying, rich crunch to this much loved Vietnamese staple. And we thought pho couldn’t get any better!
9. Kao Kao
Kao Kao are a new Darling Harbour restaurant, but they’ve fast become a favourite. Their entire menu of fiery, tasty Korean classics is incredible but their spicy seafood Jjamppong is unbeatable. This soupy masterpiece features a red, hot seafood based broth, mixed seafood and vegetables and is a perfect rendition of one of Korea’s favourite dishes.
10. Mamak’s Village
Forget packet noodles. For the real flavours of Malaysia, you need to come to Mamak’s Village in Harbourside and try their Mamak Mee Goreng. These perfectly fried noodles are bursting with flavours of shallots and chill and are topped with a generous helping of seafood.
Discover some more amazing Asian style restaurants and delicious Asian inspired cocktails in The Rocks