34 Chinese Restaurants in Sydney

If you enjoy classic oriental dishes you will certainly find them in abundance on the menus of Chinese restaurants in Sydney. You can enjoy sticky sweet and sour spare ribs, aromatic Peking duck, char siu and spicy Kung Pao chicken. But these chefs also make use of local ingredients, such as fresh fish from the market at Pyrmont, to create some fantastic new dishes. These include tuna tartar, flying-fish roe with wasabi and plump Yamba prawns. You will also find Chinese restaurants in Sydney making great use of the local barramundi, lamb and pulled pork on steamed bao.

Along with some great contemporary dishes inspired by Australian ingredients, you will also find lots of Chinese restaurants in Sydney offering the classic regional cuisines of China. Of these, Cantonese food is probably the best-known internationally. Cantonese cuisine is renowned for its rice and seafood dishes. It is often quite delicate, lightly seasoned and even slightly sweet. Sichuan food, in contrast, is bold and spicy. Many recipes use lots of garlic, ginger, chilli and peanuts and the result is a powerful cuisine that delights the tastebuds. Sichuan food is probably the most widely eaten in China and it is particularly renowned for its use of the powerful Sichuan peppercorns.

If you're looking for the more refined cooking, look out for Chinese restaurants in Sydney serving the food of Jiangsu region. This is the province of China's largest city, Shanghai. Dishes can often be sweet and slightly salty and you will find lots of seafood and delicate soups on the menu. The cooking is precise and the presentation skillful, creating a memorable dining experience. Jiangsu is also reputed to be particularly healthy and it is this food that is often served at the most special government banquets. Zhejiang is the neighbouring province and the style of food is similar. Again, you will find good, fresh seafood and freshwater fish. Bamboo shoots are also popular. The focus of Zhejiang cuisine is freshness and food is often served raw or just very lightly cooked. In this respect the food of Chinese restaurants in Sydney serving Zhejiang dishes is often regarded as being almost Japanese in nature.

If you're feeling a little adventurous you might want to seek out Chinese restaurants in Sydney that serve food from some of the less well-known regions of China. These include Fujian province, where sweet and sour dishes use ingredients from the mountains and the sea. Scintillating spice adds an exotic dimension to the cuisine. Hunan food, meanwhile, is a little like Sichuan cuisine but it's even hotter. So if you like your food to have a kick, the hot, sour and spicy dishes of Hunan will fit the bill. The hearty mountain food of Anhui is robust and simple, using rare herbs and ingredients from the Yellow mountains. Shandong food from the north of the country is crisp and salty and makes great use of fresh seafood, vinegar and noodles.