Spice Alley

When I heard about Spice Alley I expected it to be tacky and overpriced, but was pleasantly surprised when I found it to be a decent place to relax and have an affordable, casual outdoor meal with friends and a few bottles of BYO from the nearby bottle-​o. There are better Asian restaurants out there, but for a simple, laid back meal with friends (with no need to argue over where to go or what to order) Spice Alley is a unique and very welcome addition to Sydney.

Visited on the last weekend of January 2016 with 2 friends, all of us have had stints in Asia over the last many years.
We had:
. Hainan Chicken Rice from the Singaporean stall– Chicken was flavourless and rice was lacking any depth — the soup was good. the Chilli ginger sauce was a slapdash effort at best.
. Lemongrass Fish — MSG laden overly doughy and fried. It came from a Malaysian stall, I think the intention was for it to taste so, however reminded me of something we used to get in holiday towns in the 80’s at the only Chinese restaurant.
. Duck pancakes from the Thai place — It had coleslaw minus the mayo, pineapple, heavily hoisin’ed (can i make that a word?). 3 were purchased and we had to leave the other one behind. Fusion duck taco’s would have been more apt.
. Fresh coconuts were fab, albeit not chilled and the chendol apparently hit the spot.
Come on Hawkers of Spice Alley — this is pretty poor effort.
As a concept, great, however the food we had, will not have us returning.

I’ve always been sceptical of Chinese restaurants that look too pretty. Are they trying to compensate for average to poor tasting food? It must be expensive — how else are they paying for that décor? Or even worse, small servings?
I don’t know how Spice Alley pays for it all but they’ve really nailed it with the cool murals, wooden stools, eco-​friendly disposables and great, cheap, hawker-​style food, mostly sitting around the $ 10 mark. My Har Mee was heady with prawn flavour and my friend’s super generous serving (enough to serve two really) of sampan congee was brimming with fish and thick like homemade.
The cashless, food court style laneway makes for quick ordering after you spend an age walking up and down deciding on your meal. Even better is the choice of seating — dine al fresco under the strings of highly Instagramable lanterns or inside the cute terrace houses that make up the back wall of the laneway.

Awesome Asian hawker food markets!
I’ve been 3 times now and each time ordered a different fish from a different stall — every time it is amazing food! And only $ 9-​$ 10! Loved it. Try the deep fried Oreos with caramel sauce for dessert for something completely different. Also the iced lemon tea on a hot day is perfectly refreshing,
They do BYO so you can bring a bottle of wine to share. Lovely atmosphere, very open with lots of space to sit indoor or outdoor.
Convenient location near Central station (easy walk). I will return!

Can you remember what Posh Spice’s original surname was before she became Victoria Beckham? No googling, ask friends. It’s next to impossible to remember.
Anyway, Spice Alley is nothing like the Spice Girls, its a tiny custom-​built laneway behind Kensington Lane in the newly minted Central Park precinct, and it’s brilliant. There’s about 5 or 6 little Asian eateries in a row with a few cafes thrown in for good measure, all around a charming shady courtyard kitted out with tables and chairs with a hutong-​y kind of feel to it. You can get gluggy rice, Hong Kong noodles, garlic pipis and a ton more. Every shop is hawker-​stand small, and the cafes on the front façade are built into tiny little houses that I think might be original architecture kept from whatever the alley was in it’s previous life.
Look, it’s great, go, take friends. Oh and it’s cash-​free, you either Paywave or you can get a Spice Alley top-​up card if you’re gonna be going there alot.

Spice alley is a hidden gem hiding just off George st just north of china town. It’s casual fun and offers a wide variety of South East Asian street food delights to choose from.
I opted for the papaya salad from the Thai stall. It was super fresh with a good bit of bite and an excellent side of fried chicken.
It curry is more your style there is Malaysian roti stall, Singaporean kopitiam and of course dumplings.
The courtyard with tables to enjoy your food is decorated with super cute red lanterns. It’s family friendly and good value with most dishes under $ 15 for a decent meal as well as delicious snacks like spring rolls and friend chicken wings.
This place is perfect for a casual bite on a warm summer evening and the little cottages have been transformed to provide additional seating should the weather turn bad.
Great option for casual eating. Hope to see something like this in Melbourne.