Campsie is like a tiny slice of China. It has many very good places to eat – mostly regional Chinese cuisine – but Malaysia, Nepal, Korea, and Japan are all represented here. There are also many grocery stores that stock every food item imaginable for the homesick locals originally from India, Indonesia, the Philippines as well as all the previously mentioned Asian countries. I’ve never had a bad meal in Campsie. I come to Campsie frequently to shop, eat and rummage through the flea market stalls held in the Anzac Plaza on Sundays. Here is a list of my favourite places to eat.

Written by Topaz Moon

Master Guo Noodle House

I first discovered this place with my sister. We had the pipis with fresh chilli, steamed dumplings and a lovely cold dish of spicy chicken with chilli and sesame sauce and dressed with peanuts. The pipis were very good quality and the fresh chilli certainly had a punch – quite fiery! I really enjoyed this dish. The dumplings were also very delicious and stuffed with pork and chives. The cold chicken dish was a standout. I’ve returned to this place just for that! The portion size is quite generous and I always take half the chicken home with me and eat it stuffed in the pancakes meant for Peking duck. Truly delicious.

There are a few lamb dishes on the menu suggesting that this is a northern regional cuisine. Master Guo Noodle House is frequented by large groups of loud men who tend to smoke outside the open door in between dishes. I’ve shouted at many of them to move as they truly don’t care about the clouds of cigarette smoke they blow into the restaurant. This is, however, a regular occurrence anywhere in Campsie and there is a huge pall of cigarette smoke that hangs over the entire shopping strip. I once had a lit cigarette butt casually flicked at me as I alighted from the bus. The hot butt burned a hole through my cardigan. Hong Kongers, Beijingers, Shanghainese and Singaporeans will feel very much at home in this respect.

Master Guo Noodle House
282 Beamish Street, Campsie
NSW 2194, Australia

Albee’s Kitchen

Albee’s Kitchen serves Malaysian Chinese food. I come here for the Hainan chicken rice, which is a very simple dish made famous in Singapore. The chicken is succulent and I love the accompanying chilli sauce.

They also have a large range of takeaway dishes available at the front of the restaurants. The curry puffs are particularly amazing as they are freshly cooked, spicy and stuffed with a mixture of curried chicken, vegetables and half a hard-boiled egg. I also like the vegetable curry here and I have taken a portion of this home to eat for dinner with rice or flatbread. The curry has a real kick to it and the sauce has a creamy coconut base. This place gets very busy, so be prepared to share a table, eat quickly and get out.

Albee’s Kitchen
279 Beamish Street, Campsie
NSW 2194, Australia

Penang Hawker

Penang Hawker serves one of the best chicken laksas in Sydney. The laksa is a very large portion-size and I keep coming back for this again and again. I’m also very lucky as this restaurant is on my Uber Eats list. The creamy coconut soup has a lovely dollop of spicy sambal added and it is stuffed full of succulent pieces of chicken, tofu puffs and bean sprouts. I also like the Roti Canai with Curried Chicken at Penang Hawker. I’ve had the Malaysian style lala pipis from here too and I loved them – the sauce is truly finger-licking good.

Penang Hawker
275 Beamish Street, Campsie
NSW 2194, Australia

Golden Territory Seafood Restaurant

I have only come here for Yum Cha and it is pretty good. There is always a large queue of locals and that is always a good sign. The steamed prawn and scallop dumplings are excellent as are the little triangular BBQ pork pastries. While there is nothing standout about this place, it represents reasonable value for money when you need that fix of dumplings. They also have an a la carte menu and a special of lobster and mud crabs that we keep talking about but have not yet gotten around to sampling – it is on the to-do list. This restaurant also has a hot takeaway bar at the front which does a very brisk trade in dishes such as sweet and sour pork and scrambled eggs with tomato – Beijing style.

Golden Territory Seafood Restaurant
202-204 Beamish Street, Campsie
NSW 2194, Australia

Ishiyama Japanese Dining

A very reasonably priced Japanese eatery that has never disappointed in terms of quality, freshness and friendliness. Its got a relaxed, casual vibe with a fairly typical menu that covers all the usual favourites. Mine are the tempura vegetables and the fried chicken karage. I’ve had these many times via Uber Eats and they have always arrived hot and fresh. The bento boxes from here are also good value – I particularly like the grilled salmon version.

Ishiyama
172 Beamish Street, Campsie
NSW 2194, Australia

No 1 BBQ House

Quite simply the best Chinese style roast pork belly I’ve ever tasted. Also, the best Chinese-style roast duck and the best soya sauce chicken I’ve ever eaten – anywhere in the world and I’ve been to Hong Kong and Singapore… I know that is a huge call but trust me! The mile-long queue of locals on a weekend here speaks for itself. During the week, the queue is only half a mile long. No 1 BBQ House also has a few tables inside and I’ve shared a plate of BBQ meats with the accompanying bowl of house soup so many times, I could own shares in the joint. Try the quails – outstanding! Try anything from here – outstanding !!! Do yourself a favour, get in line, order half a roast duck chopped up, take it home and make your own Peking Duck Pancakes (available frozen in packets of 50 from the nearby Chinese supermarket where you can also buy the hoisin sauce) add sliced cucumber and shallots – and hey presto, outstanding!!! They are truly well named. No. 1 – make no mistake.

No 1 BBQ House
152 Beamish Street, Campsie
NSW 2194, Australia

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Eat Streets of suburban Sydney – Lakemba!