12 quick bites in Sydney

7. Fairy floss soft serve at Aqua S

For out-of-the-ordinary dessert concoctions that will definitely spruce up your Instagram feed, a trip to Aqua S is recommended. They specialize in sea salt soft serve and embellish it with all sorts of eye-catching accoutrements like toasted marshmallows and their signature fairy floss cotton candy. Result: a cloud of deliciousness.

8. Xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung, the Taiwan-based restaurant chain famous for its tasty soup dumplings known as xiao long bao, has a surprising number of locations in Sydney. In fact, there might be more in Sydney than in Taipei. No complaints—I’m game for XLB anytime, anywhere.

Dumpling gems at Din Tai Fung in Sydney — The Dumpling Gems at Din Tai Fung: Emerald (Salad green), Topaz (Golden corn), Pink Diamond (Seafood), Ruby (Bolognaise), Citrine (Cheese), Onyx (BBQ pork), Sapphire (Garlic pork)

On this particular visit to Din Tai Fung, they were touting their colorful dumpling “gems,” so we had to give those a go. Interesting flavors in this Infinity Gauntlet of xiao long bao, but nothing beats the original.

9. “The Tiger” at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels

If you have a list of iconic Australian foods you need to try, meat pies are probably near the top of it. A Sydney original, Harry’s Cafe de Wheels has been slinging “pie n’ peas” from its caravan countertops since 1938. First-timers will likely opt for “The Tiger,” Harry’s house special of beef meat pie, mushy peas, mashed potatoes and gravy.

10. Dim sum at Marigold

Boy, I had a lot of dim sum in Sydney. Another solid yum cha outing at Marigold, where my favorite item was whatever those fried racquetball-sized mysteries are on the right. Sorry, I can’t remember what was inside them, but I remember eating all of them.

Marigold on TripAdvisor | Yelp | Foursquare | Official website

11. Sydney Fish Market

Being a harbor town, Sydney is a great place to seek out fresh seafood. On the city’s west side, Sydney Fish Market is a one-stop shop where you can get rock lobsters, oysters, bugs and all kinds of sea species to prepare on your own. Or you can snack on freshly fried fish and chips, which is, of course, my preferred M.O.

12. Vegemite on crumpets

Lastly, I had to give Vegemite a quick bite. Now it wouldn’t be my spread/crumpet topping of choice, and if I had it again, I’d probably chase it down with some Tim Tams. But, who knows, maybe the taste could be acquired over time. I’m willing to travel to Australia over and over again to find out.