Exploring new places, tasting new cuisine and delving in new experiences – we sure do miss roaming our wonderful world. So while international travel is completely out of the question, we’re scheming ways to ‘travel’ in our own backyard for 2021. And even though sight-seeing and meeting new people are great parts of travel, there’s nothing quite like indulging in international foods. With world-class restaurants and eateries serving authentic dishes from various Asian countries, we think there’s no better time to explore Sunnybank. We’ve compiled our fave places to escape from Brisbane and explore different cultures and flavours – happy food travelling!
Dressed as a true Tokyo-style eatery, Hakataya Ramen is a Sunnybank icon that has become a mecca for the humble Japanese ramen. Step into the small buzzing venue and you’ll be transported to the laneways of Tokyo with its busy chefs stirring noodles, pots bubbling with pork broth and dozens with their heads down slurping their way through bowls of ramen. This is the place to come for authentic steaming bowls of tonkotsu ramen, a thick cream-coloured soup made from pork bones, which originally came from the Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan. We recommend ordering their Nagahama Ramen, which is a traditional pork noodle soup. This dish has a mixture of egg and wheat noodles swimming in a deep bowl of delicious pork broth and topped with slices of melt-in-your mouth char siu pork belly.
Hakataya Ramen
Based on the Japanese udon haunts you’d find on the streets of Tokyo, Udonya Tokoton serves steaming noodle soup, a myriad of traditional toppings and rows of delicious deep-fried goods. Between you and your fresh bowl of deliciousness there are a few stages – but don’t stress, you’ll enjoy the process. Grab a tray and order your menu selection with the person behind the counter. Your udon, soba or rice dish will be then made fresh in front of you. If you feel like slurping down a udon topped with crunchy karaage or prawn tempura then grab your bowl from the chefs and move your tray down to the deep-fried section. Some must-try dishes include the curry udon, beef soba, spicy pork miso udon and the pork cutlet curry bowl.
Udonya Tokoton
Travel to the streets of Vietnam without leaving Sunnybank at That Viet Place, a restaurant that seeks to emulate the flavours and soul of Vietnamese cooking. Peruse the menu at the restaurant and you’ll find all the usual Vietnamese suspects from warming pho to fresh rice paper rolls and flavoursome vermicelli noodles. The restaurant’s traditional home style Vietnamese dishes are cooked and served by wife and husband team, Quang and Mai Dinh, who have been passionately working in the restaurant industry for the past 20 years. The couple spend hours in the kitchen perfecting their recipes. Mai is well known for her homemade fish sauce, which is based on a secret family recipe that’s more than 20 years old. The fish sauce is so popular, diners even buy the sauce to take back to Hong Kong and Vietnam. While Mai invents her own recipes based on what she can see and taste, her husband Quang uses logic and science to put together the dishes that he experiences. The result? An explosion of flavours that can’t be found anywhere else in Brisbane. Tantalise your tastebuds with That Viet Place’s flavoursome crab and pork noodle soup, which arrives on your table heaped high with fresh Vietnamese mint and bean shoots. Or sink your teeth into the eatery’s freshly made rice paper rolls filled with fresh prawns, noodles, cucumber and mint.
That Viet Place
If you’re keen to introduce your tastebuds to a new style of Chinese cooking, then make sure you put David’s Noodle and Hotpot on your must-visit list. When thinking of traditional Chinese food, most Brisbanites will conjure up thoughts of Cantonese dishes. However the cuisine in China is extremely diverse and there are unique traditions, ingredients and recipes found all over the country. David’s Noodle and Hotpot is a Sunnybank restaurant that celebrates a different style of Chinese food. The eatery serves the exquisite flavours of the Xinjiang region, found in the north western region of China. Our favourite: chefs wok-toss chewy wheat noodles with cumin, chilli, lamb, capsicum and cabbage, which are all common ingredients of Xinjiang’s cuisine. Along with serving a menu filled with delicious Xinjiang eats, David’s Noodle and Hotpot also serves malatang – a kind of choose-your-own-adventure hot pot that is hugely popular in north-east China.
David’s Noodle & Hot Pot
Indulge in authentic flavours at Golden Lane, one of the mainstays of Brisbane’s Chinese dining scene. Walk into Golden Lane and the first thing you’ll see is a team of chefs stir frying, steaming and sizzling in the kitchen behind the restaurant’s huge glass windows. Golden Lane is well-known for serving dishes that blend Eastern and Western cooking techniques to present a fresh taste of traditional Chinese food. Their extensive menu allows the diner to explore dishes from various destinations throughout China. Golden Lane’s chefs create a lineup of well-known Cantonese and spicy Sichuan dishes like kung pao chicken, peking duck, chilli crab and crispy skin pigeon, or go all out and order the restaurant’s infamous lobster sashimi.
Golden Lane
Prime your tastebuds for the big, bold flavours of Korea at Sunny Park’s Top-Up Korean Takeaway. Whether you’re ducking in for a quick lunch or wanting to feast with friends, this eatery should be your go-to for authentic Korean fare. Running for more than 10 years, the restaurant is well-known for its traditional recipes. From sizzling bulgogi, spicy beef soup and colourful bibimbap cooked in a hot stone dish, Top-Up has all the Korean classics, plus some dishes you may not have heard of before, like their Korean blood sausage soup and seafood soft tofu hot pot. Each dish displays an array of colours and textures that Korea is well-known for. Menu favourites include the hot pot bulgogi, which is classic Korean marinated beef strips that are served in a hot pot with beef broth, vegetables and a serve of rice.
Top-Up Korean TakeawayPrepare to delight your tastebuds with all the flavours of Asia. With over 60 dining and entertainment options, Sunnybank Plaza and Sunny Park are an authentic Asian food experience like no other.
You’ll find an extensive choice of dining options including Chinese, Hong Kong style, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese cuisines.
