Haymarket, at the southern end of the CBD, is Sydney's densest and most diverse eating quarter, built around a Chinatown that has been here in some form since the late nineteenth century. The pedestrianised Dixon Street is its spine, hung with red lanterns and bracketed by ceremonial paifang gates, and lined with Cantonese barbecue shops, dumpling houses, Malaysian and Thai canteens, bubble-tea counters and late-night dessert bars. It is busiest and best after dark.
The neighbourhood spills well beyond Dixon Street. Thai Town clusters around Campbell and Pitt Streets, Koreatown runs along the top of Pitt, and the laneways hide some of the cheapest, latest-opening food in the city. Paddy's Markets, in the cavernous base of the Market City complex, has been Sydney's bargain market for over a century, while the surrounding streets carry the overflow of students from the nearby universities.
Haymarket also holds some grander notes: the lavishly restored Capitol Theatre stages big musicals, and the Chinese Garden of Friendship offers a walled pocket of calm at the Darling Harbour edge. Come hungry, come at night, and be ready to queue.