Sydney’s inner city has world-class restaurants, which is just one of the reasons it’s such a special place to live. But sometimes you feel like picking up a few ingredients and cooking at home. When that’s the case, you can visit some wonderful independent food shops to source fresh produce and inspiring ingredients. Here are some of our favourite Sydney food shops to help you give those celebrity chefs a run for their money.
Harris Farm
Various locations and online
Offering an alternative to a big supermarket, Harris Farm has shops at Homebush and Leichhardt, and dotted around greater Sydney, but is also great for online shopping. As well as fresh produce, including veggies, meat and seafood, you can also choose from weekly seasonal meal kits to save you having to come up with ideas. They’ll pack the ingredients, plus the instructions to prepare them, and all you have to do is cook and eat.
Taste Organic
164 Enmore Road, Enmore
With a good range of healthy groceries, Taste Organic will cater for every diet, from gluten-free to vegan to paleo. This business also stocks a huge range of organic produce, household essentials, wild caught seafood and organic meat, and lots of freshly baked bread.
With three shops across Sydney, their most central one is at Enmore, and is open seven days a week from 7am until 8pm.
Maloneys Grocer
214 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee
Shop 4, 490 Crown Street, Surry Hills
68 Moncur Street, Woollahra
With three stores in inner Sydney, Maloneys Grocer is a family-run business that celebrates Sydney’s wonderful food culture. Deliveries are offered six days a week to central Sydney suburbs, and you can choose from meat, handpicked produce, bread and a tempting range of ready meals.
The Crown Street Grocer
365 Crown Street, Surry Hills
The Crown Street grocer is another family-owned and operated grocer with a focus on Italian produce, including cheese, cured and fresh sausages and pasta, as well as great coffee and dine-in food options. This is a good spot to have lunch and pick up a few things for dinner at the same time.
Paddy’s Market
9-13 Hay Street, Haymarket
Sydney’s popular inner-city markets are always a wonderful hunting ground for fresh vegetables and other ingredients. Operating as a market since 1834, Paddy’s Market has cheap, super-fresh vegetables along with lots of other stalls and is well worth a visit. Get there early to beat the crowds.
The Source Bulk Foods
Various locations
For zero-waste shopping and healthy produce, take your own containers and stock up at The Source. With stores across Sydney, including one in Glebe, they are the go-to for healthy dry goods, nuts, oils and environmentally friendly cleaning products.
The Oak Barrel
152 Elizabeth Street
A glass of wine is also welcome with some home-cooked food and for just the right drop you can’t go past the Oak Barrel. Choose home delivery and select from a range of international and local wines, including biodynamic and organic drops, or try before you buy at one of their tasting nights.
Asian supermarkets
The proximity to Chinatown means that living in inner Sydney is a great opportunity to perfect some Asian classics, from Thai curries to fresh spring rolls. None of these have websites, but all are worth a visit.
Jarern Chai Grocer and Boon Cafe
425 Pitt Street, Haymarket
This wonderful grocer/cafe combines Thai ingredients and vegetables with an on-site cafe for freshly cooked Thai food. The mince meat basil rice and pineapple fried rice are both recommended.
Lucky Thai Groceries
40/50 Campbell Street, Haymarket
A family owned business, Lucky Thai has a wide range of Thai ingredients, plus home-cooked meals you can take home with you.
G3 Korean Groceries
614 George Street, Sydney
The place to go for all of your kimchi and other Korean ingredients.
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