On our Sydney to-do list is a train ride to visit Cabramatta, Australia’s largest Vietnamese community, known by locals as “Cabra”. What you’ll find is a small bustling suburb, not a tourist town – but for the food lover, photographer and blogger, Cabramatta is a treasure trove of interesting sights, delicious tastes and enticing smells, with authentic Vietnamese restaurants, coffee shops and groceries, takeaway snacks and sweets.
Cabramatta shops
At the fruit and veg shop, tropical fruits feature prominently among the apples and oranges. A woman thoughtfully examines the jackfruit on display under the watchful eye of the shopkeeper. Nearby are coconuts, papayas and mangoes.
A lady checks out the jackfruit at a fruit market in Cabramatta
At another shop, bunches of bananas hang from metal hooks, reminiscent of markets in South-east Asia.
Fruit market, Cabramatta
Bananas, kiwifruit and grapes, Cabramatta
I’m delighted to catch a whiff of durian before noticing the thorny fruits in a box right at another shop’s entrance.
Durians for sale
Enterprising grandmothers in floppy hats and sneakers sell home-grown vegetables, bird’s eye chillies and fresh herbs at makeshift stalls set up mall-side on old milk crates and shopping bags.
Vegetable hawker, Cabramatta
Vegetable hawker, Cabramatta
Cafe 86, John St, Cabramatta
It’s a typically muggy Sydney spring day and we’re hot and thirsty from our train ride. We’re pleased when we locate Cafe 86, almost hidden as it’s just off the main strip of John Street. The outdoor area is packed. It looks like the place to go for hot and cold Vietnamese drinks, a favourite spot for Vietnamese blokes to grab a coffee and smoko with mates.
Cafe 86, Cabramatta
No matter what you order, you are first served a tall glass of complimentary iced jasmine tea, bitter but refreshing.
Complimentary jasmine tea, Cafe 86, Cabramatta
Juji and Jay order Vietnamese iced coffee. It’s thick, dark and very strong, sweetened with condensed milk and made with plenty of crushed ice.
Iced coffee, Cafe 86, Cabramatta
I order a jackfruit smoothie, made with real jackfruit. It’s delicious but very creamy and rich – I struggle to finish two-thirds of it.
Jackfruit smoothie, Cafe 86, Cabramatta
There’s a steady influx of customers and the staff are kept busy blending up icy cold drinks, making coffee and delivering more glasses of complimentary iced jasmine tea.
Cafe 86, Cabramatta
There are lots of knick-knacks and bargains to be found. They aren’t kidding about the “variety” in this shop. It’s like a real life hidden object game.
Best Bargain Variety, Cabramatta
In one of many arcades that twist and turn, we find this very festive butcher.
A butcher in Cabramatta
There is no shortage of places to get sugar cane juice made fresh to order. The sugar cane stalks are fed into a machine that crushes them to extract the sweet juice.
Making fresh sugar cane juice
There are all kinds of takeaway desserts for sale.
Takeaway desserts for sale at Hung Vuong
A man works quickly, covering containers of takeaway lunches with food wrap.
GLAD wrapping lunches for sale at Hung Vuong
Feel like a snack? There are boxes of sweet potato crisps and custard puffs ready to go.
Sweet potato crisps and custard puffs
All the sights and smells of food make us start to think about our own tummies. When we stumble upon this chap solemnly eating his lunch sitting next to a colourful wall of cookies and crackers, we know it’s definitely time to have something to eat.
Eating his lunch
Phu Quoc, Corner of John and Hill Street, Cabramatta
There are so many places to eat at in Cabramatta. Phu Quoc looks promising. The lunch crowd is in but we manage to get a table right away.
The most popular item appears to be make-your-own Vietnamese fresh rice paper rolls. Translucent circular sheets of rice paper, a bowl of water to soften the rice paper, vermicelli, meats of your choice and a basket of fresh salad and herbs including coriander and mint are delivered to your table ready for assembly. As good as it looks, I’m in the mood for rice and Juji wants egg noodles.
Phi Quoc Vietnamese and Chinese Cuisine, Cabramatta
Walking around on this warm humid day has made us thirsty again. The tall glasses icy-cold fresh orange juice and coconut juice go down a treat.
Fresh orange juice and coconut juice
I order broken rice with pork chop, shredded pork and fried egg (AU$10).
Broken rice with pork chop, shredded pork and fried egg (AU$10)
The fried pork chop is golden brown, on the greasy side but very tasty and tender. Shredded strands of pork skin are tossed in roasted rice powder, giving them a gritty texture.
Pork chop close-up – broken rice with pork chop, shredded pork and fried egg (AU$10)
Juji and Jay share egg noodles with crispy skin chicken (AU$10.50). The springy noodles are served topped with steamed greens and curls of fried shallots, accompanied by a bowl of hot broth and a big piece of fried chicken with crispy crackly skin.
Egg noodle with crispy skin chicken (dry) AU$10.50
Crispy skin chicken
Egg noodle with crispy skin chicken (dry) AU$10.50
It’s a great lunch – simple and satisfying.
Phi Quoc Vietnamese and Chinese Cuisine, Cabramatta
After lunch, we buy some banh kep, or pandan waffles, to take back with us for a snack later.
Banh kep – pandan waffles (AU$1.50 each)
Time for sugar cane juice!
Tan Hoan Cau – as seen on TV
We smile as we see the food-themed mural near Freedom Plaza. It features durian!
Food mural near Freedom Plaza, Cabramatta
We’ve enjoyed our visit to Cabramatta. It’s definitely worth checking out if you like Vietnamese cuisine or are interested in Vietnamese culture.
Girls out shopping in Cabramatta
Friendship Arch, Cabramatta
Getting to Cabramatta
1 hour train trip (approx) from Central Station – South Line.
See CityRail website for more train info.
Sydney food blog Grab Your Fork has a post on a DIY food tour of Cabramatta. It’s a few years old now, but still a great place to get ideas for what to do in Cabramatta. There are more Cabramatta posts listed at the end of that post.
Australian readers – Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta
There’s a documentary series currently on SBS called Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta. It’s a three-part series, with the final showing on 22 January at 8.30pm on SBS ONE. It’s simulcast with Vietnamese subtitles on SBS TWO.
Watch a promo video of Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta:
If you missed the first two episodes, you can watch them online at SBS’ website. Do you recognise the Vietnamese man sitting on a milk crate at the front of a grocery shop in episode 2?
Read more about Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta at Sydney food blog Noodlies – author and Cabramatta resident Thang Ngo is featured in the documentary.
Luke Nguyen’s new TV series
For fans of Vietnamese chef and restaurateur Luke Nguyen – a new TV series, Luke’s Greater Mekong begins 23 February.
My Sydney trip (2011)
I went to Sydney with my sister Juji and her fiancé Jay in November 2011.
See the list of posts so far, in reading order. There’s still more to come.
Read Juji’s post – Things I love Thursday – Cabramatta edition
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent post! Lovely photos. I just love Cabramatta and I’ve been lucky enough to been shown around by a local so now I know what’s good and what’s what! I feel in love with Sour Sop smoothies in Cabra…LOVE!
Thanks, Miss Piggy. Glad you enjoyed the post. There was so much more to explore and I know we only saw a fraction of what’s there, but we had a great time.
Great stuff! Hubby (who is a ‘Gwai-loh”) went to Sydney on business last year and came back raving about the food variety and general price of food. Your post has really added to the thought to get over there for a “food-holiday”. Everything you’ve posted looks like fantastic and interesting. But I do remember the sugar-cane machines from M’sia and that intense, almost grassy sweetness from the juice….
Currie_lah,
We had a fantastic eating holiday (as you’ve seen from the posts – and still even more to come) in Sydney but ten days was nowhere near enough – we ate at so many great places but missed out on so much more! I hadn’t drunk sugar cane juice for such a long time, had it two or three times in Sydney!
Great post! I love Cabramatta. My favourite is the crispy skin chicken with noodles from the famous Tan Viet. A takeaway pork roll banh mi is always a must when we leave.
My mum was actually telling me about the Once Upon A Time last night over skype. She was tut-tutting about the drugs and telling me about how she remembered when Cabra was a really unsafe place to go, and the streets would be empty even at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Now it’s much more bustling and thriving. She first came to Australia from Vietnam about 32 years ago so she’s experienced the growth of the Vietnamese community, but our family has been based in the CBD and not in Western Sydney, so we didn’t have a close involvement with the viet ghettos (lol). I don’t mind going there for the food and produce, but otherwise it’s just a little too chaotic and crowded to me. Definitely like stepping into a completely different country!
I love banh mi too! Especially with grilled pork skewers stuffed into them. Not such a huge fan of the pate-filled sort.
I’m much more of a fan of the rice and noodles and fried snacks than banh mi – probably because I’m not a big bread eater. :)
Michelle,
Yes, Cabramatta has had quite a ‘colourful’ past. I’d heard about a lot of what happened there but the TV series revealed more that I hadn’t been aware of. It definitely feels like South East Asia in Cabramatta. The Sydney humidity helps with that authentic feel too! :)
The fruit stalls look so similar to the roadside fruit stalls I encountered and patronized in Hanoi last December. I love Vietnam and Vietnamese food and am very keen to travel there again whenever the next opportunity rises. The jackfruit smoothie you had was probably made with condensed milk, making it intensely sweet. My companion tried a passion fruit smoothie in Hanoi and it had the same effect on her!
When I went to Hanoi, I literally ate my way around the place. Every corner you turn, there’s bound to be something delicious cooking. My personal favourites were pork skewers stuffed in a baguette with chilli sauce and cucumber, piping hot pho bo (beef pho) eaten by the roadside next to the hostel I stayed at, and something new to me – bun bo, which is rice noodles topped with stir fried beef and bean sprouts, green papaya pickles and a generous heap of various leafy herbs and crispy fried shallots. I loved it so much I ate it twice within my 5-day trip!
The sugar cane juice you mention brings to mind a funny incident from my trip to Vietnam. We were at the night market, and enterprising street vendors set up shop along junctions to feed hungry (and greedy, like me) pedestrians. We passed by a sugar cane vendor, only to hear a Caucasian man remark, “It’s probably bamboo. Or lemongrass”.
I’m glad I got to educate someone that day. :)
Dea,
The smoothie was so creamy. It was lovely but I knew if I finished it there’d be no room for anything else for ages!
Love your description of Hanoi, it sounds amazing.
LOL at the “bamboo/lemongrass” comment. Like the time I went to dim sum with mum and Juji years ago and we watched this Caucasian man explaining to his friends (with the smug know-it-all tone of an expert) “Oh that’s rice paper under the steamed buns. You just eat it.” We watched them chewing and chewing and chewing the paper, which we knew of course, is not the edible kind.
Love the shots of the outdoor fruit and veg stalls… everything looks so fresh! The skin on the fried chicken looks deliciously crispy and crunchy! I’m craving a Vietnamese iced coffee now… probably not a good idea though, since it’s minus 24 celsius over here. :(
Row,
Wow, minus 24… we had a “cool” change here – 33C! LOL. Cool after the 40+ days in a row we’ve been suffering through here.
What a great place to go. You covered so many places on your visit. I love your photos and I love that Cabramatta just looks so Vietnamese. I must visit its been about 10 years.
Cheers, tania. Hope you do go visit Cabramatta again. I was so glad we went – it was a fun day. The train ride back wasn’t quite so fun – non-air conditioned all the way back to Central, ugh! :)
Yep, Cabra, another place that we have to get to. We will one day.
I want to experience the foods, and I want to get a high pressure wok burner! :-)
Craig,
You guys will love it!
Aww thanks for the plug! :) I agree – Cabramatta is worth a day trip but next time you must go to Tan Viet for their crispy skin chicken!
No worries, Helen.
We did refer to your blog a lot at the planning stages and during the trip itself. :) I know there’s so much we didn’t do/eat. Next time, next time!
So many colours and impressions. I love the paper lanterns in the butcher’s shop; festive indeed! The takeaway desserts really have me curious. Looks like kernels of corn packed into one stack. Would like to look over the takeaway lunches too. And the beverages! Lovely fruits and vegetables. Reminds me of how dull and boring my childhood place was, by comparison. :-\
“Broken rice with pork chop, shredded pork and fried egg (AU$10)”
Yum! There’s just something about that egg accompanying everything else. Fresh-cracked black pepper to go with… ;-)
Cindy,
It was such a fantastic place to explore. I’m sure you can tell by my pictures I really enjoyed myself. :) I wish it wasn’t just a fleeting visit – would love to have more time to drop by and try more things, including the takeaway lunches.
The broken rice was great. I think this was my first time having the famous broken rice and pork chop combo. I will definitely have it again.
What a long and YUMMY post. Cabra is on my list for next time I am in Sydney.
Toronto in Canada has a great Asian or “China town” with wow food and fruit and veg also.
jan,
I love exploring Chinatowns and other Asiatowns. I’m sure you’ll enjoy Cabra!