On the one hand you have cheap eats, and on the other hand you have really cheap eats; we’re talking one slightly rusted gold coin cheap. Sydney is surprisingly full of them – $1 eats that actually don’t make you feel like you are desperately scooping up rejected leftovers. Surry Hills’ institution The Soda Factory quickly became famous for their quality dollar dogs, since then quite a few dollar deals have popped up around Sydney. Here’s our guide to the best $1 eats around the city.
The Smoking Panda (CBD)
What you’ll get: Dumplings
When you’ll get it: Tuesdays; 4pm-7pm
The Smoking Panda is hidden in plain sight right around the corner from the instantly recognisable Woolworths sign opposite Town Hall. Keep a look out for their logo and head on upstairs to purple neon-lights and some of the most packed bar shelves in the city. You’re best bet is to head along on a Tuesday (formerly Wednesday) where, for three hours, they offer up their juicy dumplings for a buck each.
www.thesmokingpanda.com.au
5-7 Park St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9264 4618
The Wild Rover (Surry Hills)
What you’ll get: Oysters
When you’ll get it: Monday to Saturday; 4pm to 6pm
This local favourite in Surry Hills don’t want to keep your super cheap eats confined to one day a week only; nope, they offer up $1 oysters here six days a week, from Monday to Saturday from 4pm to 6pm. That’s two hours of oysters freshly shucked behind the bar, creamy and delicious straight from Ralston Brothers’ Oyster Farm on the south coast of NSW. If you rock up after 6pm there will still be some of these available up until last drinks each night. It’s also one of the best Whisky bars in Sydney, so you’d be remiss not to explore their huge collection while there.
www.thewildrover.com.au
75 Campbell St, Surry Hills
(02) 9280 2235
The Soda Factory (Surry Hills)
What you’ll get: Hot Dogs (with various toppings); Hot Wings (with blue-cheese sauce)
When you’ll get it: Tuesdays; 5pm – late (Hot Dogs) || Wednesday; 5pm – late (Hot Wings)
The Catch: You need to purchase a drink to unlock the deal
Pretty much everyone in Sydney has been saved at some point in their life by Dollar Dog day at The Soda Factory. Usually 5 bucks, the venue’s delicious hotdogs – all of them – come down to just a dollar, and despite the pricing they are all generous in both size and taste. They’ve even got a dessert hotdog with deep-fried banana, peanut butter, and strawberry jam. It’s a move that’s proven so popular (especially with the students in the area) that the bar extended a $1 deal day to Wednesday as well, but for their excellent chicken hot wings with housemade blue-cheese sauce.
www.sodafactory.com.au/
16 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 8096 9120
Della Hyde (Darlinghurst)
What you’ll get: Dumplings
When you’ll get it: Tuesdays; from 5pm
AppleJack Hospitality’s latest venue has jumped on board the dollar deals with $1 dumplings every Tuesday from 5pm, and there’s plenty to choose from like BBQ Duck dumpling with kim chi sauce; snow pea, crab, and prawn dumplings; and mushroom & vegetable dumplings. They’ll be served up alongside a recently refrshed cocktail menu that includes the Tiki Monkey (Aged Rum, Creme de Menthe, pineapple, coco lopez, falernum, lime, and tiki bitters) which is – strangely enough – served in a tin and garnished with a Polaroid photograph of you taken at the bar.
www.dellahyde.com.au
34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
(02) 9331 5434
The Morrison (CBD)
What you’ll get: Oysters
When you’ll get it: Wednesdays; 6pm – 7pm
The Morrison has a pretty big and admirable focus on oysters every day of the week, with an oyster library that draws on produce from some of this country’s greatest oyster regions. This huge library of oysters is best explored on Wednesdays because, yep, $1 oysters for one hour (6pm to 7pm), freshly shucked and absolutely delicious with one of the bar’s many cocktails. It’s a nice way to hold onto that feeling of their annual Oyster Festival.
www.themorrison.com.au
225 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9247 6744
The Fox Hole (CBD)
What you’ll get: Dumplings
When you’ll get it: Tuesday; 5pm – 9pm
Head to the corner of Erskine and Kent Street after work on a Tuesday and you can grab up some perfectly steamed dumplings for $1 each. This cafe and small bar is popular for city-dwellers all week long, so they may feel festive enough to pop-up the $1 dumplings on addition days throughout the week, but you’ll have to check their Facebook for updates on that.
www.thefoxhole.com.au
68a Erskine Street, Sydney
(02) 9279 4369
The Roosevelt (Potts Point)
What you’ll get: Oysters
When you’ll get it: Thursdays; from 5pm
One of Sydney’s most classic and stylish cocktail bars isn’t just one of the best in the city, it’s also home to a $1 oysters so you can pair up plenty of freshly shucked aphrodisiacs with hand-crafted concoctions whether from the bar or the stand-alone cocktail trolley. Or there’s always more than enough Champagne to go around, and it’s 20% off their entire range.
http://www.theroosevelt.com.au/
Ground Floor, 32 Orwell St, Potts Point
(02) 8096 1787
Crane Bar & Restaurant (Potts Points)
What you’ll get: Dumplings
When you’ll get it: Wednesdays; from 5pm
One of Sydney’s most popular and endearing casual Japanese restaurants keeps their consistent buzz going throughout the week, but Wednesday is especially busy because of their $1 dumpling deal. From 5pm they offer up these pillowy pieces of heaven along with $5 beer and $6 wine/sparkling. DJs hit the deck from 6pm to soundtrack their weekly dumpling challenge, where whoever beats the record (current as of publish date = 91 for male; 56 for female) eats for free and scores a round of cocktails for their crew, plus a voucher for next visit.
www.cranebar.com.au
32 Bayswater Rd, Potts Point
(02) 9357 3414
The Cuban Place (CBD)
What you’ll get: Tacos
When you’ll get it: Wednesdays; from 5pm
The Catch: You have to purchase a drink to unlock the deal
This sly hub of Cuban cocktails and food is packed on a Wednesday, all the time? Why? $1 tacos with any drink purchase. Simple. Perfect. It’s worth exploring their drinks list a bit more too, since the cocktails here are often right on the money. They’ve also been known to offer up other dollar specials (like $1 hot dogs) from time to time.
www.thecubanplace.com.au
125 York St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9264 4224
The Bellevue (Paddington)
What you’ll get: Oysters
When you’ll get it: Thursdays; 6pm – 8pm
Following a slick renovation, The Bellevue have brought back their “Ladies Night” special on Thursdays on the venue’s terrace. Each week, for two hours, the bar offers up fresh $1 oysters alongside $6 glasses of sparkling.
www.bellevuehotel.com.au
159 Hargrave St, Paddington
(02) 9363 2293
Johnny Wong’s Dumpling Bar (Darlinghurst)
What you’ll get: Dumplings
When you’ll get it: Wednesdays; from 6pm
Made fresh in-house and coming soft and steamed, Johnny Wongs’ definitely delivers when it comes to their popular $1 dumplings. They have cheap eats all week ’round, but understandably this is the one that resonates with the crowd the most, right before they head right on up to Middlebar to sip on some fantastic cocktails and look over Taylor Square
www.johnnywongs.com.au/
1/383 Bourke St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
(02) 9331 3100
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All information correct at time of publishing. If you know of a good $1 deal in Sydney and it’s not listed here please e-mail some info to [email protected]
This article is based on a previous article published on the AU review, which you can find HERE.
All images are credited to the respective venue.
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