Lakemba Ramadan Night Market 2019

Is this Sydney's best night market? I reckon so. The month-long Ramadan Night Market in Lakemba is one of our city's most authentically honest and community-driven events, providing a communal iftar from dusk til dawn as Muslims break their fast. You won't find commercial sponsors, chain eateries or ticket sales. This is purely about food cooked by the people, for the people.

It's no wonder then that the night market now attracts a stream of food tourists. Never been? Get yourself on the train to Lakemba. Follow the crowds along Haldon Street and your stomach can travel the world for cheap.

I've posted previously on the Lakemba Ramadan Night Market. Here's a whirlwind tour of my first (but not last) visit at this year's event.


Curries and crowds


Chicken tikka skewers


Paratha roti


Making martabak, paratha filled with beef, chicken or egg


More martabak


Jalebi fried dough coils soaked in syrup


Beef and camel burgers


Kaak bread filled with cheese $5

The grilled kaak cheese bread is my favourite snack. The bread is basted with butter on both sides and then grilled over charcoal so the sesame seeds become even nuttier, the bread crisps and the cheese melts to a stretchy lusciousness.


Sandpit coffee

Watching coffee being brewed in hot sand is mesmerising. It's also a great way to stay awake until dawn!


Knafeh


You'll find half a dozen stalls selling knafeh, each one cooked to a different recipe. This needs to be eaten straight away so the white cheese is warm and gooey, otherwise heat it again at home if you're getting takeaway.

Knafeh $7

Stretchy cheese, rosewater syrup and the crunch of string pastry and pistachios. The sweetest way to end your night.

See more Lakemba Ramadan Night Market photos from 2018 and 2016.



The Lakemba Ramadan Night Market in 2019 runs every night from 5pm (sunset) through to 3am. Crowds tend to peak 8pm-10pm. Saturday nights are the busiest with Haldon Street closed to traffic. The final night will be Thursday 6 June 2019.

Food stalls are set up along Haldon Street near Lakemba rail station, between The Boulevarde and Gillies Street. Some nights you will also find stalls along Railway Parade.

Due to the popularity of this event, street parking tends to fill quickly so take public transport if possible. A free park and ride shuttle bus to Haldon Street will run on Saturday nights, running every 30 minutes from Campsie (Shakespeare Street carpark) and Roselands (opposite Lantern Club) between 6.30pm and 2am.


Related Grab Your Fork posts
Lakemba Ramadan Night Market 2018
Lakemba Ramadan Night Market 2016

Lakemba Ramadan Food Festival 2018

Four nights. That's how many nights you have left to visit one of Sydney's most vibrant and family-friendly night food markets. The Ramadan Food Festival in Lakemba is a community iftar, the breaking of the day's Ramadan fast at dusk.

The markets kick off at 5pm, as the sun sets, with festivities running until 4am. It's a delicious event, and incredibly cheap. Rug up, bring a pocketful of cash and travel around the world via Lakemba.


Ful medames fava beans, a traditional dish to eat for iftar


Grilled meats on the barbecue


Boiled corn


Cooking saj flat bread


Spreading Nutella onto saj flat bread


Flipping paratha dough


Adding beaten egg and onion to paratha dough

Filled paratha folded into martabak

Cooked chickpeas, fava beans and lupin beans


Camel burgers being cooking over charcoal

The queue for camel burgers is always hectic.


Fresh carrot juice stall


Carving chicken doner kebab


2 Smokin' Arabs

It's worth checking out the pop-up by 2 Smokin' Arabs, a BBQ competition team who have temporarily taken up residence in a former newsagency on Haldon Street.


Carved beef brisket


Brisket box $20 
Hot wings 

Chicken tikka skewers cooked over charcoal

Caramelised chicken tikka skewers


Barbecued corn skewers grilled over charcoal


Knafeh served in kaak

For dessert, it's hard to go past a serve of knafeh. At this stall you can get your knafeh served in kaak bread...

Knafeh

but we had ours served straight onto a plate. It's a textural party of warm cheese, crunchy semolina and sweet syrup drizzled across the top.

Palestinian knafeh

The Palestinian knafeh comes with saffron-tinted kataifi pastry and a sprinkle of pistachio nuts.


Oozy cheesy Palestinian knafeh

The Palestinian knafeh is much cheesier in flavour with a more noticeable stretchiness. Guaranteed fun when you're hovering on the footpath with a plastic fork!


Palestinian knafeh for one


Kaak bread with cheese grilling over charcoal

Still hungry? Do what we did. Get a grilled cheese sandwich, Lebanese-style. Kaak bread is stuffed with a haloumi-like cheese and toasted over charcoal.


Melted cheese inside kaak

Oozing hot cheese. Nutty toasted sesame seeds. And crisp and toasty bread that's slightly smoky from the charcoal.


Turkish coffee 

And if you still want to party on, get a Turkish coffee brewed in hot sand. You'll be going all night!

The Lakemba Ramadan Food Festival runs every night from 5pm (sunset) through to 4am. Crowds tend to peak 8pm-10pm. The final night will be Thursday 14 June 2018.

Food stalls are set up along Haldon Street near Lakemba rail station, between The Boulevarde and Gillies Street. Some nights you will also find stalls along Railway Parade.

Due to the popularity of this event, street parking tends to fill quickly so take public transport if possible.


Related Grab Your Fork posts
Lakemba Ramadan Night Market 2019
Lakemba Ramadan Night Market 2016