Roundhouse in Kensington lives up to its “Home of Good Times” reputation with a slate of activities this June.
The events place within the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Building E6 campus on Anzac Parade will be hosting some notable parties for the millennials from the 22nd to the 27th of June.
Keep warm and unleash your dance moves at the Winter Dance. Presented by Astral People, this party will feature DJs and performers from Detroit, Michigan (Omar S and K-Hand) and Vancouver Canada (Pender Street Steppers). Local legends Roland Tings, Ben Fester and Lex Deluxe will also be providing the music and releasing their latest tracks.
Test your knowledge about science and pop culture in the SciFi trivia night. Organized by the Arc-UNSW Student Life, this is an 18+ event where food, booze and prizes will be overflowing. To join the trivia contest, teams will need to have at least five to eight people.
Witness the parade of queens at Kensington’s best drag show. Tickets to this 18+ event are at $133.86 per person. Karen From Finance will host.
The first and longest-running bachata festival returned to Kensington with rousing success! Celebrating the fun on its 12th year, the Sydney International Bachata Festival (SIBF) was a showcase of local and world-class talents.
The party, which happened on the 26th to the 29th of April 2019, spanned four nights of performances and three days of dance workshops featuring well-known personalities in the world of bachata, such as Samy el Magico & Carolina Rosa, Micka and Emi, as well as Sergio and Ana. It took place at the Roundhouse on Anzac Parade.
The Bachata Festival highlighted the Dominican Republic’s popular social dancing style and hundreds of participants signed up to learn how to do this sexy dance movement right. The workshops, however, also included other Latin American dances like the Cha-Cha, Kizomba, Mambo, Samba, Raggaeton, Rumba, Tarraxhina and Zouk.
This cultural event also presented a concert featuring Dominican Republic singer and songwriter Joel Santos and his son Veneno. Mr Santos is a Latin Grammy-winning artist and a Billboard chart-topper whose hit songs have hit the airwaves in the United States and Europe.
This dance party and musical showcase gathers Latin American dance lovers from all over the world every year. It is recognized by the Dominican Republic Arts Commission.
A proposal to develop the stretch of Anzac Parade from Kensington to Kingsford has been laid out more than two years ago via the Kensington to Kingsford (K2K) Planning Strategy. Recently, Mayor Kathy Neilson stated that the process is finally moving in the right direction.
Significant changes to the proposal were made after an initial public exhibition and community consultation in 2016. The Council also requested a Gateway Review of the proposal with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.
The Department, on the other hand, sought the help of the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) regarding the Gateway Review. IPC made its recommendations which enabled the Department to amend its earlier Gateway Determination.
Currently, the Council is seeking to meet with the Department to clarify a few provisions and wording in the Gateway Determination. The target is to resolve this matter before the Council takes up a re-drafted K2K Planning Strategy with its concerned committees and the public in the coming months.
The Council submitted the K2K Planning Strategy after several developers also lodged proposals to develop high-rise buildings of up to 25 storeys in Kensington and Kingsford amid the construction of the new light rail transit system.
“Throughout 2016 Council has been developing a draft planning strategy for the area to provide a vision for the town centres of Kingsford and Kensington, control development and maximise public benefits,” the Council stated in its fact sheet regarding K2K.
“Because Council has started this process, we have successfully been able to defend the community against inappropriate development.”
When you’re craving for Chinese food in Kensington, the place to go is Anzac Parade. This major road in the southeastern Sydney suburbs is home to plenty of restaurants and there are four distinctive Chinese food establishments particularly catering to Kensington residents.
1. Traditional Chinese Food: Hoh Won Chinese Restaurant
134 Anzac Parade Opens daily, except Tuesdays, from 11:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m.; 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The family-owned Hoh Won Chinese Restaurant has been in Kensington for decades that many locals have memories of dining in this place since they were kids. Even without an actual social media presence or a website, Hoh Won Chinese Restaurant is always packed so be sure to reserve seats before you go.
When there’s no time to cook and you want to have a full meal, this place will satisfy. Their menu and the food’s quality haven’t changed much since the new generation took over. Diners seem to love their shredded pork, deep fried fish with corn sauce, hot and sour soup, Shantung chicken, and special fried rice.
“Just a great traditional Chinese restaurant. It’s almost always busy but with good reason, the food is always flavoursome, occasionally I had dishes with a little much pepper, but I’ve been coming here for years and that only happened once or twice. I do prefer the more traditional tasting of the menu compared to every other restaurantsmodernisation to every dish. It’s no Mr Wong’s but it’s not trying to be, the prices are fair and the food is traditional and good, and let me just say THE DECOR, the decor is sensational. I love the trapped in the 60’s look, the wallpaper and chandelier, so charismatic..”
2. Hunan-Inspired Chinese Cooking: Chairman Mao Chinese Restaurant
189 Anzac Parade
Opens daily 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.; closes at 11:00 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays
Dishes from the Hunan region in China are known for its hot and spicy flavours, strong aroma, and vibrant colours. Chairman Mao offers a variety of these Hunan food choices in generous portions, which greatly pair with a pint of beer.
Some of the recommended meals include the five-spice tofu, red-braised pork, and the pickled radish and chili. The restaurant is also well-known for its colourful and decorative interiors.
“AMAZING YOU HAVE TO COME HERE. This is the only place I’ve found in Sydney that actually tastes like food from Hunan. I’ve lived my life in Sydney but have traveled extensively through China. This is the real deal. If you want amazing, tasty, authentic Chinese food, come here. My boyfriend and I LOVED everything – we got the pork belly and a spicy prawn dish (I’ve since forgotten the name of the actual dish)… SO GOOD.”
6/240 Anzac Parade
Opens daily from 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., except Monday
The food at Turpan Restaurant may remind you of Middle Eastern cuisines. However, Chinese food from the northwestern regions is mostly halal, particularly from the Xinjiang Uyghur province where the restaurant’s chef and owner grew up.
So, if you’re looking for the best-tasting lambs, mutton, or beef dishes with heaps of tomatoes, onions, olives, and celery, then try the Turpan Restaurant. They also serve crepes, skewers and other dishes with a hint of Pakistani, Mongolian and Russian influences.
“Great northern China dishes. Skewers are must try. Plenty of nice spiced dishes if you like spicy food. It is not the typical Cantonese or Shanghainess restaurants we often see. It is something different and tasty as well. Highly recommended.”
428 Anzac Parade
Opens daily from 11:00 a.m. to 10:15 p.m.
The New Dong Dong Noodles is technically in Kingsford, but it is a block away (at least 0.8 miles) from the Kensington Park.
This restaurant serves Cantonese dishes from an open kitchen. Diners can watch as the chef cooks their orders of hot pot, stir-fried noodles, congee, and noodle soups. The New Dong Dong Noodles also offer Laksa dishes after 9:45 p.m.
“My family has been going here for years and we’ve never had a bad meal. Because it is so busy the food is fresh and super authentic. You always see heaps of Chinese people in here so they must be authentic. Nothing flash but great value and super tasty.”
There is no shortage of Chinese food establishments in Sydney and the surrounding suburbs. However, these four choices from Kensington will show that while Chinese food is common, there are still plenty of variety and distinctions to choose from.
Did you know that Australia’s first rescue food outlet has a flagship store in Kensington? Known as the Oz Harvest Market, this shop located at Anzac Parade takes food that would otherwise be thrown away by food outlets, hotels, supermarkets, and catering companies
Oz Harvest Market sells rescued food to the community or redistributes the edibles to the needy. There are volunteers who ensure that the food items collected are of quality and still fit for eating.
The Kensington store, which opened last April 2017, is located at the ground floor of the building owned by TOGA. The site of the former Addison Hotel, this was turned into a shelter for the homeless and TOGA has donated part of the ground floor for Oz Harvest Market’s operations.
The rescue food outlet is open to anyone looking to buy food supplies at a massive discount or to eat good food without having to pay so much money.
“If times are tough and you’re in need of food or other goods, you can take what you need,” Oz Harvest Market CEO and Founder Ronni Kahn said. “If you can give something, then please do, it could even be your time or skills.”
The goods sold at Oz Harvest Market have no price tag. Customers are open to giving what they can, knowing that the money will also go to charity.
Oz Harvest Market also sets up pop-ups and food trucks at other locations around Australia as a way to promote their services. This is where the money of consumers patronising the store goes.
In New South Wales, Oz Harvest Market stores and food trucks are also found in Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Sapphire Coast, Southern Highlands, Sydney, and Wagga Wagga.
Oz Harvest Market also mounts educational programs for primary school kids to teach them about food sustainability. In New South Wales, the first phase of the program, dubbed Feast, will roll out in schools this 2019.
The aim of Feast is to teach kids how to cook nutritious food, eat healthily, prevent food waste and protect the environment.
