Burwood Chinatown Night Markets
Four nights a week of hawker stalls in the open-air grounds of a Burwood Road precinct that draws more than 180,000 visitors a week.
About this market
Burwood Chinatown occupies the site of the old Murray Arcade, revitalised in 2017 and expanded from 45 tenancies to 85. A further retail redevelopment in 2023, led by the Blairgrove Group and designed by Urban Link Architects, turned it into a hawker-style precinct, and the night markets are the outdoor half of that. Stalls set up in the open grounds Thursday to Sunday, opening around 5pm and trading until about 10pm, with some running later.
Eighteen stalls outside, fifty kitchens inside
The night market is not the whole precinct, and understanding the split is the key to using it well. Around 18 hawker stalls trade in the grounds, with names like Crazy Teppanyaki Squid, Crazy Seafood BBQ, Happy Bao, Takoyaki and Mr Froyo, while more than 50 permanent eateries operate around them across the precinct. That means you can graze from a stall queue and then sit down properly without leaving the block. The precinct takes its hawker cue from Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, and the crossover dishes, sushi tacos among them, are where the market gets playful.
Market at a glance
The scale is the thing people underestimate. Burwood Chinatown reports more than 180,000 visitors every week, rising past 200,000 during Lunar New Year, on a site immediately adjacent to Burwood Station. Burwood Council has since established a Special Entertainment Precinct across three blocks around it, and the precinct holds Purple Flag accreditation as a night-time destination. Halal options are available across a number of the eateries.
Burwood Chinatown took Best Retail Development at the Asia Property Awards in 2024, and Time Out has ranked Burwood as Australia's coolest suburb and 16th in the world.
Good to know before you go
Come by train. The precinct has no parking of its own, it sits right beside Burwood Station, and the operators say so plainly on their own FAQ. The operators single out weekends as the hardest time to get there by car, which is a fair proxy for when the grounds are fullest, so a Thursday visit is the easier one. Individual stalls close at their own pace after 10pm, so a late arrival narrows the choice rather than ending the night, and the indoor eateries trade to their own hours. If you are bringing a dog, keep the visit short: the grounds get genuinely packed at peak.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What nights do the markets run?
- Thursday to Sunday. Stalls open around 5pm and trade until roughly 10pm, with some going later depending on the stall.
- Can I drive there?
- There is no parking on the site itself. Burwood Chinatown sits directly beside Burwood Station, and the operators recommend public transport, particularly on weekends.
- Are dogs allowed?
- Dogs are permitted for short visits, though the grounds get very crowded at peak times, which is worth weighing up first.