Eastwood Night Markets
Saturday nights in the Eastwood town centre, on the street where Sydney's Koreatown meets its newest Chinatown.
About this market
Rowe Street is a short street doing an unusual amount of cultural work. Its eastern end was designated a Koreatown under a NSW Government project, its western end is predominantly Chinese businesses and restaurants, and volunteers formally established an Eastwood Chinatown there in 2023. The night market runs down the middle of that on a Saturday evening, 4pm to 10pm, which is the reason it reads less like an events-calendar market and more like the suburb going about its normal business with the lights on.
What to expect on the night
Food first. The stall list is dominated by Asian street food, which in Eastwood means it is being cooked for an audience that knows exactly what it should taste like: skewers, dumplings, grilled meats, fried snacks and sweets, ordered in a queue rather than off a menu board. The scale is a town centre rather than a showground, so it is walkable end to end in a few minutes and the appeal is in doing several laps. Six hours is a long trading window for a night market and the character shifts across it, from early family shopping to a later, denser crowd.
Market at a glance
One thing that trips visitors up: there is also a permanent Taiwanese-style night market food hall on Rowe Street, trading several days a week from a fixed address. It is a different operation. If you have come specifically for the Saturday street market, look for the stalls in the town centre rather than the doorway.
The Granny Smith apple comes from here. In 1868 an English-born orchardist, Maria Ann Smith, found a seedling growing in her compost heap after throwing out the remains of some Tasmanian crab apples, on land her husband had bought in 1856 across what is now Eastwood and Marsfield.
Practical notes for a Saturday visit
Eastwood station sits at the town centre, and the train is by a distance the easier way in: parking around Rowe Street on a Saturday night is contested at the best of times. Bring cash even though most vendors take cards, because the queues move faster for it. Go hungry rather than planning a single meal, since the point of the place is eating in small quantities across several stalls. If you want to shop the Korean and Chinese grocers as well as the market, come before dark, when both ends of the street are still trading properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When are the Eastwood Night Markets on?
- Every Saturday night, 4pm to 10pm, in the Eastwood town centre on Rowe Street.
- What kind of food is there?
- Predominantly Asian street food, reflecting the suburb around it: skewers, dumplings, grilled meats, snacks and sweets from Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and south-east Asian vendors.
- Is this the same thing as the permanent food hall on Rowe Street?
- No. There is a permanent Taiwanese-style food hall trading several days a week on the same street. The night market is a separate weekly event held in the town centre outside it.