Good, healthy, takeaway food in Haymarket in Sydney
January 18, 2011 7:03 PM   Subscribe

Help me find a relatively cheap, relatively healthy takeaway alternative to greasy fried chicken or chain pizza to feed to groups of volunteers in Haymarket in Sydney.

My colleague and I are in charge of feeding groups of 12-18 volunteers, at around about 8pm, four nights a week, in an office in Haymarket in Sydney (AKA Chinatown). It's a project just starting up and we're concerned about our volunteers' diets, and our own. While we have a moderate budget, we're worried that we'll eventually all end up paying the more serious health costs of eating junk food four nights a week.

I'm interested in recommendations for places or companies who do reasonably healthy group catering who'll deliver at night to the Sydney CBD.

I'm especially interested in the kind of caterers who do meals that can be shared, rather than ones who do sandwiches and finger food.
posted by Fiasco da Gama to Food & Drink (9 answers total)
 
For meals that can be shared, why not bring in a rice cooker or two, then order some dishes from that Thai restaurant in Thainatown...what's it called again? *googles*Chat Thai. Really tasty, and will go a long way if you economise on the rice. May not deliver, though, but Spice I Am might as an alternative.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:29 PM on January 18, 2011


Yes, unless I'm missing something, you're right in the middle of Chinatown, and you're ignoring Asian food? There are tons of healthy options all around you. They might not deliver, but they'll be so close by that it shouldn't matter.

Is there some reason you don't want Asian food in particular?

Anyway, my office has had lovely, healthy food from Lush Bucket in Harris Street Ultimo. It would probably fall under the category of catering, rather than delivery, but worth a try.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 7:40 PM on January 18, 2011


I know you're in Sydney and I'm not, but I've usually gone for cheap chinese take out and chain mexican places (like Baja Fresh in the US) in this situation, with both you can order a range of healthy and unhealthy options and people can assemble their own plate (Baja Fresh will send DIY taco or fajita packs), those who want can stick to orange chicken or piles of guacamole and sour cream, but steamed veggies, lighter sauces, beans, fresh salsa etc are there as options.

Thank you so much for stepping away from the pizza, I hate when I phone bank and find that's my only option unless I want dinner at midnight.
posted by crabintheocean at 7:44 PM on January 18, 2011


Response by poster: I'm very familiar with the food courts of Dixon St, Goulburn St and Sussex St. I could feed myself, or groups of two or three, happily into a contented soupy noodly eternity. It's group catering after hours I don't know about.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:47 PM on January 18, 2011


Another thing I'd do to stretch the dollar a bit further would be to drop in at lunchtime on any of the Thai grocers along Campbell St (more towards the railway line end than the ones near the Capitol Theatre) & see what you could pick up to supplement the takeaway.

For a start, they do a range of great sticky rice parcels, as well as distinctive Thai jelly-type desserts. And one of the stores is basically a bank of freezers - there'd have to be stuff you could microwave. And there are all kinds of ready-made salads & curries & things in plastic takeaway containers. *yum*

As long as you stick to mains for the takeaway & avoid paying for rice & fiddly deep fried finger food entrees, your curries & stir-fries should go a really long way. They're basically just a loss-leader to entice people to waste money on drinks, rice & fish cakes.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:51 PM on January 18, 2011


Satang Thai on Quay St does good, cheap 'Aussie Thai' food. (As recommended above, go to Chat Thai or Spice I Am if you want the real deal). It's not exactly fat-free, but it's not gratuitously oily either, and most dishes include plenty of fresh vegetables.

Lush Bucket does really great salads, soups and sandwiches, but it isn't open that late at night. Perhaps you could order from them during the day and keep the food in the office fridge until it's needed?

Charlie Lovett on Broadway bakes nice bread and would probably make you an antipasto platter if you asked. Or you could put something together yourself from their deli section.

Chinese Noodle Restaurant in the Burlington Centre makes delicious steamed dumplings. They're a bit strong-smelling, though, so make sure your office can be ventilated. They also make some of the best hand-pulled noodles in Sydney. If you prefer your dumplings a little less pungent, I recommend HLJ Asian Express on Broadway.

Menya, also in the Burlington Centre, does delicious Japanese food. Lots of udon noodles, bento boxes and the like. There's also a good sushi restaurant on the third or fourth floor, but I think it's only open during the day.

You could also look at supplementing your evening meal with a weekly fruit box from the UTS food co-op or whatever's in season at Paddy's Markets.
posted by embrangled at 8:18 PM on January 18, 2011


There is a bunch of Sumo Salads in Sydney. They do catering and the food is very nommy - I could eat it everyday for months before getting bored.
posted by Wantok at 9:00 PM on January 18, 2011


A better pizza option. I haven't been for a while, but the food was good.
posted by kjs4 at 9:25 PM on January 18, 2011


There is a cafe in chippendale whose primary business is catering. Really good food for $5-15 price range. I am not really a salad eater but had been eating salads from them for weeks on end without tiring. Very generous with the expensive elements. Killer $5 Pies.

Havn't tried their catering but i sure it would be quite good, healthy and cheap.

Biggest problem i have with them is their name and branding. CM catering.
posted by Raff at 3:35 AM on January 19, 2011


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