As seen when exploring the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta on a day walk.

Cabramatta: A day walk in a Sydney Suburb

As the train approaches Cabramatta I start to have doubts about this project. My challenge is to visit, photograph and document how I experience one suburb every fortnight. Cabramatta is the first.

Why Cabramatta? Well, I’ve been there before and it’s a cultural experience being Australia’s largest non-Anglo-Celtic commercial precinct. I have a vague plan – to walk around the rectangle formed by Railway Parade, John Street, Hill Street and Hughes Street. To try various local delicacies that I have read about in foodie blogs and to buy fabric for a sewing project I’ve had in my mind for far too long.

A touch of Asia in Sydney’s west

I cross Railway Parade and make my way to John Street. Suddenly I’ve been transported to Asia. Close to a third of Cabramatta’s population was born in Vietnam while others are from Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Unsurprisingly shop signs are in Vietnamese and I hear very little English. Televisions and radios in shops are tuned to Vietnamese programs.

Cabramatta feels like Vietnam

I could be in Vietnam

One of many Vietnamese signs

One of many Vietnamese signs

Bakeries display the usual cakes but also rows of sweet treats very different from what I am used to. Mixed businesses are crammed with all sorts of foodstuffs, kitchen utensils, plastic ware. I stop at a little shop selling sugarcane juice. The shop assistant feeds sugar cane into a machine, adds ice to the juice and hands me a delicious refreshing drink.

Men sit around tables at a corner café drinking clear tea of different shades of amber in tall glasses. Some women are setting out pre-packaged meals from canvas shopping trolleys to sell to passers-by. Others display home grown bunches of lemon grass and other herbs.

Two sisters giggle as they try to tell me something about their shop being closed for the day. They still have some goods for sale on a table outside. The simple act of buying an iced coffee from them results in an interaction where much is lost in translation. I leave and we are all richer for the experience.

Pai Lau Gate to Freedom Plaza

Ahead I see the lion statues at the John St entrance to Freedom Plaza where men and women gather separately on communal benches. The large monumental Pai Lau or gateway symbolises harmony and multiculturalism and functions as a welcoming monument and as a celebration of freedom and democracy.

Cabramatta may have become a tourist destination, but today I see few Anglo faces. I notice several animal statues, all symbolising something. Lions for strength and protection, pigs for good luck and a giant turtle for longevity.

Sugarcane juice

He’s getting Sugarcane Juice

Exotic Groceries

Exotic Groceries (to me at least)

I wander along the four streets bordering the main shopping area, taking detours through indoor passages lined with jewellery stores, clothes and shoe shops, fruit vendors, butchers, fishmongers and numerous hair establishments.

In the Good Luck BBQ House, the meat is being chopped to order with a large cleaver. The Lucky Gift Shop mainly sells goods associated with good luck. Buddha’s of all shapes and sizes, red and gold wall hangings and lanterns, joss sticks and gold lucky cats beckoning wealth and prosperity with their moving arm. I start noticing that most shops have a simple Buddhist shrine with fresh offerings of fruit and drink. Or at least some decoration in red and gold.

Red and gold for luck and wealth

Red and gold for luck and wealth

Fabric rolls in Cabramatta

So much to choose from

Rolls of fabric propped up on the sidewalk catch my attention. I find what I am looking for and at $4 per metre leave feeling that I’ve got myself a bargain.

Lunch Time

It is lunch time. Without local knowledge it’s difficult to choose from the many and varied local eateries. So I stay safe and choose from those written up in many food blogs. Instead Thanh Binh, where I’ve previously eaten a delicious lunch with friends, I choose Phó 54, a small, family run restaurant in Park Street. It’s well known for …well, its phó (pronounced “fer”).

There’s a queue, but a few short minutes later, I am sharing a table with a woman from Cambodia. She has little English, but manages to explain about the condiments and how to mix them with my steaming bowl of phó tái (beef noodle soup). I copy her as she puts noodles into her spoon with her chopsticks and eats from the spoon.

Cabramatta seafood

Fish anyone?

Cabramatta specialty butcher

Specialty Butcher

The fresh tasty broth is a perfect lunch. She bids me goodbye with a lovely smile and touch on the shoulder. Sophia takes her place. We chat a while and then out of the blue she says she is going to shout me lunch. I’m confused. Did I understand correctly? Why it is so difficult to accept generosity from strangers? Hopefully we’ll meet again when I visit her local temple in Canley Vale.

Final Thoughts on Cabramatta

I’ve had a rich cultural experience this morning. I’ve discovered new things and made a new friend. Perhaps I would have learnt a bit more on one of the many tours available  but I took my time, followed my nose and wasn’t disappointed.

You can too. Take a friend for company, a wheelie shopping bag and the train from Sydney Central. Its only about 50 minutes on the Inner West and South Line and you can make your visit to Cabramatta more meaningful by buying the ingredients to make pho at home with this easy recipe given to me by one of my readers. It takes an hour and ten minutes to prepare.

Update: Cabramatta Hasn’t Changed

Recently I returned to Cabramatta to learn more about local cuisine with Taste Tours. You can read my post on the tour here. My impression is that Cabramatta hasn’t changed since I first visited a few years ago.

Little women still shop with their shopping trolleys, others sit on milk crates selling home grown produce and children chase pigeons in the plaza. The new Dutton Plaza and covered car park has replaced an open air car park, but I didn’t venture in. The local shops and restaurants in and around the plaza are still the same family run businesses.

Graffiti in Cabramatta

Graffiti discovery

 

Enjoyed this discovery? Then you’ll enjoy exploring Penrith, Bankstown and Harris Park. And if you prefer to do a tour then the Taste Tour of Cabramatta may be for you.

Useful information:

Cabramatta is 30km South West of the Sydney CBD.

It is easy to get to Cabramatta by train.

Plan your trip at transportnsw.info

And a map to give you an idea: (You can download it here) (NOTE that the time indicated on the map does not allow for any stops. I take an average of 4-5 hours when I explore):

Cabramatta Walk Map

Comments

  1. This is a terrific blog, Joanne. What a good idea to discover our city one suburb at a time. You’ve inspired me.

  2. Jim
    Thanks Joanne, Great idea and your choice of Cabramatta for your first suburb was very nostalgic for me- countless visits to real estate agents looking for cheap rental units and then to the asylum seekers who moved in- and when time permitted a bowl of steaming pho in one of the many restaurants- seven years at House of Welcome just down the road. Where to next?

    1. Author

      Nice to hear from you Jim. Petersham next, but I’m off to Auburn tomorrow. It will only be posted in a few weeks though.

  3. “Your comment is awaiting moderation” .! oh dear moderation was never my strong suit.
    jc

  4. Thanks Joanne it’s always fun to follow your adventures and proof that you don’t have to travel far afield to enjoy new experiences!
    Cheers
    Philip

  5. Well done Joanne, look forward to your travels around Sydney

  6. Great start, Jo. Keep them coming. So different from our neck of the woods…in fact Cabramatta reminded me of parts of Hong Kong. I loved the richness of colour.
    Love from la belle France
    Jacqui

  7. Sounds like a lot of fun Jo – especially making new friends over a bowl of Pho.
    You must show us your finished sewing with the material you bought at some stage.

    1. Author

      Thanks Anne. Yes. I’ll be making ‘happy pants’, but need some time first.

  8. Thanh Bin is my favourite. i had my 60th birthday lunch there with my family. I am in bed with a bad cold so i am reading all your blogs again. Makes me want to get out and about too. Thanks Jo x

    1. Author

      Thanks for reading and commenting. I’ll put your suggestions on my to do list ie re the mosque in Abu Dhabi.

  9. Hey Jo, inspired by you, Ros and I are going to Cabramatta on Tuesday afternoon. Are you busy or would you like to join us?

    1. Author

      So glad you’re inspired. I would come but Spanish calls. Would love to hear what you think.

  10. i was raied in cabramatta in the 60,s and 70,s and i am amazed by the change in john st let alone the whole of cabramatta it does look good but different .

    1. Author

      Hello Lynnette, I can imagine Cabramatta is very different from when you grew up there. So many Sydney suburbs have changed dramatically and still are changing. Cabramatta may be different but it’s very interesting.

  11. Hi Joanne
    Would you suggest a Sunday or Monday to visit Cabramatta?
    Thanks, Sally

    1. Author

      Hi Sally, It all depends on what you want. I suspect Sunday will be busy – and that could be a good experience, but not if you’re avoiding crowds. Monday is likely to be quieter. I have only been on a Saturday and during the week so I’m really guessing. Let me know how you go. Joanne

  12. Went to Cabramatta yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Best Pho at Pho Viet in John Street. Went by train which was so easy. Will go back again for some more Pho.

    1. Author

      I’m pleased you enjoyed it. And the train is great. No parking hassles.

  13. Hi Joanne
    Do you ever take groups on your tours? I am with a Probus Club & we do day trips around Sydney & I have enjoyed reading the information you have given about Cabramatta.

  14. Thx for yr very interesting info. My son Kirsten (who lives and works in Sydney ) just mailed me that he’s going to visit Cambretta today. I forwarded him yr info. Thx so much.
    Clément Gent (Belgium)

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