Ramadan Night Markets - Human Appeal Australia — Local services in Sydney

From an amazing ‘raw’ festival only a few years ago, to now a totally sanitised and overly governed event that resembles your local dodgy farmers market complete with ugly, generic marquees all lined up in a row and in everyones way..

I’ve been going to the Ramadan markets in Lakemba since the first year! That was when the street itself was cleared and the different vendors would setup shop outside the small businesses along the road. You would venture up the street bouncing from one side to the other in search of something new and exciting to eat and drink, or just to chat to the friendly vendors. While you were there you could pop into the bricks and mortar shops to see if there was anything you hadn’t seen before - perhaps some exotic groceries, meat or even bespoke perfumes. Different Parts of the road were famous for different things - toward the intersection was the camel burgers while in the middle were a few competing for the best knafeh and further up the road you had 3-4 vendors selling smokey pakastani skewers!

Now in 2025 it’s just a total mess, suffering from what is obviously too much involvement from the council. The road is now lined with marquees with who knows who is inside them (its too hard to tell now). The vendors need to set these up themselves every night and many of them were clearly stressed with trying to get everything ready before the hoards of people started arriving. You can guess that many struggled to meet the deadline. One of them who had recognised me from years gone by explained how much worse it was for them and it also prevented them from breaking their own fast before having to start serving - there just wasn’t enough time!. The once beautiful vision of seeing Haldon street flooded with a sea of different people from all walks of life buzzing about as the sun went down is now replaced with those sad red and green marquees.. the kind you would find at any generic “festival” elsewhere in the city! what a shame.

And to have the festival NOT grow year on year is also outrageous! Who scaled back a 7 day event to only 4? I’m sure the council will say they consulted with police and community blah blah blah! And it’s a matter of “safety” etc etc but come on, this is so typical of the nanny state we live in now where anything real and fun will eventually end up drowned in red tape and bureaucracy!

And for those few locals complaining about the “smelly food” come on, now! Living in lakemba and complaining about the smell of the food is like moving to a beachside suburb and complaining about the sand!

Last year I went no less than 4-5 times, this year I was over it by 7pm and was heading to my car 15 minutes later. My time there is done and so is the money I would have otherwise spent at repeat visits.

Canteburry council - I hope in your post event review, you realise that your ever increasing involvement in this event is not making it any better! Let it be raw, real and run by those who are trying to make it special! You’re...

Tonight I had attended the 'Ramadan Iftar' Buffet Dinner at 'The Artisanal Cafe'; A cafe turned buffet restaurant at night during the month of Ramadan... After a very satisfying & fulfilling meal, as there was a variety of cultural tasty dishes to try, we stayed & relaxed a bit.. We ended up leaving a little late.. but not before purchasing my favourite take away caramel cappuccino coffee from there, It's the best, as was the food we tried that night!

I Went home, friends came over, we kicked back till 2 am.. When we all started to feel peckish.. Feeling for some breakfast, before we start the fast tomorrow.. I had cravings for that amazing "Sahlab" the nutty, sweet cinnamon, vanilla velvety hot milk drink. So we decided to hit the Ramadan Night Food Market to see what they had on offer for breakfast..

We went past the "Kaak" stand I couldn't resist the Char-grilled smell of the Kaak over BBQ.. (A Traditional sesame seed Lebanese bun, Char-grilled with an amazing melted stretchy white mixed cheese..). The taste of the smokey char on the grilled sesesame seed bread blends so well with that succulent stretchy white cheese..within. The hot Sahleb milk drink, together with the Char-grilled melted cheese loaded, sesame seed 'Kaak..' bun. Was so incredible to my taste buds.. Sooo good.. that I had to buy an extra two melted cheese filled char-grilled 'Kaak' buns to take home & reheat when peckish..

As we were returning to the car, we went past the freshly squeezed lemon juice over ice, stand, we grabbed one of those to try. Oh my.. So refreshing & very fresh, with actual lemon pieces with in. A much needed iced lemon juiced drink, to quench your thirst after eating one of these loaded cheese filled char-grilled 'Kaak' sesame buns..

I tried this melted cheese 'Kaak' also with my favourite take away cappuccino... It tasted just as good, as it did with the hot velvety 'Sahleb' milk drink.. Just wow!

The 'Sahleb' stand sells incredible authentic frothy 'Sahleb..' it can be described as a frothy, creamy, thickened, sweetened cinnamon hot Middle Eastern milk drink (reminds me of a babyccino).. but with more of a sweet vanilla, nutty, cinnamon taste, with hints of orange blossom & rose water floral undertones.. It is made in the traditional authentic way.. As it would be made.. in the overseas food market stalls...

It was an awesome experience watching how they make this traditional hot fluffy 'Sahleb' drink in front of you.. You feel like you are in the Middle Eastern food markets of Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Syria or Iraq.. The Ramadan hype & diverse cultural dishes sold here are incredible to try.. As the majority of the food dishes sold here are made fresh to go.. directly in front of you.. As you enjoy watching how each food dish, savory or sweet is traditionally made.. Worth visiting for the experience & to try the variety of cultural foods, made & sold in the streets...

I’ve been to many night markets and street festivals around Sydney and was very excited at the attending this one, but sadly it was disappointing. Prices at each food stall were downright outrageous and 4x or 5x its normal cost if you were to order the exact same thing at the respective stall’s restaurant. Food quality wasn’t great either and majority of the stalls were offering the same food/types of cuisine.

There were cooks and staff at many stalls flat out smoking while they were cooking, and were also storing cooked food out in the counter out in the open without the food being covered or refrigerated, so that tells you all you need to know about how much enforcement actually went on at this event. Amazing to see not one single event staff or security reprimand these people violating several food regulations out in plain daylight.

Street festivals are very busy, yes, but this one was ridiculous. Imagine going to the Sydney NYE fireworks but concentrated into one small street. Queuing up for food at any stall took 1-1.5 hrs at a minimum and by the time you went to one stall, you pretty much had no hope to go to any others. There needs to be a ticketing system in place or a capped entry for some crowd control.

Few hidden gems here, but overall would not go back to this event in its...