Darling Square is a great precinct in Sydney’s Haymarket, right beside Darling Harbour. It’s only a 10 minute walk from Central and Town Hall stations. There’s also convenient parking available at Darling Square First Parking. Darling Square is a one stop hub to visit, for it has great diversity amongst its 83 retailers including residences, snack shops, bars, restaurants, ice cream stores, and treat yourself at their beauty stores.
The area is spacious with plenty of places to dine, sit and relax and you’ll also find light and colour in the laneways, and be impressed by the architectural wonder of the exchange building.
We love that at night it’s all lit up beautifully and fun for the kiddies to explore.
Head on in and check out all they have to offer and consider it a great space to meet up with friends.
I love a little bit of pampering as I’m sure we all do, and I’m a huge fan of getting my nails done, and especially getting nail art. So, I headed to Five beauty for a manicure. I’m not sure why the store is called 5, but maybe because on a review rating it’s worth a 5/5! The store on Hay Street is fresh, bright and welcoming and has a sleek look to it inside. The beauty salon offers manicures, pedicures, lashes, waxing and more. It is open 7 days a week and long hours too, meaning you can come here after work.
They are amazing at nail art, showcasing the coolest trends from Korea. Think little designs, crystals, colour and more. I got a mix of glitter, coloured French tips and fruit designs, which I love! I found the staff to be friendly and very meticulous in their work, and honestly the manicure is one of the most professional and well executed ones I’ve had. Their attention to detail and artistic ability is impressive
After this, we headed to Chinta Ria for a wonderful Malaysian meal. The food, decor and whole experience is inspired by love and happiness, reflected with their iconic large Happy Laughing Buddha statue.
The restaurant is casual and the cuisine is hearty home-style Malaysian cuisine and food is served in really decent portions. Featuring dishes such as Laksa, curries, Chilli Crab, beef redang, mee goreng and more. We opt to share a few dishes, including the crispy chicken, sambal eggplant and Xo fried rice. We also ordered the outstanding steamed barramundi. The super large whole fish is steamed and seasoned with ginger and soy. The fish was expertly prepared and cooked, easy to pull apart and the lovely sauce was so nice and perfect to pour over your rice. Prices are really reasonable considering the size and the food is suitable to share with a group, for you can try lots of different dishes.
Whilst here we often like to get a treat in the form of donuts at Shortstop, Gelato from Gelato Messina and a cake and coffee from Kurtosh. We are also big fans of Fishbowl for their fresh Asian inspired bowls.
When we visit here, it’s often for a catch up with friends and family as there’s something to meet everyone’s fancy.