7 Must-Try Dishes for Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is the tastiest time of year at The Star Sydney. Make it your mission to try the seven most epic dishes on the menu this year during Spring Festival.   

There’s lots to love about Lunar New Year at The Star Sydney. But our favourite part? That’s got to be the food. Each year our chefs prepare special Spring Festival menus, seizing the opportunity to show off their skills using the very best ingredients. Welcome the Lunar New Year by trying our seven favourite dishes at The Star Sydney.

1. Opulence Sashimi Platter at Sokyo

Ever wondered what $600-odd of sashimi looks like? In honour of Lunar New Year, Chase Kojima’s contemporary Japanese eatery Sokyo pulls out all the stops on what must be one of Sydney’s most epic sashimi spreads – the Opulence platter. On it you’ll discover succulent lobster sashimi, dollops of caviar, melt-in-your-mouth Toro bluefin tuna, sweet scampi and so much more. In the spirit of Spring Festival, it’s best to round up some friends and family to order the decadent dish – it’s designed to be shared.

Sashimi Platter at Sokyo
Sashimi Platter at Sokyo
2. Wagyu Tomahawk steak at BLACK Bar & Grill

Lunar New Year is not a time for scrimping. Leave it to BLACK Bar & Grill’s Executive chef Dany Karam, then, to be grilling up a steak worthy of the event. Signifying wealth for the Lunar New Year to come, Dany’s wagyu Tomahawk steak weighs in at a whopping 1.5kg and arrives at the table cooked to your liking with a side of bone marrow, plus a fresh coriander gremolata to complement the melt-in-your-mouth marbling of the wagyu.

Wagyu Tomahawk steak at BLACK Bar & Grill
Wagyu Tomahawk steak at BLACK Bar & Grill
3. Pork, prawn and scallop potstickers at Flying Fish

Dumplings are considered signs of good fortune around Lunar New Year, thanks to their resemblance to the gold ingots used as currency in ancient China. On Chinese New Year Eve, many families across China gather to fold dumplings together until midnight. But this year you can leave the fiddly stuff to Flying Fish executive chef Peter Robertson, who is offering delicate potstickers stuffed with a filling of pork, scallop and prawn.

Pot stickers at Flying Fish
Pot stickers at Flying Fish
4. Seafood Longevity noodles at Fat Noodle

Longevity noodles are yet another Lunar New Year food believed to bring good fortune. The tradition goes that the longer the noodle, the longer the diner’s life, so long, uncut noodles are a fixture of the dish. At Luke Ngyuen’s pan-Asian diner Fat Noodle, longevity noodles are being dished up this year with an array of the seafood – think king prawns, Hokkaido scallops and blue swimmer crab wok-tossed over the flames with a silky egg-white sauce.

Seafood Longevity Noodles at Fat Noodle
Seafood Longevity Noodles at Fat Noodle
5. Grilled Alaskan king crab at BLACK Bar & Grill

Chef Dany Karam has become famed for his prime steaks, seared over Australian ironbark in the kitchens of BLACK Bar & Grill. For Lunar New Year this year, he’s adding succulent Alaskan King Crab to the grill. Coming in at 500g, the flame-grilled crab symbolises treasure and will be served up with butter laced with Cantonese dried scallops (conpoy). This is one dish worth getting messy for.

Grilled Alaskan king crab at BLACK Bar & Grill
Grilled Alaskan king crab at BLACK Bar & Grill
6. Braised pork belly with 5 Spice at Sokyo

Meltingly tender, rich pork belly is a popular dish around Lunar New Year, with pork considered an omen of wealth and prosperity in China. Symbolising fortune on the Sokyo menu this year, Chase Kojima’s pork belly is braised in Chinese 5 spice with apple, yuzu citrus and served with fried ginger.

Pork Belly at Sokyo
Pork Belly at Sokyo
7. Moreton Bay bug spring rolls at Flying Fish

The humble spring roll has a rich history with the Spring Festival, stretching back to the palaces of China’s Ming Dynasty and beyond. When fried to golden perfection in oil, the crispy pastry fingers were thought to resemble gold bars. Chef Peter Robertson is bringing the spring roll back up to its noble origins with his Moreton Bay bug spring rolls, paired with a sweet and sour sauce. These morsels represent fortune and will be available on the Flying Fish menu for the duration of Lunar New Year – be quick.

Spring Rolls from Flying Fish
Spring Rolls from Flying Fish