There are two kinds of people over the ages of 35 who are reading this.
The first remembers the golden era of Sizzler buffets in Australia – the neon promise of unlimited soft serve, delicious cheese toast and the deeply unscientific strategy of building a plate that somehow always included too much potato skins.
The second is lying.
Because if you grew up in this country, you’ve stood in a buffet line at least once thinking: this is what adulthood tastes like.
Fast forward to 2026, and Sydney has quietly evolved that exact concept. Same “build-your-own-plate” energy. Same thrill of no one telling you what to order. But now it comes with wok hei, Hunan spice, and a pay-by-weight system that feels a little more grown-up than “pile it high and hope for the best”.
Welcome to the new lunch at 25 Spices at Market City.
Located in the heart of Market City in Haymarket, 25 Spices has launched a weekday lunch format that feels like someone took your 90s buffet nostalgia, sent it on a gap year through central China, and brought it back with better taste and slightly more discipline.
Here’s how it works: you grab a plate, you wander, you choose. Around 13 freshly prepared Hunan dishes rotate daily – think pork with long green chilli, beef with pickled chilli, and shrimp with crispy chilli – plus vegetarian and milder options for those who prefer their lunch with flavour rather than personal challenge.
Then you weigh your plate. And you pay $2.99 per 100 grams.
Which is either the most liberating lunch system ever invented… or the fastest way to discover exactly how expensive your appetite actually is.
There’s no ordering. No waiting. No awkward “what do you recommend?” moment where you pretend you already know what you want. Just a full spread of spicy, fragrant, high-speed weekday eating designed for people who have places to be and not enough time to argue with a menu.
Chef and founder Vincent Wei – the mind behind cult-favourite Newtown restaurant Pappa’s Stew – describes the concept as a response to how Sydneysiders actually eat during the week: quickly, but not carelessly.
And he’s right. Lunch in 2026 is less “long business meeting over steak frites” and more “standing in front of a bain-marie negotiating with yourself about whether you really need three chilli beef servings or just two”.
What makes this version interesting is that it’s not trying to be an all-you-can-eat free-for-all. This is buffet culture with boundaries. Everything is freshly prepared daily, the focus is quality over quantity, and the format is designed to let you sample widely without committing to a single dish (or a single regret).
It’s also, crucially, very fun.
There’s something undeniably nostalgic about it – the roaming, the selection, the satisfaction of building a plate that feels like a personal achievement. But here, the flavours are sharper, the dishes more regional, and the whole experience a lot more glam that the Sizzler’s Bolognese.
Not bad for something that starts at $2.99 per 100 grams.
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