Inspired by Melbourne, welcome to Eat Street in Dickson. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Dickson has a new food precinct, and it’s slowly coming to life in a Canberra suburb best known for its vibrant food culture.
Nestled amongst the DKSN 2.0 development is Eat Street, a laneway that the developers say is inspired by the Melbourne lanes and eat streets.
Hidden streets and tenancies have never been a recipe for hospitality success in Canberra, but the area is starting to deliver on its promises with a steady trickle of new tenants.
Eat Street is a new food precinct in Dickson. Photo: Tenele Conway.
The first tenant to call Eat Street home was Fusion Eatz. Opening its doors in February 2024 and serving a hybrid menu of Bhutanese dishes and burgers, owner Tashi Wangchuk is excited to see more tenants moving in and building businesses.
“We were the first to open here. We invested in the space as there are over 2000 public servants in the nearby buildings, but many work from home, so that’s challenging. Business has been building, though, and we have new restaurants coming, which will help the area. Kenmasi, which will open across from us, is a Nigerian restaurant. There will be a Kebab shop next door, and further down the street, there is a well-known Thai restaurant moving in,” says Tashi.
Tashi Wangchuk of restaurant Fusion Eatz in Dickson. Photo: Tenele Conway.
In the multicultural tradition of Dickson, Tashi is sharing his heritage through his varied Bhutanese menu that offers dishes like Juma, a spicy Bhutanese pork sausage, the already well-known Bhutanese dumplings, momos, as well as a range of traditional stir fries and curries like Shakam Paa, in which dried beef is stir-fried with dried chilli, onion, garlic, tomato and beans.
“The recipes are just like we have them at home, but we do take some of the chilli out. Bhutanese food is all about chilli, but it’s too hot for many people. Overall, the flavours and ingredients are just like home,” Tashi tells Region.
The Bhutanese menu sits side by side with a burger menu, and with the restaurant ranking 4.9 stars on Google, the burgers are just as popular as the Bhutanese fare, with many reviewers commenting that they are the best burgers in Canberra.
Accompanying Fusion Eatz on Eat Street is De Doughnuts, a cafe where masses of doughnuts fill the cabinets and French-inspired pink and white chairs line the street.
De Doughnuts is fast becoming a favourite after-school stop, with kids milling in and out throughout the afternoon to get their doughnut fix. Along with their creative doughnut flavours like Earl Grey, Tiramisu and Biscoff Crunch, they also have towers of giant cookies in a dozen flavours, including Red Velvet, Rocky Road and Maltesers.
De Doughnuts on Eat Street in Dickson. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Further down the street is Sushi Fresh, well known for their fresh grab-and-go style sushi, with their third Canberra sushi outlet. Their other outlets located in Fyshwick and Braddon have built a name for having very fresh sashimi and sushi as well as bento boxes, udon and ramen.
Next door sits Korean bakery Our Hours.
Open for six months, Our Hours bakes fresh daily from their full bakery on the premises and specialises in Korean salty bread. Alongside the traditional bread is a wide range of sweet treats like bean buns, sesame balls, warm mochi, cookies and madeleines. The sweets are made on-site and are individually packaged to eat in or take away.
With the existing tenants building upon the exciting food culture of Dickson, Eat Street is one to visit now, but with six more premises for lease down the laneway and at least a dozen more located around the DKSN development, the area is one to watch. The size of the leases available suggests a diversity of businesses will be coming to the area. Ranging from a tiny 11 square metres to over 200 square metres across two floors for the flagship premises on the entry of the laneway, there is space for food businesses both big and small.
Eat Street runs adjacent to Challis Street in Dickson.
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