Night Noodle Markets 2013

Yesterday concluded Melbourne’s first and much-loved night noodle markets. It was a plethora of Asian food. There were dumplings, noodles, sliders, peking duck pancakes, curries, skewers, pho, roti, steamed buns, everything! All of the Asian street food you could imagine and all in one place, it was marvelous. For two weeks people flocked to Alexandra Gardens to experience a taste of what Melbourne has to offer in terms of Asian cuisine. Over 25,000 people went on just the first day alone.

The Chin Chin pork slider with siracha and burnt chilli mayo was insanely delicious. The cute little burger bun was so soft you just want to pet it. And the shredded pork just melts in your mouth. The chilli and mayo intensifies the punch of flavours and the crisp Asian slaw and coriander gave it a freshness.  I know you’re not supposed to pick favourites but this was absolutely delicious! I love Chin Chin.

The chilli-caramel popcorn at the chin chin stall was amazing too. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was definitely curious to try it. It was like reading the twist at the end of a thriller novel. It was sweet like caramel popcorn ordinarily is, but then BAM! Out of nowhere, chilli makes a sudden appearance and changes everything you thought you knew before. Omg! No way! Really? The realisation leaves you in shock but rounds off the sweet tones of the caramel and ends perfectly. You finish the spiral of popcorn with the sweetness of the caramel and a smooth hum of chilli lingering on your tastebuds. These are telltale signs of a great novel/popcorn.

At the Longrain stall we got the grilled chicken noodles. It was a bowl of thick rice noodles with crispy skin grilled chicken pieces and yellow beans. It was topped with lots of fresh coriander, chilli and crunchy fried shallots. The sauce brought all the flavours together, a delicious balance of sweet, salty and sour, yum! In the interest of trying the most foods we possibly could, we had to share this meal because it was quite filling. There is a limited amount of space in one tummy so when you’re on a tummy budget you have to share the heavier meals with friends so that you can keep on chomping.  This strategy worked a charm.

We saw someone with what looked like a giant fried crepe, which was fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside with a side of curry to dip it in.  I tapped her on the shoulder and asked what it was and where we could get one. She pointed to where the stall was, and so we went. We then sat down to eat it and someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked what it was and where they could get one. I pointed to the stall. It looked delicious and it was like a chain reaction. Aangan was the stall and it was an Indian Masala Dosa filled with potato, which you dip in the curry and coconut chutney. Absolutely delicious! From the same place we got Papri Chaat, which was like a mixture of crisp fried dough wafers and potato with yoghurt, paprika, green tamerind and chilli. Yummo! It was a really interesting flavours and sort of like indian style nachos.

We got some pork and ginger steamed xiao long baos from the Mr Huang Jin stall and a mixed yum cha plate at Let’s do yum cha. Both were yummy.

At Hoy Pinoy there was a Filipino barbeque with chicken skewers in traditional glaze, pork belly skewers with banana ketchup and longganisa (pork sausage) on a stick. Yum! Yum! and Yum! These skewers aside a bed of steamed rice and green papaya pickle, so delish! A skewer in one hand and a beer/cider in another, perfect combo!

At the Gelato Messina stall they had a range of different sundaes. For example they had a halo halo sundae. OMG! Halo halo is a Filipino dessert usually made with shaved ice, condensed/evaporated milk, red beans, jellies etc. Gelato Messina made a delicious rendition of halo halo. It was sundae with coconut sorbet, jackfruit crème patissier, leche flan, rambutan jellies, fresh mango and condensed milk. This was such a wonderful creation. I absolutely loved it!

The Wonderbao stall had a range of their delicious baos. I love Wonderbao. All their baos are incredible. Their pork bao has always been my fave with pork, egg, shitake mushroom and chinese sausage encased in a soft steamed bao. But all of them are delicious. We had the gua bao, which is like an open bao with a piece of soft and sweet roast pork belly with pickled mustard, coriander and crushed peanuts. Deliciousness!

There were bar people floating around taking orders for drinks so you could secure a place to sit and have them bring the drinks to you. This was handy, it allowed you be so full that you could barely move but still be able to order drinks from the bar from wherever you were. It was definitely a huge success and hopefully it will be on again. Same time next year? Hope so.

I heart the Melbourne Night Noodle Markets!

Olives x

Melbourne Night Noodle Markets 2013
Address: Alexandra Gardens, Melbourne 3000
Website: http://melbourne.goodfoodmonth.com/nightnoodlemarkets
Event Dates: November 18^th – 30^th 2013
Mon-Tue: 5-9pm; Wed: 5-10pm; Thu-Fri 5-11pm; Sat:4-10pm; Sun: 4-9pm