15 October 2010

SIFF Night Noodle Markets, 2010


I'm baaack! Yes that's right my thesis is finally finished! And since we're right in the middle of the Sydney International Food Festival (SIFF) what better way to kickstart my newly-found freedom than by trying to go to as many events as possible.

The queue at Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine

The Night Noodle Markets started on Monday this week and I may have picked the worst possible day to go. Though it started out as a nice balmy evening, the rain started pouring down about an hour into the markets and people took cover under the trees in Hyde Park. Nevertheless, we still got a chance to check out all the stalls which consisted of mostly Thai, Malaysian and dumpling/dim sum places, a sprinkling of Japanese stalls and the ever present Turkish gozleme and poffertjes (which had been renamed 'mini pancakes' with an Asian font haha). The Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine stall was just as popular as last year, with lots of people queueing up for the made-to-order noodles.


Both Din Tai Fung and New Shanghai had dumpling makers on site which was quite cool. They stood behind plastic screens with their mouth guards and folded dumplings in front of the waiting queues - it was like dumpling TV! The dumpling-makers at Din Tai Fung looked especially professional, they folded those dumpling skins so expertly and so quickly.

4 assorted skewers from Mizuya: (left to right) prawn kushiyaki, chicken yakitori, Japanese cheese sausage and beef kushiyaki - $13.00


I'm a sucker for food on a stick, so the kushiyaki skewers at the Mizuya stand caught my eye and I had to get them, especially since one of them was a Japanese cheese sausage! Unfortunately it wasn't as cheesy as I hoped... it sort of just tasted like a normal sausage. But on a stick :) There was also a beef kushiyaki which was quite tender and flavoursome except a little bit overcooked for my liking. I liked the prawn kushiyaki but the chicken was the best, although it did remind me of those strangely cubic chicken skewers that you buy from Woolies.

Chat Thai

It started to rain so we hid out under a tree to eat our skewers. After the rain subsided we wandered over to the Chat Thai stall which was decked out with people in bright yellow shirts.


More food on a stick! The golden tower of deep fried fishballs at the Chat Thai stall spoke to me and told me to buy them so I did.

Fishballs - $3/stick

The lady at the stall put the stick of fishballs in a bag and drizzled sweet chilli sauce on top. The batter was light and I loved the crunch and then the bouncy-ness of the fishball inside. I'm usually ok with sweet chilli sauce but this was HOT! (note: I am relatively chilli-intolerant). After one fishball my mouth was on fire and it didn't help that the inside of the fishball was hot (temperature-wise) as well. I gave the rest of it to Sir D who loves his chilli.

Mmmm... deep fried goodness!

It started pouring again but this time we managed to get a dry seat in the Coopers beer garden under an umbrella, since most of the other plastic/wooden chairs set up were wet from the first downpour. It didn't seem like the rain was going to let up so in the end we ventured back out to Chat Thai under my tiny umbrella to get dessert, which was housed under these strange dome things, presumably to keep them fresh.

Banana fritters and kai nok gatah - $8

I had my eye on the deep fried banana from the start so I went with a mix of the banana fritters and the kai nok gatah. You certainly get a lot for $8, the guy loaded up our little container right up to the top! The banana fritters were coated in a glutinous rice, coconut milk and sesame seed batter. While it was super crunchy on the outside, the inside was a bit of a letdown with the banana being dry and tasting underripe. I enjoyed the kai nok gatah more, which were lightly fried sweet potato paste dumplings. They're very chewy like mochi with a nice crisp outside but they do get quite filling and starchy after a while. They were chopping up mango while we bought our deep fried goods and it smelt heavenly but we were too full to get the mango and sticky rice dessert. Maybe next year!


The 2010 SIFF Night Noodle Markets are held in Hyde Park, and run from 11 October to 22 October on weekdays, 5pm-9.30pm. For more information, check out the Night Noodle Markets on the SIFF website.


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12 comments:

  1. woot congrats on finishing the thesis dude! now time to partay oh yes CHAMBORD!

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  2. congrats on finishing the thesis! the night noodle market seems to be better than the previous years, will check them out tonight hopefully the weather won't be too crap :/

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  3. I haven't had deep fried fish balls in ages - so good but so bad for you as well! :) Great coverage - can't wait to go and congratulations on your thesis!

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  4. That's exactly what I thought of the chicken "yakitori"...!
    Shame about all the rainy weather - Thurs night was OK though :)

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  5. Congratulations on finishing your thesis - must be an amazing feeling! What better way to celebrate than with some good food at the SIFF! :)

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  6. Congrats again on regaining your freedom! Food on sticks is great and easy to eat in unfortunate cases of downpour =p

    But you didn't have any noodles! (Or gozleme for that matter...)

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  7. YAY!! You've finished! Well done! Now you must over-indulge with glorious food!

    I couldn't be bothered going to Noodle market this year but the food does look great! Esp the banana fritters

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  8. Congrats on finally finishingy our thesis and good work on the photos at Night Noodle Madness! I love the cute servery splashguards at Chat Thai and the fritter box looks awesome!

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  9. Woohoo! Congrats on finishing!! Time to eat and partay! :D I think it's hilarious that they renamed the dutch poffertjes stall haha!!

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  10. Whheeee congrats on finishing! It's a celebration!! Mmmmm food on sticks and pity bout the rain!

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  11. yay congrats! Good job! shame you went on a rainy night :( crappy weather lately.

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  12. Hi chocolatesuze - hehe thanks! we will have to partay it up soon with lots of chambord+lemonade!

    Hi fluffy - Thank you! It does seem to have more stalls than in the past but I think it's pretty much the same stuff still =P

    Hi Trissa - Hehe I think that might've been the first time I've had a deep fried fish ball!

    Hi Tina - Yes it was mysteriously Woolworths like wasn't it that chicken? LOL

    Hi Ladybird - Thanks! Food is always on the cards when a celebration is in order =D

    Hi mademoiselle delicieuse - Hehe yeah I think that's one thing that draws me to these outdoor food events, the food on a stick! Um... yeah none of the noodles appealed to me in particular, and the gozleme stalls are everywhere!

    Hi Phuoc'n Delicious - YAY thanks for all the tips and support Phuoc! And don't you worry I will definitely overindulge with food hehe

    Hi Helen - Thanks Helen! The fritter box was awesome but I think I had a bit too much fried food throughout the day because I struggled to finish it!

    Hi Betty - Thank you! Haha I chuckled to myself as well when I saw how they tried to Asian-fy the poffertjes stall hehehe

    Hi FFichiban - Yay another food on a stick fan =D

    Hi Anna - Thanks for the link!

    Hi Julie - Thanks! Yeah what's up with the weather? But at least there were lots of big trees in Hyde Park to take cover underneath.

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