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

Shanghai Tang, Haymarket

EDIT: This establishment is now closed.

Finding a place to eat on a Saturday night in Haymarket without a booking and without wanting to queue up is pretty difficult. When Sir D's friend recommended Shanghai Tang which had no queue and looked like it was good value, we decided to give it a go.

Shanghai Tang is located within BreakFree on George on the Mezzanine level, and had a pretty wide range of dumplings, noodles and rice dishes to choose from. The waitstaff were very friendly and helpful with making recommendations and the food arrived promptly.

Traditional Shanghai xiao long bao - $7.80 (8 pcs)

New Shanghai, Chatswood

I had read numerous blog posts about the myriad of Shanghai dumpling places in Ashfield. Cheap and delicious xiao long baos as well as the crunchy, burnished bottoms of the pan fried pork buns. Ashfield was a bit far for me but I was willing to travel the distance until, like magic, New Shanghai opened up in Chatswood!


This has slowly become Sir D's favourite place to eat in Chatswood (any mention of dumplings will see his face light up with enthusiasm) because you can get quite a lot of tasty Shanghainese food without leaving a hole in your hip pocket. Admittedly the service is not so great in that during peak times they really do not have enough floor staff and can come across as being very inattentive, but the food and cheap prices make up for it.

Famous New Shanghai pan fried pork buns - $8.80

When Sir D and I come here we either order the xiao long bao or the pan fried pork buns and tonight, it's the pork buns. These have a bread-like exterior which is nice and brown on the bottom. Inside is a ball of pork swimming in delicious soup. Be careful when you eat these - the first time I bit into one I managed to squirt soup all over Sir D! I probably should have read Not Quite Nigella's instructions on how to eat a soup dumpling beforehand.

Pork and chive dumplings - $7.80

Peking Inn, Pymble

Hot and sour soup (Peking style) - $5.80

The great thing about big family dinners at Chinese restaurants is that you end up ordering lots and lots of dishes and getting a taste of everything, which is the way I like it. Sharing is caring, after all ;)

Pigs' ears

Being new to this whole foodblogger thing, I went to dinner with my camera but also with some trepidation about taking photos of food with half my extended family waiting for me to finish before they could eat. I told Mum about my hesitations and upon arriving she annouced to the whole table, "Everyone, Jacqui said to not eat the food until she's taken photos of it!". As such, I did manage to get my photos but not without someone asking me every 10 minutes or so whether it was ok to eat yet. Ah, the life of a foodblogger.

Vegetarian bean curd rolls