Night Noodle Markets 2014, Sydney

October is a significant month for food lovers in Sydney. Good Food Month has food related events throughout the whole month spread across Sydney. One of the most popular events visited by many is the Night Noodle Markets at Hyde Park.

The Night Noodle Markets is a massive outdoor festival with an Asian hawker theme. It's back and bigger with about 50 stalls this year (20 more stalls than last year). This includes 2 famous Melbourne stalls: Wonderbao and Hoy Pinoy. It feels like this festival gets better every year. It's the vibe and food that makes this festival so special. Chocolatesuze decided to gather up the food blogging troops to seize the liveliness of the opening night! Here's a snapshot of what went down:

Soy vinegar dipping sauce

My homie iFat and I sprinted over to Hoy Pinoy's stall as soon as the awesome Cooking Crusade told us that they have joined the event this year. She said to follow the smoke and that smoke lead us to them indeed. The sight and enticing smoky scent of the Filipino style BBQ setup was very nostalgic. Happy memories as a kid started running through my head.

Pork belly bbq skewers with rice and atchara

Anyhow, we tried both their pork belly skewer and chicken inasal. It was 2 skewers for $10 plus $3 for extra rice and atchara (pickled unripe papaya). The pork belly was definitely legit when it comes to the flavour. The glazed marinade had sweet notes from banana ketchup, smoky with hints of soy and garlic. Although we would normally use pork neck, the pork belly twist provides extra juiciness.

Chicken inasal bbq skewers

Chicken inasal traditionally uses boned chicken, but their twist of using chicken thigh fillets makes it more convenient to eat. It was a tiny bit sweet with notes of vinegar, soy and garlic.

Pork belly gua baos

Everyone was super excited to know that Wonderbao was taking part this year. Back in the Melbourne laneways, they are best known for their dumplings. Ever since my visit at their Melbourne shop, I already had my heart set on the pork belly gua baos ($7 each). This has gotta be my favourite gua baos ever! The pillowy soft half moon steamed buns were filled with masterstock braised pork belly. The pork had an amazing sweet caramelised flavour and was insanely tender. It worked perfectly with the other fillings, which includes pickled mustard, corriander, sweet soy and crushed peanuts.

Phuc King Tasty pot luck pie

I didn't get the chance to try any of Gelato Messina's Asian-themed desserts. The lovely Citrus Candy had her priorities right by going dessert first and scored an item from them that night. She gives the pot luck pie from Gelato Messina's Lucky Fortune Bar a thumbs up. It was the Phuc King Tasty pot luck pie ($9), which consists of a cinnamon scroll topped with coffee gelato, condensed milk pannacotta, walnut crunch and Asian spiced cookie.

Seafood char kway teow (CKT)

Last but not least is Sydney's queen of Malaysian cooking; Jackie M. Amongst her popular items is her signature Char Kway Teow ($18). This rice noodle dish was amazing as usual. I had the seafood version, which had prawns, cockles and squid. It was vibrant with presence of wok hei and caramelised bits. This is one dish you can't go wrong with when visiting her stall.

With new players in the scene, curiosity arises and queues get longer. So the earlier you can get there, the better! I suggest starting up with all the joints I mentioned above as they had the longest queues that night.

Night Noodle Markets

Hyde Park,

Sydney NSW

October 10 - 26, 2014

Monday to Tuesday 5pm – 9pm

Wednesday 5pm – 10pm

Thursday - Fri 5pm – 11pm

Saturday 4pm-10pm

Sunday 4pm – 9pm