My 'fear-of-missing-out' (FOMO) led me to the city last night to experience just for myself how good the Melbourne Noodle Night Market actually is. This event has seen a lot of popularity in Sydney, and for the first time it ventured down to Melbourne, the self-confessed "food capital". And boy am I glad it did!
The two week long event, is run based on the Asian hawker-style markets, with more than 25 different stalls serving up all things Asian. Yum! Some of Melbourne's favourite eateries, including Longrain, Izakaya Den, Mamak and my personal favourite Chin Chin, have been (and will continue to until Sunday 30th November) serving up some of your favourite Asian dishes. Anything from dim sims, dumplings, banh mi, pho, chicken skewers, pork sliders and even dessert; its all here under one roof... well not really a roof. All here, in the one garden. That's Alexandra Garden.
Please excuse what will be quite a long post, as my experience at the noodle night markets was that good, I just had to do a blog post about the environment and of course the food. Cause food makes the world go around, doesn't it?
If you're thinking of seeing what the hype is all about, or you just want to grab a quick feed whilst in the city, do yourself a favour and get there before 7pm. The lines for each stall when I arrived were already long, and as night fell, they only got longer.
The first stall I attacked was naturally Longrain. I had heard such good reviews about this restaurant and was dying to give it a go. Naturally the line was quite long, but it moved quite steadily which was assuring for my hungry hungry belly. It must have known it was in for a treat, because when I got close to the front it rumbled as if to say "feed me now".
There were three dishes on offer at Longrain, and while it was a very tough decision (as it always is) I opted for the Hot and sour salad of pork, glass noodles, mint and coriander (pictured above).
Full of anticipation, and salivation I dug deep and wide, trying to put as much on my fork as was humanly possible. The dish was as its name suggests, hot and sour. Spicy and full of acidic punch. It was a refreshing cold dish, and a good way to escape the heat of Melbourne weather. The glass noodles were coked well, tossed through with bean shoots, mint, coriander and the usual suspects of chilli, and a hint of garlic. While my friend thoroughly enjoyed it (she is still raving about it today) I wasn't quite sure whether it was my hunger or the fact that I had a severe case of FOMO that made me continue eating. I found it overpowered with acidity, and the large mint leaves were a bit of a put off for me, as I am not the biggest fan of mint. If however, you are a lover of a fresh, 'vietnamese-esque', sour salad then this is the dish for you. For me, it was a bit of a hit and a miss.
(Top to Bottom: Nama Udon Noodles with Wagyu Beef; Hihou Dog; Den Fried Chicken)
My next order of business was Japanese. Onwards to Izakaya Den.
They had three options on their menu, and not wanting to miss out, we ordered one of each.
The Nama Udon Noodles with Wagyu Beef was sold as being 'handmade' noodles. I love anything that's handmade, it seems to taste rustic to me and there is something about that word plastered on a menu that draws me in. Unfortunately this dish was lacklustre. The noodles itself were delicious, though I still have my doubts whether they were authentically handmade. But this is pretty much where my love for this dish ends. The broth was quite bland, and lacked depth in flavour. The beef was slightly chewy, as if it had been overcooked. I'll give them points for presentation but even that is clutching at straws.
What the previous dish lacked, it made up in abundance with the Den Fried Chicken. This is a dish I had wanted to try, not just for its great reviews by others, but by its appearance. The deep fried chicken was piled high, topped off with a generous dollop of Kewpie mayonnaise as well as a wedge of lemon to garnish. I also topped it off with Tonkatsu sauce to give it that extra sweetness. It was delicious, to say the least. Each chicken piece, was juicy and succulent on the inside, yet golden crunchy on the outside. The mayonnaise added the creaminess to the dish, while the tonkatsu sauce cut through the richness of the mayo, adding a sweet, yet sour kick. Just amazing, thinking about it makes me salivate.
Last but not least was the eastern version of a hot dog, the Hihou Dog. I cannot exactly pinpoint what type of sausage it was, but like Asian sausages, it was slightly sweet, which was accompanied by a hot dog roll that was savoury yet had an added sweetness you would not normally find in western breads. This was truly your typical Asian dish. While the dog itself was quite 'sweet', it played with my mind as I am used to a savoury sausage and bread with sauce combination. The sweetness would have been too much had it not been for the pile of what seemed to be cabbage piled on top to cut through the sweetness to remind my brain that I was eating a savoury dish, and not a dessert.
If those dishes weren't enough to make you salivate, let me introduce you to the Pork Slider by my favourite restaurant Chin Chin. I arrived at the Chin Chin stall with a full belly, and could not pass by an opportunity to eat food from this amazing establishment. As I was quite full, and needed to save space for dessert I opted for one of their smaller dishes, the Pork Slider. I had been told to try this as it was absolutely amazing. And it did not disappoint, one bit! Imagine slow cooked pork, so soft it flaked apart at the slightest touch and melted in your mouth, topped with sirirach sauce (chilli sauce) and a burnt chilli mayo wedged between two buns that had been slightly toasted so it was crunchy yet soft. Of course the usual suspects were also there, a 'slaw' of cabbage, carrot and cucumber, which added a refreshing touch to the slider. It was de-li-cious! I would have happily gone back for seconds, and thirds had it not been for my highly anticipated dessert which required some stomach space.
(Left to Right: 'Singapore Sling' including coconut gelato, coconut lime brownie, kaya; 'Monkey Balls' including coconut/peanut gelato, fresh fried donuts, jackfruit creme pattisiere, toasted coconut; 'En-Thai-Sing' including pandan coconut sorbet, sticky rice, fresh mango, salted coconut cream)
When it comes to gelato, Gelato Messina is the new kid on the block, and it is making heads turn. It has certainly made my head turn after what my tastebuds experienced last night.
At the night markets, the Messina stall had on offer sundaes as well as the gelato/sorbet sold separately Whenever sundaes are an option it is too hard to say no, and given that each one sounded better than the next I was hard pressed to refuse. This stall had by far the longest line, and wait but the end was the reward in itself.
Luckily I had my two friends with me so I was able to sample a few of the sundaes on offer. In one word, orgasmic. The Singapore Sling was deliciously smooth, in particular the kaya which I was told is a palm sugar caramel that had been flavoured with pandan. It was so good I could have eaten a whole tub of the Kaya alone. My own Monkey Balls was also another winner amongst us. The coconut/peanut gelato was smooth and soft. The toasted coconut had been toasted perfectly and some sugar had been added to make them clump together into balls that melted apart in your mouth. The creme pattisiere of jackfruit looked suspiciously like condensed milk at first, but eaten in isolation, you get the hint of jacfruit lingering in your mouth. I would have liked a bit more injection of jackfruit but its all minor complaints. The donut was golden and crunchy and dense on the inside. It had a nice soft coat of sugar which injected me with even more sugar.
My favourite sundae probably had to be the En-Thai-Sing (get the play on words yet?), this was solely because it wasn't as sweet as the others. The pandan coconut sorbet was ah-mazing; smooth coconut sorbet with a dash of pandan flavouring, just enough to linger in your mouth after consumption. The addition of the sticky rice was a winner in my eyes, as it tore through the richness and creaminess of the sorbet and its accompaniments. Mango is a winner in my eyes regardless, so that was a nice refreshing addition.
Overall Gelato Messina lived up to its hype. In hindsight I just wish I hadn't stuffed my face before it otherwise I would have not only enjoyed the sundae more (I really struggled to finish, but finish I did) as well as probably fit more of it in.
If you're a lover of Asian food, this market is the place for you. It has everything that you could possibly want, and all made by some of the top Asian restaurants in Melbourne.
While the crowds may be a bit of a turn off for some, please, please push through and your tastebuds will not be disappointed. This market is the perfect avenue for Melbourne to show off, and demonstrate why we really are the self-proclaimed "food capital".
