FOOD / SYDNEY : SYDNEY NIGHT NOODLE MARKETS
It rained and it poured. The first night it kept me away, but it couldn't hold me back. I escaped and broke free and than ran lose in the Sydney Night Noodle Market. At first I felt like a puppy who had ADD, there was so much going on, I didn't know where to start and all the smells and bright pretty lights kept drawing me to different corners of Hyde Park. After a few minutes I was able to gain composure and focus and made a mini game plan of my top picks to hit before the queues became as long as the lines at Newcastle King Street Maccas at 4am on a Sunday morning.
First up was Bao Stop. The gates only opened 30 minutes ago and I was already face to face with the moment I had been dreading... A long long line of hangry people. I tried to keep my money on the prize, the Bao Trifecta, hoping when I got to the end I'd be screaming winner winner chicken dinner. Of the four Baos on offer I decided to go with the Fried Chicken Gua Bao, Braised Pork Belly Gua Bao and Fried Tofu Gua Bao. I personally would have classified it more as a Perfecta than a trifecta. The Braised Pork Belly and Fried Chicken Baos were home runs for sure, but whoever was on tofu duty forgot we're not 35,000ft in the sky where you need to be heavy handed with the salt shakers. I'm sure if I had gone back the next day it would've been spot on.
Next stop was One Tea Lounge for sliders. The mini burger ferris wheel looked like something I wish I had at my tea parties when I was a little girl. The burgers were bright and playful and they opted to follow suit with the Mcdonalds build your own burger with the personalised touch of mixing and matching the slider bun and filling. Once again I went for the set of three sliders - the Ramen Bun with Wagyu Beef, the Matcha Bun with Miso Tofu and another Ramen Bun with Teriyaki Chicken. It's funny because every time I hear teriyaki it makes me think of Larry David and Curb your Enthusiasm where he gets endearingly called Teriyaki Chicken boy! The Ramen buns were amazing. I honestly could've just kept eating them on their own or with a little dipping sauce on the side. The Beef, the Chicken and the Matcha buns were delicious as well and I would've went back for take two if I wasn't so full. Another item that caught my eye was the Icecream Baogers in Green Tea, Black Sesame, Lychee and Red Bean. If I didn't have teeth sensitivity issues and could bite into cold things I would've ordered the ice cream burgers for sure, but sadly I didn't brush with Sensodyne that morning. Hashtag sad face.
One more quick stop before dessert took us to Chips on a stick. We had seen people walking around everywhere nearly poking peoples eyes out with these skewers and I too wanted to live on the wild side. The seasonings came in every flavour under the sun - chicken salt, salt and vinegar, lemon pepper, barbecue, satay, cheese , chilli and in every type of permutation and combination. I did not think I had any room for anything but dessert but I was so so wrong. Somehow I managed to squeeze chips on a stick in my 5.2 foot body and I did not regret it one bit. Who would've imagined that Chips on a stick could be so satisfying and that I could say it so many times in one paragraph. Five Chips on a stick. 6.
The final stop was where my love of science and dessert came together in perfect harmony - Black Star Pastry X N2. The number three seemed to be the reoccurring theme for this whole event so I feel like it was predetermined that I would be getting the Combo Dessert plate - Brokeback Moment Ice-cream (N2), Strawberry Watermelon Cake (Black Star Pastry) and Teafogato ( N2 X Black Star Pastry Baby). The brokeback moment was delicious and the teafogato had a magic about it that reminded me of something slightly Heston Blumenthal inspired but the real winner of the whole night was definitely the Strawberry Watermelon Cake. It was refreshing, sweet, fluffy and was like the melody to the harmony of Spring. Heaven.
I wasn't the only one who seemed to be excited about the dessert plate. I was asked by a gentleman next to me if he could take a photo of it before I devoured it into the tiny space I had left in my tummy. I thought he would take one quick snap, but to my horror, I could see the ice-cream melting as the minutes passed by and what appeared to be traces of saliva dripping down from his mouth into my teafogato. It was really a testament to how good it looked, that after all this, I went ahead and ate it anyway, through the sweat, rain and drool. Next time, I'm not going to be so nice.
