FOOD / MELBOURNE : NIGHT NOODLE MARKETS

The Melbourne Night Noodle Market felt like the ultimate playing arena for a championship match of Marco Polo. Blackstar…. *PASTRY*…. Sugar Prawn.. *X LUXBITE*…. I had come in with a game plan, knowing which stalls I wanted to hit, in which order and threw that right out the window once I entered what is known as the mysterious “Middle Terrace”. I felt like I definitely would have benefited from studying the map a little more before I went in there. It would’ve saved me from spending at least half an hour walking around “Middle Earth” to find Chin Chins, to only then realise there were two other main areas in this amazing food playground. It was right now that I had thought of how perfect it would be to have implemented Larry David’s idea from the episode in Curb your Enthusiasm where he owns a restaurant and assigns a bell with a different frequency to each table so if you need anything from the waiter you just shake shake shake the bell. The only downfall to this is not everyone is like Jimi Hendrix, Mozart or Mariah Carey, barely anyone has perfect pitch.

Once I regained by bearings and did a few laps of the arena, I started working my way down the list hoping I could fit it all in.

Atop of the Upper Terrace, adjacent to Batman Avenue was Chin Chin, Kong and Hawkers Hall, the three restaurants part of the Lucas Group. Everyone is familiar with Chin Chin and Kong but Hawkers Hall was throwing out a little teaser before it’s unveiling this Sunday. Of the two offerings on the menu I went with the Chicken and Sriracha Steam Bun which was nice, fluffy and definitely had a kick in the red chilli centre. The pulled pork slider with Sriracha, Kewpie Mayo and asian slaw from Chin Chins and the Soba noodles with wood roasted pork belly from Kong were pleasant starters to ease me into the event.

Off in the distance I could see blazing red flames and hot burning fire, and like nerds to a comic book convention I was drawn to the danger and excitement. Lots of people gathered around Hoy Pinoy to watch what seemed to be hundreds of skewers being cooked to perfection atop of the red hot embers of charcoal underneath. The carnivore in me was satisfied after having an Inasal Na Manok - BBQ chicken basted in a lemongrass, ginger and annatto on a skewer. The guys in the queue did not mind waiting one bit to get their hands on a few of these babies.

From one skewer to another I hit the Chilli Tuckshop who was offering Fried Thai Pumpkin and Ginger noodle balls on a stick. They were golden, they were crunchy and I easily could’ve eaten two or even more of these. All I could think of was how delicious these would be as a snack whilst binge watching House Of Cards or how great they would be after a big night of drinking on the walk to the taxi line.

Next in line was Red Spice Road. There was no doubt in my mind as to why Red Spice Road had won the 2016 Peoples Choice Award in the Age Good Food Guide. Their South East Asian style was reflective in their menu of Yum Mama, Penang Beef, Coconut Tapioca and Crispy Five Spice Pork Belly with chilli caramel and asian slaw. Whenever I’m at a restaurant my eyes are immediately drawn to the Pork Belly but in my mind i know it’ll either be an upper or a downer. The Red Spice Road Pork Belly was a massive tick and tickled me pink. It was oozing with the caramel glaze and left me having to lick my fingers, only after firstly checking that none was looking my way, naturally.

Out of all of the stalls on offering, I was most intrigued about Lady Carolina. International guest star Chef Diego Munoz from Peru’s Astrid Y Gaston, Number 14 of 50 of the Worlds Best Restaurants teamed up with the Lady to serve Peruvian Japanese taste sensations. I was eager to see Causa, Guinea Pig and Lucuma but was doubtful that this would even make it across the sea through customs. Instead they served up the Nikkei Dog and Wok Fried Mount Zero Quinoa “Chifa” with tamarind, prawns and asparagus as well as a vegetarian option. When you first get it, it doesn’t look very appealing, but it definitely had deep full flavours once that spork hit my mouth. I thought they had given me the vegetarian option by mistake but once I went digging I found a treasure chest of prawns hidden inside the deep grainy forrest. Compared to the other stalls it was quite a generous serving which only left with me room for dessert.

I’ve always had a soft spot for LuxBite and all of their amazing creations so when I heard they were doing a collaboration with Sugar Prawn it was a must taste in my books. #LimeInACoconut was the delicious treat they concocted which consisted of a coconut and lime sorbet, sticky rice, LuxBite’s salted caramel macaron, peanuts and a pocky stick all served up nice and compact in a Coconut Shell. To get all of the flavours I had to dig to the bottom and get it all in the one bite. It was refreshing, chewy, crunchy and was a great combination of multiple textures and consistencies in one hit.

Last but not least was N2 X Black Star Pastry. I had already been to the Sydney Noodle Markets a few weeks ago and knew that the tasting plate would be too good to be true, but I could only fit in one last thing before it was time to go. I made my choice and had to go with Black Star Pastry’s Strawberry Watermelon Cake with Rose Scented Cream. Lucky for me I can go to Newtown, Roseberry or Kinokuniya in Sydney and get it whenever I please, but sadly for Melbournites they aren’t so lucky. Black Star Pastry was definitely going to have peoples Qantas points soar after all the addicts they’ll create at the Melbourne Markets with this delectable treat.

Now for the totally unexpected, came from left field, highlight of the night….. The ALPHA S1 Robot from Harvey Norman at Springvale. I could have happily spent my whole night in that tent eating away all the food, listening to the great DJ, and watching this robot blow my mind, time and time again. It’s hobbies include breakdancing, cross-fit, long walks along the beach, learning to serve Black Star Pastry’s Strawberry Watermelon Cake and impressing not only the ladies but anyone who took a glimpse of it. As only one of ten robots in Australia available for purchase now from Harvey Norman, I wanted to sneak it into my backpack and see if anyone would have noticed. It is so clever that I'm pretty sure it would have cut through the zip and pitched a rope down the ground and through the powers of GPS, ran all the way back to safety at the Harvey Norman tent. Since getting home, I’ve already run it past mum at least ten times asking if we can get one for Dad for Christmas, all the while knowing I’d be kidnapping it on Boxing Day to bring it to its new home at my place.

ALPHA S1 reigns supreme!

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