Night Noodle Markets, Hyde Park

The Night Noodle Markets took place in Hyde Park over half a month ago now. I am very behind with posts, hello crazy end of semester work load.

Anyway, the Night Noodle Markets are a major event of The Sydney Morning Herald's Crave International Food Festival. And what an experience it was! Being new to Sydney this year (10 years in Helensburgh nine years ago doesn't count) and hailing from Port Macquarie, I am quite unfamiliar with Asian food. This is definitely something I would like to change, and the delicious food that is yum cha has definitely set me on my way.

The Markets have a lot to offer: an array of stores offering Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Nepalese to name a few, as well as desserts such as ice cream and dutch pancakes and alcohol by the [plastic cup] or bottle. There was really too much to choose from, so I just HAD to go on two separate occasions. One being a quiet and relaxing Monday evening in the park, the other a bustling Friday night with queues and waits and limited seating. If I have any recommendation: don't go for the latter (especially if it is the Market's last night). Being able to find a table without eyeing families like a hawk and avoiding the queues is definitely the better option.

Nathan had prawn kushiyaki ($4) and beef on skewers (beef on a stick - as he refers to it). For the $4 price-tag the prawns were a hit, not so much the beef.

I opted for the Nasi Lemak from the mamak village stall [curry chicken w/ fragrant coconut rice w/ an ensemble of sambal, peanuts, crispy anchovies, cucumber and hard-boiled egg (around $14)]. Let me say, it was all that I expected. The rice was perfect; the subtle coconut flavour meaning that, for once, I did not have to mix it with the accompanying sauces for it to be palatable. The anchovies offered a bit of bite, as did the sambal. And the curry... (apart from the bones) was just lovely. I have become so lazy that even removing meat from bones is laborious. Eating should be easy.

Still feeling a bit peckish (no I didn't consume everything on this page, so far just the curry), I opted for the BBQ pork buns (4 for $10) from the aptly named "Yum Cha" store. Divine, divine, divine. I am sometimes turned off by yum cha, the amount of fat that goes into the cooking is known to make me feel sick, but these were perfect. On my second visit I tried some dumplings that could be similarly described. We also ordered yum cha from the "Chinese Dim Sim" stall, coerced by the cheaper 6 for $10 deal. These were no were near as nice.

The boys ordered ice cream from curly moo: vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles and vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce. They were smitten.