Night Noodle Markets 2017

Updated post-scroll down to round 2 for more food!

Yay, October is Good Food Month (and also noo because exams are looming). Let's be honest, I really come to the Night Noodle Markets for the desserts. I don't think I've ever had noodles before at the NNM. Recap of Night Noodle Market 2016 shows I ate pretty similar stuff haha. This year they totally got rid of the 'Sugar Rush' or 'Let's Do Desserts'. Last year they had way too many boring chocolate dishes, and I think they got rid of it this year because it's probably the only thing which is worth your money, $20ish for a dessert plus wine at a restaurant, compared to market food which is $15+ for a smaller portion of fried rice in a cardboard box. Once again, they are cash free again this year. There were heaps of people on the first night, then I realise it was still school holidays last week.

Round 1

Hyde Park Palms

They tried to make a more Cali feel with the theme of Hyde Park Palms. Pretty sure they put in new palm trees, since my bus stop is outside Hyde Park, and only noticed the palm trees just a few days before NNM started. I finally have a CitiBank card so could enter the 'VIP' section. This year you can pre book tables as well, but ceebs.

Always come to Messina because they create different desserts every time

Menu

Kamikaze Katsu Sandwich-$12

Not going to lie, was a bit disappointed half of it was melting cause it just doesn't look that great and I was most excited to try this one out. It still tasted really good though, loved this concept of combining dessert with Jap food. The gelato could have had more lime in it, but the soft red velvet cake wasn't too sweet, and there was still a slight crunch from the panko crumbs. Loved the yuzu sauce to give it some acidity and again not make it really sweet. Normally I don't like fried ice cream apart from the Thai ones, since the Chinese ones are all floury/doughy, and really the flour is soaked in oil. I think if the gelato was harder you could actually eat it like a sandwich, but ended up eating it deconstructed. They actually replied about the melted gelato. I guess that's why they hire HRs and PRs for all this social media stuff. Obviously I didn't get this replaced, but I do wonder if I showed my post will they offer me a free one...(doubt it though, but if I had time wouldn't mind trying lol).

O-no-giri

inside

Ahh, this is so cute! The only onigiri I can remember having this year was in Japan at a 7/11 (didn't even have time to have a nicer onigiri at other places), so does this gelato version count as one? The white choc did make the whole thing quite sweet, and it too a while to go past the hard-ish mousse to get to the green tea. The green tea could have been more bitter (maybe I'm just too sued to super intense matcha ice cream these days), and the pistachio could be a bit stronger flavour.

This year at the CitiBank dining area, you can order stuff and they would fetch it for you from around 5 different places, so you don't have to wait in line. 

Black Star Pastry: The Mango Cake-Fresh blueberries and crystallised lavender aboard slithers of sweet mango on a layer of coconut mousse, a bed of sago pudding on a foundation of gingerbread sponge-$9.50

The cake was slightly 'leaking' when it arrived, and didn't hold it's shape after another 5 or so min. The cake wasn't really sweet, but I did find it was lacking a punch of mango flavour. There was hardly any blueberry on the top, actually pretty much hardly anything on top compared to other slices...The coconut mousse could have had more coconut, and the sago is softer than normal. Gingerbread sponge again could have more spices/flavours in it. I still prefer the OG strawberry and watermelon cake. I think the textures are a bit different in this one, but it's not amazing. Maybe a bit better than the Jap Forest Cake.  

Hoy pinoy: chicken skewers in traditional soy glaze, 2 for $13

Another price inflation noted, all thanks to this food blog (jks). But it has increased $1 from last year. It's obviously not cheap, but no market food is cheap. It tasted alright, wouldn't say it's amazing, but luckily it wasn't overly marinated.

Round 2

got here a bit later on a Tuesday night, still just as many people

 

Puffle: Korean marinated Bulgogi Beef Philly Cheesesteak style stuffed inside our signature cheese Puffle topped with Japanese mayo and shallots-$16

I was actually pleasantly surprised since this met my expectations, even though the line was almost 30min. Normally a lot of these things the markets are a bit gimmicky, and probs not worth the money but still worth the experience (or photo). I think this tasted really good with the crunch from the waffle, and cheesy flavour inside. There was a decent amount of beef and other toppings as well, drizzled with that super yum Jap mayo, and slightly refreshed by the shallots. It's a nice sort of comfort food and wasn't too messy to eat.

Indu: Smoked Goat Dosa-Smoked goat’s leg dosa, zucchini ribon raita, pomegranate, chilli and bacon jam-$15

Interesting flavour combination, where I could actually appreciate the chilli. Loved the salty yet sweet flavour from the bacon jam, but needed more refreshing elements in it. Hardly ever have Indian food so I can't really compare it to others.

Din Tai Fung: Giant Dumpling-$12

it's so cute!

They had this earlier this year for a limited time at the restaurant, but I didn't manage to have time to try it. They have it here at the markets so I thought why not give it a go. It's really a novelty thing, but it's so cute with the straw to drink the soup. It's also the hardest thing to eat and you just sort of have to deconstruct it with a fork. It tasted like a normal xiao long bao, but I think because the proper ones are mouthful bites, the flavour is more prominent compared to this big version.

other things from Din Tai Fung

 

One Tea Lounge: ube x matcha soft serve w/ green tea ice cream-$8

The ube/yam/taro flavour was quite nice and went with the matcha. I would have preferred the matcha to be more bitter so the sweetness of the ube would come out more, but most people probably like a sweeter than bitter matcha. Couldn't really taste the the flavour in the cone though.

behind the scenes shot

I Think I’m Turning Sesame-Black sesame gelato, condensed milk coffee jelly, miso crunch, banana miso bread, vanilla cream and coffee powder-$12

Back again for more Messina. I think from memory, this is the first time they did a black sesame flavour, and it was quite a good hit. The coffee jelly bits were interesting, sort of like a panna cotta but not as creamy. The miso crunch could be more miso-y, and although the band bread was there, also felt like it lacked the miso flavour. Personally didn't think the cream was necessarily since once the ice cream sort of melted at the bottom, it mixed in with the cream. 

lights

night

the only lanterns

They had less stuff put up this year, like last year they had the cranes, other years, more lanterns or other Asian inspired deco, but I guess importing palm trees plus big fancy lights weren't cheap. Hope to be back before it ends next week to try some other stuff from the markets since those ice creams were surprisingly filling.

Haven Take 10+: Egg Waffle Series

I've been here too many times to keep track, but I always love their food and super friendly service. I know I'm 6 months late to the egg waffle party, but better late than never right?

Loving the latte art on this capp

Hokkaido red bean & matcha: hokkaido red beans, coconut cream, matcha sauce, matcha ice cream, classic plain waffle

Sexy Me: black sesame cream mochi, black sesame sauce, black sesame crisp, vanilla bean ice cream, lemon zest, mint, classic plain waffle-$16.50

inside

The egg waffles are not the typical ones you find in HK. These are a lot more dense and thick, without the crispy outer and thin shell, and light and chewy insides. I guess since with all these toppings, sauces and plating things on top of it, you would need a thicker batter to hold it and soak up all the sauce. Both dishes were surprisingly filling. Wasn't adventurous enough to try the kim cheese waffle (not a big fan of spicy stuff/kim chi).

We preferred the green tea on as it was less sweet. Loved the little tea pot with matcha sauce you could drizzle at your own leisure and without drowning the waffle in it. Ice cream had a good hit of green tea and red beans weren't overly sweet.

The black sesame mochi was on the sweet side, and with the sesame pralinethe whole dish was sweeter than the green tea. Still a lot of black sesame with different textures throughout made this a fun dish. The sauce is more of a paste, rather than the matcha sauce which is pourable over the waffles. The lemon zest on top of the vanilla ice cream really helped to give this dish a refreshing element, would have actually preferred more to help balance the sweetness.

This week seemed both long and short. Had Stewart House on Wed, and it took 1.5hours drive there (under one hour on the way back). Leaving the house 10mins later does affect you getting stuck in all that traffic....

With all these massive breaks, it feels like I've learnt nothing, yet learnt so much at one time. Got screwed up in PBL today again. Had the main lecturer (again), and got asked so many questions, but after our group, her laptop died so she didn't ask as many questions to the other groups =/ Oh well, I guess it's a learning experience even though we probably got bad marks...currently just scraping through therapeutics, somehow have to remember everything by finals...if she even uploads the lectures by finals....so much respect for all those specialist out there who just know the diagnosis, differentials, ways to manage/treat straightaway. Some interesting cases of real life situations these 2 opthals created a group on fb. It's quite sad how some px refuse to pay to get some additional tests done, and they have tumours in/behind their eyes/brain...and all these are pretty much malignant, and most do die...

Long breaks are unproductive, but I know I'll miss them once next sem hits. Can't believe we're almost at the end of sem 1!

Tested some school kids (well screening test, we do proper paediatrics next year), and the kids were so cute! It makes your job so much easier when they are talkative.

Pomegranate and black sesame-$4

Actually haven't had aqua s as often this year. Shared this with other people, but in hindsight should've gotten one for myself. The pomegranate on first taste reminds me of flat creaming soda (others thought it tasted like grape). It was was too sweet, and couldn't taste any pomegranate tbh. The black sesame was on point though. It was thick, creamy, with visible sesame inside, and not icy like other sesame soft serves. Reminded me of the chinese black sesame paste dessert. I actually hate that stuff since it's too thick, but in soft serve form it was pretty good. At first the hit of sesame was too strong for my liking, but each spoon was more delicious. Do recommend before the flavour disappears next week. The spoons are blue now, and they got rid of the aqua s logo for small cups.

Should actually start studying rather than watching movies/shows and procrastinating my time away...

Sushi Hotaru

The only day where I end uni early is Fridays, and with relatives over, it was the perfect timing to go out for sushi train and catch up with my cousin and uncle. I've walked past this place in The Galeries countless times, but never actually had anything from there. It used to be $2 a plate, last Friday when we went was the last day for $3 a plate. From 15th Aug it's $3.30.

Everything is so fresh and made to order, if you're ordering off the iPad. The stuff on the conveyor belt is also freshly made. The belt at the far end stopped at around 1.30pm, so we just ordered off the iPad. Here's some snap shots of some of the food, and some highlights.

Sushi train! Haven't been in over a year. Too expensive in Aus, last time was in HK. This place is actually pretty cheap

Hand rolls are also $3 each. Soft sill crab at the back :)

Depp fried crumbed oyster with some aioli (I think). Oyster was so creamy and melted in your mouth, and still piping hot inside.

green tea late w/ red bean ice cream, green tea latte, black sesame latte-$5.50

Pretty decent latte, would have preferred it to be a bit milkier. The ice cream was super hard, so don't try to scoop it once the drink arrives...

eating action shot hehe.

My favourites from there were the seared scallops which were ever so plump, seared salmon which just had so much flavour in that tiny strip. Also the eel with cream cheese hand roll-the right amount of creaminess, and we all ended our eating adventures with that since the cream cheese was super filling.

24 plates

So we did spend more than the average lunch price, total of around $88.50, but we were crazily full, and hardly had any dinner that night. We actually didn't have any of the normal sushi...Definitely recommend for a quick and fresh Jap fix :)

Fujipan Japanese Bakery

Decided to come here after an exam one time to try out their soft serve, since I had to wait for their bus. The bakery itself is quite small and quite dim (the optom in me is judging their lighting conditions). Coming to a bakery to not have baked goods but ice cream, hehe. It looked smaller in photos than irl, but once you actually start eating it, it's actually surprisingly filling for a snack. Generally, their soft serve is definitely a lot more icy compared to the other ones around. Less creamy and a lot more colder when you eat it, luckily it doesn't have watery icy bits in it.

black sesame-$2.90

Super strong black sesame flavour, with a little bit of sweetness. Waffle cone was nice and crunchy.

green tea-$2.90

Again, a super strong hit of green tea-it's actually bitter, even the colour is quite a strong green. Can definitely taste the green tea and not much sweetness, so probably people who like their ice cream sweet it's not the best. I actually don't mind sweet stuff, but when it comes to green tea/matcha, I love the full flavour of it without the sugar.

Didn't feel like Asian bread on both occasions, but I wouldn't mind coming back for thirds of their ice cream if I have a craving for Asian flavoured soft serves.