Night Noodle Market 2017, Sydney CBD

Once again, the Sydney Night Noodle Market was held in Hyde Park and flagged the beginnings of the Good Food Month (i.e. October every year).

Entrance to Night Noodle Market

The food selection appeared to be the same as last year (with the most popular being Hoy Pinoy, Messina Gelato, Black Star x N2 Gelato), along a few new additions spread throughout the park.

Cow & The Moon, Enmore

My ice cream adventures in Enmore continued with a visit to the infamous Cow & The Moon, which was named the "best gelato makers" in the world back in 2014:

Outside of Cow & The Moon

When I arrived, there was a long queue leading outside the store, which I swear didn't move at all for the initial 5-10 minutes.

Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream, Enmore

Following my meal at Salmon & Bear, I decided to work off some calories and strolled along the main street in search of dessert. Having never ventured this far into Enmore, I had to rely on trusty old GoogleMaps to navigate my way to Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream, which has been on my to-go wishlist for over a year.

Street Sign

Inside the Dessert Bar

Salmon & Bear, Newtown

Five min walk from Newtown Station lies the second home base for Salmon & Bear in Sydney. I've seen pictures of their poke bowls so I was eager to see what the hype was all about. Their original store is located in Zetlands, which requires too many public transport transfers to reach for my liking, so I decided to visit their store in Newtown instead.

Outside of Restaurant

Their name is a play on the instinctive nature of bears catching wild salmon and is emphasised by their vast displays on the wall, rustic wooden interiors with a cabin feel, and very dark lighting:

Wall Art

Twilight Christmas Market @ Carriageworks, Eveleigh

This year, Carriageworks held their inaugural Twilight Christmas Markets, which was actually an expanded version of their usual Saturday farmer's markets - complete with the usual (and more) food and drink stalls, as well as stalls selling various knick knacks suitable as last-minute Christmas pressies (to others... or oneself) across the road.

Since I got a pre-Christmas early mark off work, I decided to catch the train to Redfern Station and make the short hike to the Carriageworks. Since it was the first time I travelled there by train (I travelled by car on my first, and only, visit to the Saturday Farmers Market), I was a little hesitant that I would get lost. However, on this particular afternoon, there were lots of people wandering the streets from Redfern Station in the same general direction so I decided to follow some strangers, in hope that I would be arriving the at the correct location. On route, I passed by people holding bouquets of flowers, or pulling along their trolleys of purchased goods, so I knew I was heading down the right path.

Finally, I arrived! The sheer volume of people squeezed into the small space was epic:

View of the Eveleigh Markets

Roadtrip to Bilpin

A few months ago, a few friends and I decided to go on a road trip together to visit a friend working in the Windsor vicinity. After doing some research into the surrounding areas, a friend suggested that we visit Bilpin for a day trip.

Bilpin is located just over 1.5hrs drive north-west of Sydney and is popularly known as the 'Land of the Mountain Apple', due to the rich fruit orchids and bountiful gardens that line the main (Bells Line of) road, which runs through the Blue Mountain region. The famous produce from the region are the locally grown/produced apples, juice and cider. Since they don't usually advertise the source of apples at the local supermarkets nor do I usually partake in cider (or any alcoholic drink), this place didn't really ring any bells so I was up for the challenge.

Roadtrip!

Foodi's (Not so) Amazing Scavenger Hunt, Sydney CBD

To celebrate a momentous occasion, a friend organised a food scavenger hunt, held in the Sydney CBD. At first I thought it was a self-organised activity but it turned out that the scavenger hunt was actually through a third-party called Foodi and there was actually a (significant) cost component to it. I can't believe that food scavenger hunts even exist in Sydney but then again, so do escape rooms (don't even get me started on this topic).

The premise of Foodi's Amazing Scavenger Hunt is for the teams to follow a series of clues that lead you to 10 or so food venues across the Sydney CBD in the space of 3 hours. Along the way, you are required to take team selfies, consume food samples, and complete challenges that may require you to either photograph or obtain (e.g. by purchasing, begging, taking... or stealing) items from the given scavenger hunt list in order to earn bonus points. By the end of the hunt, the points are accumulated and the winning team is announced at the final location (usually a local pub).

Let's just say the entire experience was... memorable... to say the least.

Frangos, Petersham

Frangos was another place that Ivanhoe and Lenni also raved about in Petersham, which is conveniently located across the road from Sweet Belem. There was a queue out the door of the fast food place so that must surely be a good sign... until you see see customers throwing away half a tray of hot chips... hmmm...

Front Counter

As you line up in the queue, you get to see stacks of cooked charcoal chicken waiting to be served as well as a view of the large selection of sides.

Salads

Sides

Sweet Belem, Petersham

Ivanhoe and Lenni raved about the Portuguese tarts from Sweet Belem so this bakery was included as a food pit stop in Petersham. Surprisingly, this was up the road from The Tiny Giant so our walk to here came to an end within 2 min.😂

Entrance of Baker

Bakery Sign

The Tiny Giant, Petersham

When Ivanhoe first invited me to a foodie adventure trip to Petersham with Ali and Lenni, I was totally excited because it would be within the vicinity of The Tiny Giant! I've seen many pics from the cafe on Instagram so I suggested that we visit this place during our food crawl through Petersham.

The day started out with a trip to the e-waste disposal place in Marrickville (a very enlightening experience) and took a slight detour to the The Addison Road Community Centre. We were all disappointed to discover that the Marrickville markets were actually open on Sunday, rather than Saturday, so we ended up checking out the various shops within the community centre. During our stroll through the Community Centre, we spotted some live poultry by a small fair-trade cafe, and walked through the community gardens in search of some (invisible) bunnies. Apparently Ivanhoe saw some bunnies on her last visit but we didn't see any... conned again by Ivanhoe within the space of 30min!

Afterwards, we headed to The Tiny Giant in Petersham and were able to score a free parking spot nearby so we didn't have to walk too far to the cafe.

Outside of Cafe

Noodle Night Market 2016, Sydney CBD

Every year during Good Food month (i.e. Oct), the Sydney Night Noodle Markets are held in Hyde Park within the Sydney CBD. Lines of stalls are opened providing visitors just a glimpse of the (mainly Asian) foods on offer around Sydney. Ironically, despite being labelled as a 'noodle' market, most of the stores actually don't even have a noodle menu item.

Despite arriving around just after 6pm, the crowds in Hyde park were in epic proportions and gradually got bigger as the night went by.

Entrance Closest to Town Hall Station

Fortune Cat Art

Giant Fortune Cat
(recycled from Chinese New Year?)

Gelato Messina HQ & More, Rosebery

Following on from our lunch at the Three Blue Ducks, we continued on our food crawl in search of dessert.

Messina HQ

Located diagonally across the block from the Saporium car park, is the Gelato Messina HQ, which offers gelato and cakes to passing customers, and appears to be the location of their cooking classes.

Three Blue Ducks, Rosebery

For over a month, the ND food group preparing and planning for a Rosebery food crawl and it finally happened! Foodie adventures was meant to begin at midday in Rosebery but due to a late departure and traffic, I didn't end up getting to the Saporium, Rosebery, until 12:45pm. By that time, the group were all hungry and in search of food.

The Saporium houses a few cafes, restaurants, a health food store, and holds weekly "markets" (i.e. a dozen or so food and goods stalls) on Saturdays from 10am-3pm. However, there was limited food options there that tempted our taste buds (maybe Mr Bao but it was rather expensive at $6 per bao) so we decided to head outside and walked through The Cannery to the Three Blue Ducks.

Three Blue Ducks

Entrance to Restaurant

The Three Blue Ducks is located in a massive warehouse, with high ceilings and ample natural lighting, that has been converted into a restaurant & homeware store.

The Foodie's Guide to Kingsford

This post is dedicated to uni days, lone student diners and budget meals around Kingsford. Listed in no particular order are some popular eats around UNSW in Kingsford on ANZAC parade. Uncle G and I spent a semester collecting these reviews so we hope you enjoy. 

Albee's Kitchen (Malaysian)

I've been to Albee's Kitchen in Campsie, so their menu is not unfamiliar to me. At this place you can expect a good variety, good portion size and reasonable pricing. The food is probably not as refined and service is slightly lacking.

I ordered the Hainanese Chicken. As you can see the serving is definitely generous!! But you can also see... Is that sweet chilli sauce?! That was truly disappointing... especially seeing as the staff were too busy cleaning and preparing to close to pay attention to my needs. I later saw they did have the correct chilli sauce on another patron's table. Guess I just got the short straw?

Uncle G ordered the Laksa. Again it was a big serving, very rich and chockablock full of noodles and chicken, egg and other regular laksa essentials. I personally found it too rich for my liking. I preferred my Albee's Kitchen experience in Campsie. 

So Good Kitchen (Chinese)

So Good Kitchen is a bit further down Anzac pde. What drew me to this place was the promise of '鸡公煲 (Chicken Hot Pot). I haven't seen this dish elsewhere in Sydney yet and do hope its available more readily soon!

What is Chicken hot pot? A sizzling pot of chicken stew, intensely aromatic from lots of onions, garlic, chilli and veges in a soy base. Depending on the size you order, the whole or half chicken is chopped into pieces and cooked on the bone to keep the meat tender and extract all those umami flavours into the sauce.

The ordering process is much like hot pot. Pick the size of your chicken dish, level of spice (we went for medium) and extras to cook in the sauce hot pot style after the chicken is finished.

Our chicken stew arrives and does not disappoint! Flavoursome and aromatic, you can smell it from a mile away!

We finish off the chicken, then its time for the extras! Uncle G gets his usual fix of extra meat - but personally I feel the carbs and veges soak up the flavours of the sauce perfectly. Ask the waiter to add stock to your chicken pot once your done with the chicken, then let the extras simmer in the hot pot.

Tasty Eating House (Chinese)

Probably one of the poorer chinese restaurants on the strip. We found the dishes here similar to what its neighbours had to offer but its flavours weren't quite spot on.

We ordered the 'mouth watering chicken'. Though it looked authentic, the sauce and chicken pieces were somewhat flavourless. Maybe because the chicken was cut to big?

Uncle G got the curry beef noodle soup. Again, the curry flavours weren't strong enough for my liking. My own noodles were somewhat bland also.

Everise (Northern Chinese)

Unfortunately I don't have photos of this place. Which doesn't do the restaurant justice as it is probably the single restaurant we frequented the most over the semester. This eatery specialises in Northern Chinese cuisine. Our favourites are the diced beef noodle stir fry and the 大盘鸡 (w added noodles). We've also tried their dumplings, lamb roll, soup noodles, chive cakes, spicy chicken stir fry etc.  

Sinma Laksa House (Singaporean/Malaysian)

So prior to my Singapore trip, I really really wanted to try Singapore chilli crab, so we found this place in Kensington. The kebabs here are quite authentic, with a lovely satay sauce and served with Ketupat (or lontong). These are pressed rice cakes are commonly served with satay sticks in Singapore but rarely seen in Sydney.

We got beer fried chicken, pepper beef and sambal prawns also. But I personally would miss the stir fry dishes next time - especially the prawns which our whole table was disappointed in. There wasn't enough prawns to go around a group of 7.

And time for the main event - the Chilli Crab!! The crab was plump and saucy - at the time of dining - it did not disappoint! (Although after having it in Singapore - the Sydney version doesn't quite measure up). The sauce itself is much sweeter than spicy, with distinct ginger tones. Perfect when mopped up with deep fried sweet asian buns. These were so good we had to order seconds! 

Passionflower (Dessert)

On the same night, we wrapped up dinner with dessert at Passionflower. Check out the crazy stash of ice cream!!!! Assorted flavours including green tea matcha, black sesame, thai milk tea, sticky rice, lychee and rose, cookies and cream, taro etc.

Pedalling Street (Malaysian)

Yumm... sometimes there's nothing better than a Char kuew teow. I prefer the Kuew Teow in Sydney to that in Singapore and Pedalling Street lives up to expectations. A good serving size, plenty of prawns, egg and flavoursome toppings. 

The beef rendang was good too. I didn't have too much but Uncle G vouches for the quantity of meat and rich flavours.

Manpuku (Ramen)

I've done a number of posts about Manpuku now. Everyone probably knows by now - ok so Aunt T loves Manpuku. So enough said about this place.

Miss Yu's (Taiwanese)

Business at 'Little Food Republic' has steady slipped down hill over the last 3 years. Most of the restaurants within are not even open anymore? (Not sure if this is 100% correct as they haven't been pulled down but they're not open at dinner time either?)

The exception to this is the relatively new Miss Yu's stand at the very front of the row of eateries. They specialise in in food on a stick and Taiwanese cuisine. I personally haven't tried many of their options.

Everytime I come here I always get the same braised beef noodle soup, because I'm in love with it! Sure its not top notch in most people's books but I love the flavours! There's often nothing I feel like more! It's a little bit spicy, lots of umami, got a good texture in the noodles and cheap cheap cheap!

Taiwanese Express (Taiwanese)

I was excited when I first saw this place and its bento boxes and traditional taiwanese of menu choices. It has snacks, rice and noodle dishes  - just like how I remember Taiwan!

I ordered the 鲁肉饭 with crispy chicken and a green tea. The 鲁肉饭 was just ok - it doesn't quite measure up to expectations, not even compared to some of place around Sydney. I recently visited Hu's Inn in Chatswood which does a much better rendition. I prefer when they use chopped pork belly rather than pork mince - the pork just isn't fatty and melty enough.

Mamak Village (Malaysian)

This is where you go when you've got a fraction of an hour before class and want a quick snack. I do warn you though, this isn't Mamak as you know it - I wouldn't go expecting the same quality of food as in Chinatown.

 Roti with 2 curry dips for only $5!!!! That's a student deal perfect for winter snacking!