Not so long ago every foodie in Sydney used to live for October. Good Food Month was full of amazing chef dinners, events and discounted mid week lunches at Sydney’s best restaurants.
Sadly the events have been getting less and less each year and in 2018 we are pretty much left with the Night Noodle Markets and not much else.
The Markets were hugely popular when they first started as there wasn’t anything like it in Sydney. Over the years the food quality and the variety of offerings seems to have deteriorated.
Maybe I’m just getting jaded after too many visits but this year seemed particularly disappointing.
I admit the weather hasn’t helped much at it’s hard to imagine that you are in a street market in Singapore when instead of a balmy night you’re sinking in mud and realising just hard it is to eat standing up holding an umbrella.
But over two visits the food has been hit and miss (and in some cases more miss). I’ve had pork skewers from Thai Riffic which were pretty tasty and well cooked but I’ve also had beef skewers from Yan Can which were so tough I struggled to chew them. The BBQ chicken from Thai Riffic was not too bad, but certainly not great.
The Shanghai Noodles with Pork from the Spice Temple pop up at Lucky 3 Asian Eating House could have done with the addition of some visible pork. An hour and a half after the markets started Chanteen which is this week’s pop up hadn’t opened, a pretty big fail for the Good Food Month’s own eatery.
Just like other years, one wine company (Brand’s Laira, anyone ever heard of them?) has the exclusive rights to the Market and just like other years, even though it’s $50 a bottle it can best be described as mediocre.
When I put the Night Noodle Markets up against the street food stalls at Kensington Street’s Spice Alley, where the quality of food is consistent, there are lots more menu choices at each place and you can BYO for free, for me the Night Noodle Markets comes a distant second.