UMSU's night market and Xian Foods

UMSU have their annual night market and this was the first time that I have been. Here they have 19 food stalls and all of them was really full except for the roti one. The roti was really good and I did not have to wait long. It was $4 for one big piece.

Most of the student stalls have run out of stuff and most of them had no form of queuing. Everyone just grabbed everything. I was a bit frustrated.

UMSU if you are going to run the Night market next year make it not free (at least a $5 charge and the money raised can go to the International couch). If not free have some security around to check the tickets like the MCG.

And all the clubs should make their stall a cashless payment system meaning that people have to go online to buy a crown card (like Taste of Melbourne) or use EFTPOS only.

But the entertainment was still good though. And so were the decorations.

In the end though I went to Xian Foods which is a few blocks down from Melbourne Uni. They specialise in spicy food and handmade noodles. Although the handmade noodles I got were a little bit on the doughy side. The lamb in my noodle soup was good and so was the broth.

But I was so full from both. And the lady that served me did not understand me one bit when I asked her questions.

Oh well there goes another year of night market.

Camberwell Fresh Food Market

The Camberwell Fresh food market is one of Camberwell's best kept secret. Here they have lots and lots of fresh food as well as great meats. They are not as big as Prahran or the Queen Victoria Market but foodies will like it there.

They are a few blocks away from Camberwell train station (zone 1 and about twenty minutes from the city). They are also featured in the latest foodie event in Camberwell where foodies can discover the place themselves along with others along the Burke road strip.

I tried to find it on the Sunday that I was here but they were not open.

There are 15 stalls in all and not that many places to sit in. Most people get takeaway and go outside. In the market everything is cheap.

Here I had sushi from Yoyo's for $5.

They were dried out and awful. I had the cooked tuna and the salmon sushi. Whilst they are good for you, these were tasteless except for the fresh fish and avocado.

On Fridays and Saturdays there are gourmet hotdogs on sale for $3. They were yummy and the meat was fresh, In fact the butcher makes them. You can choose to have it with or without sauce. I chose without as that is healthier for you and I like to try things in their natural flavour.

Do come by to this secret foodie place as it is really good. The only thing is that they are not open on Sundays. Oh well you can find the Vintage market there.

Hawkers Bazaar Ramadan 2016

The Malaysia Hall has a free Hawkers Bazaar as part of the Ramadan period for all Malaysians. I went to the one this year and last year. Last year I remembered the amazing prawn fritters and yummy biryani. The market is cash only so do make sure that you have some cash on hand. The food is priced from $3-$10 and like last year it was really busy.

The aim of these markets is to educate people on the different foods in Malaysia.  It is also to connect all Malaysians who live in Melbourne together through food.

Last year the prawn fritters were amazing and so was the roti jala which is the roti with holes in it. This is not usually found at most Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne.

This year I had the mee ayam for $6.50 which is a piece of chicken with spicy vermicelli noodles. In any case they were not spicy at all so if you can't stand the spice then try this.

The peanut butter pancake was also great- it was very filling but yum for $3 a piece. They are not at many Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne.

The teh Tarik was $2 but I did want to try lots of other things which I have not heard of before such as the fish crackers and ayam.

Do come to the next one this Saturday at Malaysia Hall from 2:30pm-5:30pm.

Night noodle markets

I went in two rounds

The Night Noodle market is on again this year and this time there were 56 stalls, hence it was a lot bigger than last year.

One of the menus

The fit zone

Inside the Mercedes marquee

A voucher for free popcorn

The line for roti road was huge so didn't go in there. But went to Passar Malam instead and they had these stella tofu sliders.

Tofu sliders

Then went to a Thai Food stall upstairs for alright Chicken Pad Thai for $13. it went cold for a while and it was hard to eat with the bio dynamic fork and things. Even at Safeway I can get better. The service there wasn't so friendly.

There were these huge amaze balls of pumpkin and noodle in a ball for $8.

But at Din Tai Fung they had reusable chopsticks and I bought the salad dumplings for $9. They were the only vegan things on the menu. The quail egg wonton bought from Fat Thai fared better. It was nice and crispy on the outside and eggy on the inside. It was $9 for 5.

You order, pay and wait for them to call out your number. And then you collect your food. It was like that for all the stalls.

Yakisoba

Upstairs at the noodle stall the vegetarian yaki soba was $14 for a small but filling bowl. It was just before 8pm and upstairs was just starting to get a little bit busy. The line at the Wonderbao stall was huge so for dessert I got Mantou at the Mantou stall next door. The mantou is from Wonderbao and the people collaborated.

Soft shell crab mantou

Dessert was waaaay too addictive. It was mantou with kaffir lime and condensed milk ($10). The bread soaked up most of the milk. Dessert was not too sweet.

Do go to it just for the fun, dogs, sun, food and booze. It is open from 5pm on the weekdays and the weekends from 2pm.

The Family Hawker Market in Ballarat

The Family Hawkers market is a very popular event in Ballarat. The event took place inside the Mining exchange where there were a few families. But by 1:30-2pm all the families left. Most of the food was not sold out by then.

This was a free market for everyone and dishes were priced between $5-$15. Drinks were between $3-$7. Water was not free unless you brought your own bottle in. It was $3.

Sauce at Fu Man Lou for the dumplings

The Asahi sign

Wines at Billy's bar

At Round the way bages

Oils and salts for $10 each at Kitterly's cakes.

Here we were treated to a performance by Demi Louise. She was lovely and got everyone talking.

Asahi is a Japanese restaurant in Ballarat and its known for their good food. Here we tried their crab croquette and whilst it is alright I have had better in Melbourne. These crab croquettes were drowned in mayo and the fruit sauce.

Fu Man Lou is one of the better Chinese restaurants in Ballarat. I have walked by it and it looked like the Hutong of Melbourne. At the festival I had three small prawn dumplings for $9. They were good but a little on the small side.

And then we were treated to some free churros from Zazagoosa a Spanish restaurant in Ballarat. The churros were really good, not too sweet and not too heavy.

Billy's Lane had some free samples of the piadina for us to try. It was made freshly and they too had to give it away at the end.

Also the sausage roll from Sovereign hill was really fulfilling and this too was given away. Sovereign Hill are known for their pies and this did not disappoint.

Catfish thai had 2 scoops of sorbet for the price of $5. Here both the coconut and passionfruit worked well together and were not too heavy on the flavour or the texture.

We liked it very much so. But next time they should have a balloon artist for the kids, some volunteers selling Japanese food (they can be from Melbourne) and games for the kids. And coffee is a must.

Oh and for next year there could be a competition to get people to visit Ballarat on the Vline train.

The Cheese Festival rolls into Prahran market

This was a free event for all celebrating all good things about cheese. Here there were many different cheese to taste including King Island Dairy's range from Bleu cheese to Vintage cheeses. All went well with a drink from the bar. A drink and a plate of cheese was $15.

The free books if you buy cheese from King Island Dairy

The makings of a platter

Soft cheese

Menu

Totopos from La Tortilleria. They were also making the cheese queasidilla samples for people to try.

Spanakopita for sale at Sweet Greek

Free entertainment

The ingredients for the pizza by A25

A25 was there and they sold exceptional margarita pizzas.

Making the pizza

 

Apples- they work well with the cheese

More King Island dairy cheese

What greeted us when entering was Market Lane Coffee's cheese and hamburger stall outside their shop. The burgers were $10. There were also other stalls in the market such as A2 pizzeria and Sweet greek with their small bite sized pieces of sagnaki. The entertainment was lively.

The fondue at the Blanco Kitchen was $12 for a small cup. Here you got to watch them demonstrate the cheese.

Alice in Frames was there MCing the event and the cheese platter was fun to try as there were many different elements.

Also as the day grew on there were more samples of the King Dairy Cheese at the demonstration kitchen. People should have stuck around until 2:30pm.

There were too many lines at the various cheese stalls. I think what the Market needs to do is to have paid entry say $33 and on that day people's tickets are scanned in and there would be more stuff for those that paid to be there and they kick out those that did not pay just for that day only.