Night Noodle Markets

It's that time of the year again! SMH's Good Food Month has rolled around again, and the whole of October is filled with amazing food from all around the world. The Night Noodle Markets are a must-visit for me every year, which gives me my need-for-variety fix in one place.

This year there was an appearance of the Ramen Burger (pictured above) from On Ramen. The Ramen Burger - brainchild of Keizo Shimamoto - features a patty (beef, pork rib or tofu) sandwiched between two "buns" of crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside Ramen.

At about $12.50 a pop, the Ramen Burger seems to be coasting more on its reputation than what you get for it. It's tasty and all, but TINY, and therefore, overpriced. Worth a try though, just so you can see what everyone is on about.

I then moved on to Jackie M's stall, where you can get all the Southeast Asian delights for your Asian food fix.




The Otak Otak, $4.50, is soft and moreish, and I guarantee that you'll want more than one. Flavoured fish paste is barbecued in banana leaves, imparting an earthy fragrance that you can't get any other way.

Jackie M herself was on the front lines of her stall, braving the blazing heat and smoking woks to bring us our food. And if you don't have the highest respect for her already after knowing that, then you should read this. 

Infuzions was another stall that stood out to me - amongst the sea if dumplings and pad thai (some good, some bad), it was nice to see someone with a menu that wanted to try something different. I had the Apple Somtum with squid, and it was actually a really cool dish. 

Somtum is one of my favourite salads - involving green papaya, chillies, garlic and all those fabulous Thai flavours - and this apple version carried all of the sweetness with none of the heat. Which is good if you're not a chilli sadist like I am. The calamari was hot and fresh, which I give them props for, and was otherwise a nice salad to finish the day off with. 

Pop down to the Night Noodle Markets while you still can - it's running every evening at Hyde Park till Saturday night.