Being steered away from the first week and the second week of this event part of GFM by daunting weather and pre-arranged obligations; I found myself with a clear schedule on the last Friday of the Night Noodle Market, so ventured with C to the abodes of Hyde Park.

Whilst mindlessly circulating the circumference of the park looking for car parking, it was surprising to see that crowds had already started to gather and reserve tables for their parties to come. Armed with a wealth of different stalls to try from reviews of other bloggers experience with this year’s NNM and a ever-going appetite, C and I lined up at the stalls that caught our attention.

First up was a spicy beef and cheese okonomiyaki ($8) from Japancake: minced beef was still hot when served; leaving a mild hint of chili after-taste that complemented the portion of cheese. Though there wasn’t as much cheese as I would have imagined, this dish was a good starter for the many to come…

Scallops and Prawn Skewers Combo from Squidlicious: the scallops were juicy and slightly watery underneath the fried battery, the prawns were great in terms of value and tasted good with the accompanying sweet-chili sauce. The salad and prawn crackers were left untouched as they were both dry, lacked any purpose and were probably just for aesthetics.

Here the next few stalls that we tried were motivated by my sweet tooth over savory dishes. After reading previous years reviews, I decided to give a scoop of Fig, Honey and Pistachio ice cream ($4) from Serendipity Natural Ice Cream a go: mildly refreshing with a deep flavour of honey made this the favorite item overall at the NNM 2008. The fig was a great coupled with the pistachio flavour as both have a nutty crunch, which I believe works well with ice cream (e.g. Green Tea ice cream and corn flakes).

Assorted desserts from Yai Surry Hills. I actually intended to try the coconut juice after reading erique’s blurb on eat like a cow, but sadly it was not available. Instead we opted for the sticky rice with coconut and sticky rice with taro (if I can remember correctly). The sticky rice with coconut had strands of coconut which were a delight and left you wanting for more (at just $1!). The sticky rice taro (sadly without a cross-section picture), was authentic and arguably the better of the two.

Lion dancing, which I couldn’t agree more with efo’s sentiments: “I’m terribly sick of lion dances – which is IMHO the most exploited, overused, and ubiquitous of Chinese cultural performance.”
I guess it would have made a little bit of sense if the NNM was in Chinatown; what does Hyde Park have to do with lion dancing? Also, it’s not like the chinese cuisine was the most predominant at this year’s NNM … malaysian/south-eastern asian cuisine had a majority of stores in my opinion.

To finish off our circuit, we headed over to Poffertjes Please for a plate of Mini Dutch Pancakes with strawberries and caramel sauce. When the last pancake had been devoured, I made a decision that over the Christmas holidays, I would perfect such a great dessert – small pieces of bliss with the accompanying condiments.

Night Noodle Markets
5 – 9.30pm, free entry
Location:

Event Dates:
October 13th – 17th and 20th – 24th

D

This little cozy place is hidden among many, many Japanese restaurants in the Neutral Bay area. I was suggested here by my friend En.elle who is responsible for the appetizing photos on their website. After entering the small entrance, the whole atmosphere is transformed into a chic and modern decor of mirrors, art and polished wood. It is warmly lit and full of life and a dim murmur of other customers.

It is always a good sign to see Japanese patrons as it means the food is authentic.
They also have paper covering the tables which is good and bad. Good as you know that the tables are not just wiped down by a dirty, damp rag but replaced with a fresh crisp sheet of paper. Bad as it lowers the restaurant value on the class-o-meter.

Another considering mainly the specials menu Here Comes the Food.

Salmon and Tuna Sashimi (S)
The fish here is amazing! These fresh and succulent slabs of delicate meat just melt in the mouth and marry very nicely with the fresh wasabi. I think the freshness and quality of the fish is the most important part of Japanese dining and this place has hit it right on the money. The problem with such great sashimi was that the dishes after it just couldn’t compare to it…

Salmon Aburi
This dish has also been done very well and the chef has added some very nice twists to it. Little golden balls of roe were hidden inside and were not noticed until the morsals were placed into the mouth and they popped to release their aroma and flavour. Very pleasant surprise even though I am not a big fan of roe.
The ginger was also very fresh and cool and prepared our palates for the next tasty bite ^^!

Eel Roll
The eel was pretty good but nothing compared to the fresh sashimi we had before. I must admit that when I was eating this, my mind was still thinking about the sashimi.

Wagyu
This dish was quite disappointing after such a great start to the meal. They look very nice but after biting into them they were dry and not much flavour. I had expected something of much higher quality but the quality of the meat was not up my standards.

One of the Chefs
All in all this place is definitely getting a re-visit but the next time I am sticking with just seafood and mainly sashimi.

Sushi Studio
75 Military Rd
Neutral Bay, Sydney
Ph: (02)9953 7317

Trading Hours
Mon : 6:00pm-10:00pm
Tue : Closed
Wed/Thu : 6:00pm-10:00pm
Fri/Sat : 6:00pm-10:30pm
Sun : 6:00pm-10:00pm

FFichiban

I am a big fan of all types of curry so when I read about this “King Curry” at Kimama Kitchen on Eat Like a Cow, I could not help myself but visit it and take on the challenge. This place was hidden in one of the corners of the food court at Eating World with only a small sign stating its’ name. To be honest I have never been inside Eating World before so it was a new experience for me haha.

The plasma tv flickered between showing the menu and the Happy Hour specials of cheap cheap curry! Too bad they are only available 3:00pm – 5:30pm.

I really liked the dish they served the cutlet curry rice from the pictures I saw at Eat Like a Cow but I could not resist seeing how big the King Curry is. The service was a bit slow but when they finally finished preparing the King Curries I could see why it took so long.

Spot the engrish!

Here Comes the Food.

Erique Fat Owl was not kidding when he said that it was for a big appetite! I am quite a big eater (as I am a bit of a fatty hee hee) but even I slowed down near the end but managed to finish. The curry came with miso soup and a small bowl of salad, both very nice and compliments the curry very well.

The curry itself is fairly mild but after so much you can feel the effects a bit. I agree that there could be more sauce but I would prefer a lot more chicken katsu hee hee. The beautiful crunch of the chicken is most enjoyable especially when you dont expect it as they covered it with sauce. Overall it is a very enjoyable meal at a very reasonable price and so I will definitely be coming back to try their other dishes or this curry if I am very hungry

Monkeyjaja, my curry buddy for this meal got this for a VERY reasonable price as he ended up getting THREE meals out of this one dish.

Curry curry curryyy ^^!

Kimama Kitchen
Eating World Harbour Plaza
Shop 207, 25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket, Sydney
Ph: (02) 9280 0409

FFichiban