N2 Extreme Gelato

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to #icecreamthurs! Sadly summer is over, so let’s try to keep the magic alive by eating lots of icecream until it gets warm again! One of the most popular stalls at the Night Noodle Markets last year was N2 Extreme Gelato – this year, they’ve combined forces with Black Star Pastry, producing a gelato that recreates their famed Strawberry and Watermelon cake in gelato form. After queuing for a good 20 minutes (I’d highly recommend having dessert first to avoid longer queues), I ordered the Cake Smash Gelato ($9), which was served with the same rose-flavoured cream that the cake has on top, with a light sprinkle of pistachio and rose petals. Once you get through to the gelato itself, there’s a delightful surprise – freeze-dried bits of strawberry and watermelon are scattered throughout, although the real strawberry sweetness comes from the pipette of strawberry sauce you squeeze over the top. The gelato does melt quickly so I wouldn’t try to savour this one for a long time – I ended up drinking the last couple of mouthfuls – but definitely give it a try as a delicious, creamy gelato with perfect bites of fruit within.

N2 Extreme Gelato, Night Noodle Market, Reconciliation Place until 13 March, http://n2extremegelato.com.au/

Bao Stop

Bao Stop part two consisted of the amazing-sounding Peking duck fries ($15). Visualise, if you will, a large tray full of crisp, golden fries, topped with shredded duck, spring onion and Peking sauce. Can you see it? Well, basically that’s what Bao Stop are offering and what we ate on a recent visit to the Night Noodle Markets. The queue for this stall is rather long, so grab something from somewhere else first to snack on while you wait. The service at the other end is actually really fast, so once you’ve ordered the food takes less than 5 minutes to be served (wow guys, wow). We shared this dish between two, and found it very filling – the duck on top is plentiful, tender and full of flavour, enhanced by the Peking sauce that I must learn how to make at home. The meat just falls apart into lovely flakes of duck perfection. The fries were of the thinner variety and were cooked perfectly, although some were slightly soggy after being doused in sauce. The portion isn’t stingy – you are absolutely getting bang for your buck here, worth the wait for a fun, tasty treat.

Bao Stop, Night Noodle Markets, Reconciliation Place until 13 March, http://www.baostop.com/

Bao Stop

Bao Stop is definitely one of the most popular stalls at this year’s Night Noodle Market – we braved the queue to see if it lives up to the hype. For part one, we ordered the ‘Bao Trifecta’ ($20), choosing the duck, pork and chicken options (there is also a tofu choice). Compared to local establishment The Fish Can, the Sydney-based store is a bit pricier, but each serve was excellent value and packed with meat. The duck was probably my favourite overall, reminiscent of the amazing duck pancakes served at Chinese restaurants. The duck was plump and tender, and really a big piece, complemented well by the cucumber, Peking sauce and shredded spring onion. Tick. Next up was the braised pork belly, topped with roasted peanuts, fresh coriander and hoisin sauce. Again I was amazed by how tender the large serve of pork belly was, and the coriander really added a lot. Tick. Finally the Taiwanese fried chicken bao was packed with spice – hello chilli mayo, chilli jam and fresh carrot. The giant piece of chicken was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, and the flavours were fresh and absolutely delicious. Bao Stop, you can #cometocanberra anytime.

Bao Stop, Night Noodle Markets, Reconciliation Place until 13 March, http://www.baostop.com/

Lilotang

I adore Lilotang, one of Canberra’s modern Japanese restaurants, and was very excited to see that they’re offering lobster rolls as part of the Night Noodle Market. Stationed right by the entrance, the staff were proudly claiming to have Canberra’s best Japanese as we approached the stall. I ordered the lobster roll ($11) and Dad went for the pork belly bun ($10) beng offered by stall-partner Chairman and Yip. Both dishes were served within 5 minutes of us ordering them, which I was super impressed by! The lobster roll looked small, but don’t let that deceive you – there’s plenty of delicious lobster filling packed within the two sides of that sweet, soft brioche bun. The mixture was designed to bring out the lobster flavour, with chives and onion added as highlights. This ranks up there with the Supernormal one as a must-try. The pork belly bun had two huge, fat strips of boiled pork belly resting atop a simple coleslaw – Dad added some hoisin sauce (help yourself at the counter) and it really brought the whole dish to life. The pork pieces were perfectly fatty and tender – an indulgence indeed.

Lilotang, Night Noodle Market Reconciliation Place, Parkes until 13 March,        http://lilotang.com.au/

Black Star Pastry

In celebration of the Night Noodle Markets, I’m interrupting normal broadcast services and bringing you a special week of NNM food reviews, to help you plan your visit. I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz about the famous Strawberry Watermelon cake from Sydney’s Black Star Pastry. Well, my Canberran friends, they’ve come to town, teaming up with N2 Extreme Gelato for the Good Food Month Night Noodle Markets in Reconciliation Place. At opening night my friend and I braved the queues (actually not as bad as last year) and before we knew it, it was cake time! The portion size ($8) is actually bigger than I had expected, served in a bamboo boat with a slightly inadequate mini-spoon. This cake is perfect for summer – the top layer was my favourite, with sweet-glazed strawberries topped with crunchy pistachio and delicate rose petals, most of the sweetness was here. Next was the almond dacquoise, deliate and light. Further down was a layer of rose cream, which had a light flavour reminiscent of Turkish delight, but not overly fragrant, followed by the layer of fresh watermelon and more cream. The flavours all worked together and impressively, and whilst I think the overall effect would have been more impressive if it was served slightly colder, this is a cake I will happily come back for!

Black Star Pastry, at the Night Noodle Markets, Reconciliation Place, until 13 March 2016, http://www.blackstarpastry.com.au/

Patissez

The Lawns at Manuka are a lovely place to relax on a warm afternoon, which is exactly what my friend and I did – plus cake, of course! We had a 15min wait for a table at Patissez, and then ordered two cakes from the display cabinet – a pistachio cake and an open lemon meringue tart, both gluten free. Both were beautifully presented, and we went halves to be able to try both! The pistachio cake was topped with a lime-flavoured meringue in fluro green – this somewhat artificial-tasting flavour seemed to dominate, dulling the pistachio flavour, but complimenting the perfect texture of the cake layers. With oozy icing and luscious creamy layers in between the pistachio cake, those less excited by the lime can still enjoy the delicious flavours beneath. Next up was the open lemon meringue – this is a creative take on a classic, with beautiful, crisp honeycomb perched on top of a huge meringue cloud. Hiding beneath are dollops of a tart lemon curd, but the real surprise was the spice-infused tart base – we thought it might be cardamom or nutmeg, which cuts through the sweetness of the rest of the cake perfectly. Be warned – these cakes are huge, so we got the leftovers to takeaway. Yum.

Patissez, 21 Bougainville Street, Griffith ACT, http://patissez.com.au/

Get excited…

Ladies and gentlemen of Canberra… the Night Noodle Market is coming! Part of Good Food Month (I knew there was a reason I was born in March), the market is set to be bigger and better than last year when it kicks off tomorrow night! The line up is looking excellent – I’m particularly excited about the bao trifecta from Bao Stop, a mini-Boodle feast from Kusina (one of my favourite local businesses), the ever-sophisticated fare from Lilotang, and, finally, the ubiquitous Watermelon and Strawberry cake from Sydney’s Black Star Pastry, fused with the genius that is N2 Extreme Gelato. Yes, it will be busy. Yes, the weather is looking like it will be hot. But Canberra, this delightful pop up hawker-market is only here from Friday 4th until Sunday 13th March, so please make the most of it! To keep you posted on what’s happening, I’ll be Instagramming my opening night experience live for you to follow along and decide which queues are worth braving for yourself (follow me at @sharoninez16). Oh, and don’t forget to check out the rest of the Enlighten events while you’re taking a digestion pause. Happy eating!