The Wellington noodle Night Market is back. I did go last time and was hugely disappointed. The last time, the food was OK and actually only manage to try Hoy Pinoy because the other places were just eateries that you found in Wellington. However, it had moved the location to Frank Kitts Park and looked like there were more vendors from outside Wellington so I decided to give it another try.
Hoy Pinoy: Inihaw na Maok
BBQ Chicken Skewer
I tried some from Macgyver. It definitely had the lovely smoked charcoal flavour, which was fantastic. The marinade was nice but was slightly too sweet for my liking. Would have appreciated if you could buy one, so you could try the pork one as well instead of having to buy two.
Hoy Pinoy: Leimpo
Slow Cooked Pork Belly on Rice
This looked better than it actually tasted. The Pork was nice and tender, but a bit too burnt/charred for my liking. The flavours were nice from the bbq sauce and this tangy side sauce that came in a little container. The rice, however, was really bad. Overcooked and was cooked with too much water. It tasted more like glue and rice couldn’t soak up the sauces. A real disappointment.
Puffle: Sweet Spicy KFC Cheese PUFFLE
The pictures they used to see this on Instagram was nothing like what you got in real life or at the Wellington market. On Instagram, you got Hong Kong Puff waffles, but here you got the American/NZ version. The waffle was nice and I liked the cheese element but would have preferred the version that they sold on social media. The fried chicken was really nice, and I loved the spicy Korean sauce with the mayonnaise and the shallots. A good dish, but wrongly advertised.
Ramen Takara: Tan-Tan Ramen
This looked good from the get-go. I also added some chilli to my ramen, which was on a side table. The soup for this ramen was beautiful. I really liked this, and maybe the best ramen broth I have had in NZ. It had so many different layers to it. Also, I loved the extra chilli, I added to the broth. Inside, was pork mince, which was pan fried with garlic and so spring onions which worked really well with the dish. The ramen was cooked really nicely. Overall my favourite dish at the Markets.
Lalele Organic Gelato: Blueberry and Coconut Block
This was a great way to end the evening, although I was rather cold after eating it. The combination of coconut and blueberry went really well and the ice block was really dense and actually quite filling.
I purposely only tried the places that do not have an eatery in Wellington. I think this place had a better set up to the previous one. However, it didn’t blow my mind. The offerings were good, but not fantastic. I did really like Ramen Takara, but everything else I was slightly disappointed with. Also, why call it a Noodle Night Market, when only about 30% of the stalls actually sell noodles. Why not call it Asian Night Market or something like that, so you are not disappointed because of the lack of noodles. I appreciated the variety, but think about the name of the event. Is it an event I would go back to if it comes back to Wellington, most probably. If I had to pay to get in, then hell no.
website: Noodle Night Market
Trencherman's Travels 