The Night Noodle Markets are a staple on Melbourne’s alfresco dining calendar. The annual outdoor market brings together some of the city’s top Asian restaurants and food trucks (plus bars and entertainment) for just over two weeks of street eats and snacks.
But there’s one question that has haunted us year after year: where the hell are all the noodles?
For an event that literally bills itself with the word 'noodle', the market has often been confoundingly lacking in straight-up noodle dishes. In the interests of journalism, we analysed every single dish at the market and identified which ones contained noodles. Here are our results:
Total dishes: 103
Total number of noodle dishes: 18
Given the changeability of menu items, the exact figures are approximate. Even so, the numbers indicate that less than 18 per cent of dishes available at the market actually contain noodles. You know, the ingredient the market is named after.
Even if the market’s name is a bit misleading, you’ll still see us there enthusiastically digging into dumplings, bao, curry and the ubiquitous ‘things on sticks’.
Fan of noodz? Here are the specific dishes available and where to get them at the market.
- Yakisoba (beef, chicken, vegetarian or special) from Teppanyaki Noodle.
- Noodle bowl from Nem n Nem.
- Soba noodles from Miso Fresh.
- Chiang Mai chicken noodle curry from Red Spice Road.
- Ramen (chicken karaage or miso tofu) from Raijin.
- Malaysian fried noodles (a take on char kway teow) from Sambal Kampung.
- Osaka noodles from Donburi Station.
- Pork, chicken or prawn flying noodles from Flying noodles (these gravity-defying noodles will no doubt be one of the most photographed dishes this year).
- Pad Thai chicken, pad see ew, crackling pork noodle from Shallot Thai.
- Pad thai tofu from Bangkok Street Food.