Tag Archives: markets

A melting pot of food: City of Perth Twilight Hawkers Markets

Posted in Food by

Every Friday night from October to March (which I’m hoping becomes an annual event), Perthians get to sample an array of food right in downtown Perth. Tents are set up by stall holders where they can showcase their respective food from home. What you see and eat from this event is just a little taste of the multiculturality of Perth. From South America to Asia to Europe, we get to sample food that is usually associated with a certain country.

There are a lot of food to choose from so it’s a good idea to head down here on various Fridays. After all, the event goes on for 6 months; surely you’ll have plenty of time to sample one cuisine to the other. If you’re expecting something like hawker stalls in Asia or elsewhere where food is (almost) dirt cheap and great value for money then you’re in for quite a surprise. Prices are not exactly cheap for what is classified as a hawkers market and for me, personally, it’s more about the experience rather than the taste.

I’ve been coming to this market for quite a while now, sometimes with a group and sometimes alone (depending on my appetite) and let me just say that I thoroughly enjoy coming here every single time. The smell of food welcomes you as soon as you get closer and closer to the market; then happy faces greet you as soon as you step closer to a stall, whether to order or just to check out the food. The stall owners are happy to chat away.  Is it strange that people here provide better customer service than the those at fine dining restaurants?

But anyway, that aside, I have pretty much tried most of the food on offer. Another reason why you would have to come here several times to try all the food is because they don’t sell in small servings. You cannot buy just ONE dumpling; nor just ONE satay stick. They come in multiples so if you eat alone you get full really quickly. The only thing you can buy just ONE of are, perhaps, the macarons.

Well, let the feasting begin.

Spiral spuds

raw spiral spuds deep fried FOUR times

And here it is! Seasoned with you choice of garlic salt or chicken salt or normal salt, or tomato sauce or vinegar and you are off to a good start. This has to be shared though because the sheer amount of grease is enough to make you want to gag if you consume the whole stick. Plus, it’s big and loaded with carbs so it will easily fill you up.

Takoyaki

A familiar Japanese snack that you can find here. Maybe it’s the rush of the crowd but these balls are hardly balls when they are falling apart or missing a few bits. They are not as beautifully crafted as the ones in a decent Japanese restaurant but they do taste good. They have an added pickled ginger kick.

Paella

Three giant paella pans cooking up the Spanish favoruite. It is served in a box for more than $10. Rice was too well done for my liking, almost mushy-like, but the taste is not bad. Now the only question is how to peel the prawns without using your hands.
Crepes

Yummy French crepes, made to order. You can have it filled with Nutella, fruits and cream or just drizzled with syrup.

Empanadas

Colombian empanadas. I’m not really sure how these were supposed to taste like. All 3 fillings – beef, potatoes, and pork – tasted the same, which was pretty much tasteless. Dipping them in the guacamole does not help either. I honestly just ordered them because of Sofia Vergara.

Satay sticks

Satay sticks cooked on charcoal served in a cup with extra peanut sauce. Chicken a bit dry but this is one of my favourites at the markets.

Churros

Fried dough rolled in sugar then filled with either chocolate or caramel or both. Surprisingly not too sweet and served fresh from the fryer for that yummy crunch on the outside.
Macarons

They seem to be the fad these days and these macarons by Maison Saint-Honore are divine! I love the Praline ones. Try the Rose ones too; very subtle hint of rose flavour. And it’s always a plus whenever I get to practice my French with native speakers.

These are just a handful of what you can eat. There’s still the Mexican burritos, Moroccan cous cous, German bratwurst, Italian pizzas, Indian curries…and so on. Sometimes there is an entertainment too so you can sit back, relax, and eat.

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Exploring Perth 2: Perth Hills

Posted in Adventures, Perth, Travel by

Thanks to a car breakdown incident, I have discovered a new place in Perth. It’s not new per se but it’s unchartered enough that it brings me all kinds of excitement whenever I pay it a visit. Of all the years I have lived in Perth, I have not once set foot in this part of town; a town called Kalamunda, part of what is otherwise known as the Perth Hills.

Left crippled without a car, I decided to ask the company I work for, after being fed up with public transportation, if we had any spare vehicle that I may borrow while my car is being fixed. Luckily, there were quite a few spares! A colleague and I drove up to Kalamunda to pick up the spare vehicle – it’s also safe to say that I can now cross out driving a pick up truck from my bucket list – and it was the conversation I had with her during the ride that sparked my interest in exploring Perth Hills. The drive up made me realise that Kalamunda is not that inaccessible from where I live (as I previously thought); about 30 minutes from home and 15 minutes from the office by car without traffic jams.

My quest to look for a decent cupcake shop in Perth made me trek my first official visit to Kalamunda. That visit was enough to make me want to come back for more. I was pressed for time then so I only took about half an hour or so to stroll around. The shopping area, located along Haynes Street and its surrounds, is not that big but also not that small. It is small enough that it has a very close-knit community feel to it yet big enough to provide you with whatever you need (supermarkets, Bunnings, cafes, restaurants, shopping…).

One Sunday, after much Googling about Perth Hills, I went to the Kalamunda Farmer’s Market. This market is open until 12pm every Sunday so Auntie C and I rushed off after an early breakfast to get there before it closes. Big mistake regarding that breakfast. There was so much to eat at the markets that we should’ve just eaten breakfast there! A few cafes were open and there was also a creperie stall. Being full would not stop us from eating more anyway; it would just make us extremely full and skip lunch altogether. A few of the things you’ll find at the market are:

  • specialty bread
  • fresh fruits and veg
  • seafood
  • olives/olive products
  • crepes
  • plants for sale
  • honey
  • macarons

So after a stoll on a fine spring day, we decided to cool down with some homemade ice ceam at Collodel. This is one of the best homemade ice creams I have had in  a while. It was smooth and not too sweet. Just perfectly divine. I had the creme caramel flavour and it was yum yum yum.

Since we were already in the area, Auntie C and I headed out to Gooseberry Hill; a neighbouring suburb that is like a 2-minute drive. The main reason for going there was to go to this French cafe and patisserie called Le Croissant du Moulin. It is tucked away in a very small village shopping centre along Railway Road that I missed it while cruising down the street. Thankfully there was a round-about nearby. All the cakes looked enticing that I really really want to buy them all. Okay, we limited ourselves to just 3 (because we didn’t have enough cash left). Two words for the sweets – tres delicieux! I have concluded by now that Perth Hills houses some of the city’s best kept food secrets.

On the way home, we drove through the scenic zig zag drive that is worth a visit too. I never knew Perth had a scenic, let alone a zig zag, drive. It is a sight of the city from a different point of view.

That’s half a Sunday well spent.

Market! Market!

Posted in Adventures by

Early rise today at 3:12am for a first time experience at the markets. The last time I’ve been up this early was during the Easter weekend 2 years ago to pack thousands of hot cross buns. Anyways, back to the markets. I have been to the markets before scouring for cheap finds; only today I was on the other side of the line with my friend. We were the sellers.

Karrinyup Markets was our choice this week and it took about 15 to 20 minutes to drive up north on an empty freeway from our place down south. By 4:30am we have arrived and we were number 27 in the line of cars. This was all there was at 4:30am in the parking lot – the moon and the street lights -

 

It never occurred to me that there were “rules” to selling in the markets. Entry to the markets were on a first come first served basis so that car number 1 would have number 1 priority in choosing where to set up his stall. There is also a list of things that you can sell – clothes, toys, books and even plants – but brand new things and food are not allowed.

We waited and waited until 6:15am when we were finally let into the markets to set up our stall. It’s really amazing how 4 chairs, 1 table, 4 big bags of clothes, 2 clothes racks, 1 mannequin and some random things could fit into a small Holden Barina. It was a very chilly morning and I regretted wearing flats as my feet were frozen stiff. Should’ve worn my ugg boots instead. My friend and I quickly set up our stall using 2 car bays to look like this (initially) -

By 6:25am buyers have already started coming in! Who would’ve thought that people actually get up this early to come to the markets? We haven’t even finished setting up our little space and people were already digging into our things.

When you come to a swap meet or a flea market – most things are dirt cheap. Well, dirt cheap is by definition different to everyone. We were selling quality clothes for $1 each and apparently that’s not cheap enough for some buyers. $1 for a close-to-brand-new MNG top is really really really cheap, don’t you reckon? Or $5 Levi’s jeans? This reminds of my bartering days in China 10 years ago where I would harass the xiao jies for a very cheap price. I have now come to realise that being the buyer and the seller are 2 completely different experiences.

Sales picked up about an hour or so into the whole process of bartering and at the end of the day I was able to sell most of my bulky items and 3 of my hand bags that were clogging up space in the closet and made quite a considerable sum of money too. Not bad for a first timer!

It was so much fun that we are already planning our next market trip.