Night Market

The Queen Victoria Night Market is something I'd been wanting to visit since I heard about it during my first couple of weeks in Melbourne, and this week I finally made it there. A dull day turned into a beautifully bright evening, perfect for a stroll around. Inside the market the stalls are more spaced out than during daytime trading, allowing for bigger avenues to walk down and plenty of chairs and tables to sit and socialise at. The newest area of the market was also open; String Bean Alley, a row of old shipping containers which have been transformed into workshops and stalls selling all manner of things. The market has an abundance of food and drinks - one of the first things to hit me when I walked towards it from the tram stop was the sound of the bustle followed closely by the amazing smells and aromas. It truly was a sensory feast. 

I had a good browse of some of the stalls and made mental notes of those I wanted to revisit for closer inspection later on, noticing with slight astonishment just how bloody cool these Melburnians are. Seriously, almost every person was wearing something amazing in whatever style it was, and (it must have something to do with the weather) had such a carefree and happy look on their faces. At first I felt ultimately uncool, but decided to try and take it as a cultural lesson in how to be chilled out and have that happy vibe..I'm working on it! 

It took me a good half hour of wandering up and down to even begin to decide what to eat...I eventually settled on a Sri Lankan pan roll from Lankan Tucker- lots of finely chopped vegetables and spices wrapped in what looked like an extra thin crepe or pancake, then fried and served with sweet chilli and tomato sauces. Despite being quite small, the amount of vegetables packed in and the intensity of the flavours filled me up nicely, well, with room for dessert of course. I opted for a Belgian waffle with the classic topping of melted Belgian chocolate, from The Waffle Club. It was just the tinest bit crispy on the outside and lovely and spongey on the inside, and with the sweetness of the chocolate just the best flavour. For my second round of the stalls I needed some liquid accompaniment, and having seen dozens of people wandering round with pints of what looked suspiciously like sangria, I went off in search of it. Next time I'll try the white version but playing it safe I went with standard red, from the Running Bull Sangria stall.

Suitably refreshed I delved back into the treasures that awaited...and by the end I'd got a pretty henna tattoo and a silver pendant, from Silver Addict, who's whole collection I'd be getting if I could afford it. I was reluctant to leave the market, as it seemed like the party was just getting started; hundreds more people were hanging around the food vans outside in the glow of the evening and a DJ somewhere in the crowd was pumping out some great tunes...this place would definitely make it onto my list of recommendations for any future visitors, or locals who've not made it here yet.