Open Streets K'Rd 2016, which took place last Sunday, was Auckland's biggest street event of the year, with an estimated 30,000 people in attendance. For the first time in 10 years, nearly the entire length of Karangahape Road was free of cars, from Upper Queen Street to Ponsonby Road, so it was a vast improvement on last year's Quay Street event. Apart from not having traffic constantly in the background, K'Rd just has more character, with street art, historic arcades, and little shops and restaurants.
Plenty of people, but still space to move.
The event organisers have done a fantastic job, thoughtfully spacing out the entertainment, stalls and rest areas across six different zones. It was great seeing things you don't normally come across, such as street furniture made from road accessories, interactive artwork like giant dominoes, and people and transport of all forms.
Street furniture from tyres and road barriers.
Taking Food to the Street
The savvy restaurateurs set up feeding stations on the street, rather than expecting people to wander in. Apero, for instance, had sandwiches you could grab and go, as well as a $50 meter sausage you could take home to cook.
Apero offered pre-prepared sandwiches, hot dogs and takeaway items.
It was also a great opportunity to taste things you wouldn't otherwise have had a chance to try, like a little slice of The Caker's baking ($6), which is normally sold as pre-ordered whole cakes. Not surprisingly, plenty of pictures of theseturnedup on Instagram.
Variety of cakes slices from The Caker.
There was an underground market with vegan food stalls in the Whammy Bar, which I would never have realised was there, but fortunately I had heard about it via Facebook. If I could change one thing about Open Streets this year, it would be to have a website where you could find out about these related events.
At the other end of K'Rd, Madame George put on a Peruvian BBQ, which we were now too full to sample.
Outdoor Peruvian BBQ at Madame George.
Even businesses which weren't located on K'Rd itself set up stalls; Le Garde-Manger sold out of all their galettes by the afternoon, but people were happy to wait for their sweet crepes.
Only sweet crepes left, but the crowd doesn't mind.
Performances and Activities
Our original plan was to turn up for lunch, go home for a bit, then come back for dinner. But actually, there were so many things to see and do that it was easier just to hang out on K'Rd the entire time.
For instance, there was an impressive pole dancing performance from Lucky Thirteen outside Coco's Cantina, which alternated with other shows (we saw a couple of jugglers in that spot as well at different times).
Outdoor pole dancing.
Others made art while you watched. Andrew J Steel first decorated a box, then got into it and proceeded to paint kids' faces while peering out through a little hole. The Quick Draw Sketch Gang did impromptu portraits of people.
Face painting.
For those who were itching to do something physical, there was a soccer match, or you could work on your coordination with the diabolos, hoops and other equipment provided by the Circlability Crew, who made it look easy juggling clubs and riding a giraffe unicycle.
Circus skills are fun!
It was great seeing how the businesses on K'Rd got behind the event too. Matchbox Studios ran a workshop on how to make watermelon pompoms, which made me stop even though I was on the way to food.
Workshop on how to make watermelon pompoms.
People obviously loved Open Streets so much that they were still partying after dark. It's great that our city has events like this, and I can only imagine it will be even better next year!
Auckland was definitely feeling vibrant last weekend, with two events side by side downtown: the Open Streets initiative organised by Auckland Transport saw part of Quay Street closed to traffic (well, one side of the road anyway), and Japan Day brought the crowds to the Queens Wharf area, between The Cloud and Shed 10.
Neither event would have been as good on its own, and while both could be improved (closing off more of the road and having more food stalls would help), we still enjoyed the atmosphere.
Open Streets
I didn't take too many photos of the Open Streets activities (this is a food blog after all), but it was great to see the little kids on their bikes on the road. There was plenty of entertainment too, from clowns to accordion players, to games and rollerskating, to stunt riders on BMX bikes, to a samba band performance.
A fireman's bike was displayed at one exhibit.
Japan Day
We were mainly checking out the food for Japan Day, but inadvertently came across aikido, kendo and some dance and music performances as well. Some attendees definitely made more of an effort, with kimonos and cosplay in evidence.
A busy stall near the ferry building.
There were far more people than the stalls could handle, with queues of an hour. Some things were sold out by the early afternoon, and even the Taiwanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and non-Asian stalls were full of hungry people.
Although we only dashed around quickly (as much as the crowds would allow), we still saw some things that looked interesting. For instance, there was a demonstration of how to make mochi.
Making mochi.
You could buy freshly cooked cakey things like dorayaki and baby castella.
Making baby castella.
For those after more savoury street foods, you could buy dango (marinated rice balls on a stick), yakitori skewers, and marinated cucumbers.
Marinated cucumbers.
We filled ourselves up on teppanyaki fried noodles, but there were plenty of other Japanese foods to eat, including takoyaki, okonomiyaki and udon.
Fried noodles from one of a number of stalls.
There were some beautiful pastries for sale, as well as green tea ice cream, black sesame pudding, banana rolls, and (as I discovered later) crepe cones.
Next time, we would make sure to arrive early, so the queues are hopefully shorter!
Around four years ago, we were excited to discover a night market in Pakuranga, selling all manner of delicious food under one roof. This became popular very quickly, so much so that the market not only grew in size, but the organisers ended up setting up more markets on different nights of the week, around Auckland to begin with, then spreading out to Hamilton and even Tauranga!
We have yet to visit most of them, since they tend to be far from the centre of Auckland, and difficult to reach by public transport. (The Onehunga market is near a train station, but when we visited, it seemed to be full of unhealthy fried foods.) However, we have found the Glenfield market to be at least as good as the Pakuranga one, with over 70 food stalls. Although similar in distance from the central city, it also had the following advantages:
more scenic drive over the Harbour Bridge
more room between the rows of stalls, so you can walk around more freely
view of Rangitoto from the upstairs carpark
grassy bank off to one side, useful if you can't find a free chair at one of the communal tables
Some of the stalls there were the same ones you find at other markets, but we manage to discover something interesting every time. The variety at the market is not only due to the different foods available (we have been ignoring the non-food stalls, I'm afraid), but also from the different stages a vendor is at—there were ones that didn't even have a name, just a table and a hand-written piece of cardboard; while other stalls had professionally printed signs, matching uniforms, and occasionally even a food grade rating prominently displayed.
Here's a small selection of the items we came across last weekend.
Bánh Mì
There's been a proliferation of businesses selling Vietnamese baguette sandwiches in Auckland, but this is the only one we know of that looks like a street-side cart, with the fillings on display.
The secret to any fried food, from churros to Hungarian lángos (both of which were also available at the market), is that it should be fresh. The Chinese doughsticks (a.k.a. youtiao or yauzhagwai) found at Asian grocers are generally pre-made, so it was great to see this stallholder cooking them in a large wok of oil (she fished the sticks out just seconds before I took this photo).
Freshly fried doughsticks, sesame balls and steamed siu mai.
Shanghainese Shengjianbao and Xiaolongbao
I've been wondering how long it will take for the hype around Chinese dumplings to fade away, but the comments on Twitter when Barilla Dumpling closed for refurbishment recently suggest that won't be any time soon. Similar dishes that don't get nearly as much attention include a couple of Shanghainese specialties: the steamed dumpling known as xiaolongbao, and the pan-fried bun called shengjianbao, both of which have a soupy centre when hot. These tasty creations were available at a couple of different stalls at the market.
Shanghainese buns and dumplings.
Gözleme
Before going to Turkey, our first food association with the country was in the form of kebabs. Our kebab shops here hardly do them justice, but thankfully we now have exposure to a different Turkish snack. Gözleme are filled pockets of pastry, cooked over a griddle. It was great being able to watch the dough being rolled out using a thin, wooden stick, spread with filling and sealed, then heated on a slightly curved dome. The end result looks amazing and tastes good too.
Making gözleme.
Cornucopia of Crepes
It's not hard to find French crepes these days, but the market also had Brazilian crepes-on-a-stick and Japanese "Harajuku style" rolled crepes for sale, the latter complete with plastic models of the food.
Japanese crepes.
Halo-Halo
On the topic of dessert, we tried a Filipino creation with the delightful name of halo-halo for the first time. From the pictures on the web, we were worried that it would be as sweet as it was colourful. In fact, it was refreshing and flavourful. The ube ice cream mixed with shaved ice and condensed milk tasted like taro milk tea, and there was a multitude of treasures to be discovered at the bottom of the cup, including kumara chunks, fruit pieces, custard, jelly cubes, and tapioca balls.
Size: the organisers of the Auckland Night Markets did a fantastic job of pulling stalls together, with apparently 120 stalls when the first one at Pakuranga opened. This means people can go back again and again and still keep trying new things.
Location: I wish someone would set up something similar more centrally, so you could stroll over after work the way you can with the Silo Night Markets, or at least get there by public transport. I can understand that would be difficult though, as they have deliberately chosen mall carparks so that they are not dependent on good weather. Also, it is no doubt much cheaper to organise something where the rent is relatively cheap, and there is much less competition in the distant suburbs—a similar market in Mount Eden, Newmarket or Ponsonby would have to fight for customers who could just as easily go to the nearest restaurant or bar.
Atmosphere: It feels like Asia with throngs of people, but the physical surroundings are not that nice, since everyone is crammed into a mall carpark.
Timing: Some markets start small, only operating once a month to begin with. This makes it difficult to work out when to go, and some people will simply give up. Having a regular market, and different ones on multiple nights of the week, gives people much more flexibility, and they can just turn up on a whim.
Seating: There needs to be more seating areas available so people can enjoy their food in comfort, and it can turn into more of a social activity. The same is true of Silo Park also, but at least there, there are more grassy areas which people are more likely to sit on than concrete floors.
Food: The cooking quality differs from stall to stall, obviously. There seems to be a greater range of Chinese foods than from other cuisines, but I think the organisers have done a great job at having a bit of everything. I would like there to be more healthy options with sides of vegetables, for instance, but I guess that's not what most people are looking for when they go out to graze.
---
Overall, the Auckland Night Markets provide an experience which is as close as it gets to street food culture in Auckland. There is plenty of food to choose from, and a vibrant atmosphere from the crowds. It would be even better if people didn't have to drive and were able to sit down more, but we highly recommend these markets anyway.
For one weekend every year (last weekend this year), a part of Auckland transforms into a bustling celebration of Asian culture and commerce. Lanterns are clearly the highlight of the Auckland Lantern Festival, but there are also performances, trinket-sellers, and food, glorious food. Every year, the event gets a little bigger, and for the first time this year, it was even split out into two different locations. Most of the attractions were in and around Albert Park as usual, but this time, there were also outdoor movies and family activities on Queen's Wharf.
Advertising for the Auckand Lantern Festival on a bus.
We didn't even look at the programme before heading in to town, because we were mainly there for the food; the lanterns were around the whole weekend anyway. This did mean that we missed some great shows, including sand painting, a kite making demonstration, and the grand finale fireworks. We did however manage to eat, take pictures, and immerse ourselves in the crowd, albeit one which was not used to coping with the sheer amount of people. We even caught the lion dance, in which one of the three red lions somehow managed to turn a gold and a silver one, while moving to the rhythmic beating of drums.
The lion dancers somehow managed to make it past the crowd by the food stalls.
Food
Although some of the food at the festival consists of things you can get at restaurants or takeaways anyway, there was also a lot of street snacks (plenty of things on skewers), as well as items you don't normally see, like the toffee strawberries below, or freshly pressed sugar cane juice. The volume of people not only added to the atmosphere, but ensured food was freshly cooked where appropriate.
Fried dumplings and squid on a stick.
Hardest to get: Toffee Strawberries
People kept walking past with strawberry skewers held up high, some with up to 6 or so sticks in their hands. We found the source of this delicacy and placed ourselves in the shortest queue, salivating with every step forward. Unfortunately, once we got to the front, we discovered that we were in the wrong queue. They were only selling meat jerky from our line, despite being one and the same shop.
We left for a couple of hours and looked around before attempting to join the queue again. This time, after we had waited for a few minutes, they called out that they had sold out. At $3.50 for four little toffee-coated strawberries, the skewers were not cheap, but people clearly loved them!
The very popular toffee strawberry stand, which also sold beef and pork jerky.
We returned the next day, and went straight to this stall before purchasing the savoury components of our meal. We finally got to try toffee strawberries, and they were indeed delicious, with a sweet, crunchy outer shell that gives way to a warm, fruity explosion.
Most tempting food we did not try: Fried Pork Buns and Dumplings
It was really interesting watching the buns and dumplings being cooked by Chinese Dumpling King Restaurant (shop in Mount Albert). While the bottoms of the products were frying on a hot pan, the tops were being steamed under a metal cover. I imagine the food would have been hot and fresh and delicious, and good value too ($5 for 6 buns or 10 dumplings), but the queue was a deterrent, and we figured that we could simply go to the restaurant after the festival anyway.
Fried pork buns and dumplings being cooked.
Most expensive item: Grilled Crayfish Tail
The most expensive dish we saw for sale was the grilled crayfish tail from Oceanz Seafood. On Saturday night, it cost $18, marked down from $20. The next night, however, the price was down to $15, so we decided to spoil ourselves. There's supply and demand in action for you.
Grilled crayfish tail from Oceanz Seafood.
This was actually a good choice, as the crayfish was delicious in garlic butter. You also got a bit of seaweed so it feels more like a meal.
Cheapest items: meat kebabs, deep fried things
A number of stalls were selling meat skewers for $1 per stick. For $1 you could also buy deep fried things such as durian rolls and taro cake.
Durian rolls, taro cake, spring rolls and dumplings at a vegetarian stall.
Most represented cuisine: Taiwanese Food (runner up: vegetarian food)
The range of food on offer at the festival included such cuisines as Chinese, Malaysian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Thai, but we were surprised by how strong the Taiwanese representation was. From pearl milk tea to Taiwanese sausages to popcorn chicken to rice tube pudding, we saw maybe 10 stalls selling Taiwanese food, and that's not including the stalls that sold pearl milk tea along with other things like Hong Kong Curry Fish Balls.
Taiwanese fried chicken.
In comparison, we only noticed one Vietnamese stall, and a couple each of Thai and Malaysian ones.
The other type of stalls we saw a lot of were the ones promoting vegetarian food, often run by Buddhist organisations. They seemed to be more intent on proving that ethical vegetarian food can taste good, rather than providing any healthy offerings. As such, there were very few salads to be seen, but plenty of deep-fried snacks and imitation meat.
Oily vegetarian food.
Most disappointing item: Tofu Jelly
One of the stalls offered tofu jelly or tau fu fah, which is not something that you often get to eat here, unless you make it yourself or go to a fancy Chinese restaurant. Although there was an attractive picture shown on a wooden pail, however, the actual dish offered was nothing like it. First of all, it didn't come from the pail, which actually only contained the sugar syrup for the dish. Secondly, the jelly had the wrong texture, somewhat curdled and grainy, rather than being silky smooth. Then came the flavour, which had a slightly bitter aftertaste, as if they had added too much gypsum. Finally, the syrup was not golden brown as shown in the picture, but a clear and colourless sugar water. What a waste of a perfectly good $5.
Syrup for tofu jelly and bottle of black soy milk.
Best food for having later: Fresh Fruit
Most of the food at the festival was intended to be eaten straight away. We took home some deep-fried coconut buns from a vegetarian stall, but we wished we had remembered to purchase some cherries, lychees and longans for later too.
Fresh fruit and young coconut water for sale.
Most attractive non-Chinese food: Ice Cream in a Fruit Cup
For those who do not care for Chinese food, there were still plenty of options at the Lantern Festival, from gourmet food trucks like Urban Escargot selling pork belly burgers, mussel fritters and snails in green curry, to the standard vendors of hot chips, hot dogs and kebabs. The seafood mentioned earlier, including the grilled crayfish tail, would appeal to all, but perhaps the most popular non-Chinese food was in the dessert category.
Mini donuts flew like hot cakes, children walked around with candy floss, and ice cream in watermelon (which you find at many festivals including Pasifika and the Grey Lynn Park Festival) was jazzed up to include paper peacocks and served using a variety of fruit, including rock melon and pineapple.
Lanterns
After you have eaten your fill and the darkness of night takes over, it is time to enjoy the lantern displays!
Turtle orchestra lanterns.
Dragons around a post lanterns.
Tips
Avoid driving. You have better things to do with your time than sitting in traffic, or going round and round a parking building very slowly. Walking is a good option, as is riding a bike. Trying to catch a bus may be problematic if you are at one of the last stops, and all you see are full buses that just keep going past.
Gridlocked cars in parking building.
Go with friends so you can share, when you are forced to buy food in larger quantities than you want to eat. Failing that, be prepared to take food away, so that you can try more items.
For even greater variety, come back on multiple days. Not only will you have more stomach space to play with, you might see some new stalls too.
Don't go right towards the end of the evening. The more popular items might be sold out, and they turned out the lights at 10:30pm (in the food area, not the lanterns in the park) even though the place was still buzzing.
Relax and enjoy. This is particularly important because someone is bound to be in your way, or accidentally bump into you, in the crowd.
I've already waxed lyrical about the Avondale Sunday Market, but on other days, or if I don't want to venture so far for fresh and inexpensive vegetables, I head to the D. H. Supermarket (also called Dahua), a Chinese supermarket which was formerly Silver Bell. The specials they have at the moment, for instance, are two (that's 2) small watermelons for 99c (!!! - we tried them and they were juicy and sweet too), and gala apples for 49c a kilogram! The place is not as big and clean as the Tai Ping quite a bit up the road in Mount Roskill, but you can pick up some good bargains and they even accept credit cards for payments over something like $20.
Shelf of Asian vegetables, close to closing time.
Like other Chinese supermarkets, they have a separate meat and fish section, and you can buy groceries from other Asian cuisines like Korean and Japanese as well. There is also a separate room for the grains and another for the alcohol (this is where you look for the Chinese cooking wine). By the back entrance leading to the small carpark, there are mini shops within the supermarket, selling things like roast meat and Chinese street food, where you pay separately from the main supermarket cashier.
A nameless shop within the supermarket, selling such items as fried bread sticks (yóu tiáo, 油條) and sweet and savoury stuffed glutinous rice packets wrapped in bamboo leaves (zòng zi, 粽子).
Make sure you check what you are buying, because something which is being discounted may be expired or about to expire, and turn up early to avoid the crowds, get the best pick of produce, and perhaps breakfast on a Chinese crepe.
Highlight: Jianbing or Chinese Crepe (jiān bing guǒ zi, 煎餅果子)
[Added 4 August 2013: Sadly, this stall disappeared some time ago now.]
You go to D. H. Supermarket for your fresh vegies, mainly, but I also like the jianbing I had from one of the nameless shops there the other day. I first ate one of these Chinese crepes at the Taiwan Cultural and Traditional Games Festival (see my previous post for a video of this being made) and have been on the lookout for it ever since. Basically a very thin pancake with an egg cracked into it, in this case wrapping two squares of crunchy wonton wrapper, brushed with hoisin and chilli sauce, and garnished with spring onions and black sesame seeds, it is the perfect mix of sweet and savoury, softness and crunch.
A half-eaten jianbing.
Eat it immediately, while it is hot and the cracker still crisp. Well, maybe exit the supermarket first, but don't dilly-dally. It is such a delicious and filling meal for only $4.50 ($5 if you get it with soymilk as a combo). The sign for the jianbing shows a photo of a multitude of grains that presumably went into the batter, so I guess you can claim it is healthy as well.
My only reservation was to do with hygiene, but I have the same concerns when I go to an icecream store and see the scoops sitting in a container of murky water. Let me assure you that there were no unfortunate consequences to my breakfast (other than an overly full belly), and in any case, the thing is cooked for a good few minutes.
To order, point to the menu item labelled "Pan-fried roll", or look for a photo which includes an egg in it, at the stall pictured above. A1 is currently the variety with a fried bread stick inside, while A2 is the option with the crispy wonton wrapper. You will also be asked whether you want it spicy. You do, because that chilli sauce is lovely.
I have seen jianbing for sale at the Pakuranga Night Market as well, but this place at D. H. Supermarket is closer and available daily. I am tempted to say it is also more delicious, but I would have to go to the night market to verify. In any case, I really enjoyed my crepe here. Give it a go, even if it is weird ordering hot food from a supermarket stall.
Highlight: Eggs, Wondrous Eggs
Another great thing about D. H. Supermarket is the variety of eggs they sell. I have seen fresh goose, duck and quail eggs here, in addition to the usual chicken variety, including free range chicken eggs. The more exotic eggs aren't cheap, but I do an internal happy dance every time I find something novel for sale.
Fresh goose eggs for sale, when in season.
Being a Chinese supermarket, preserved or century eggs are also available. There are two types for sale, one with what looks like a coating of clay and rice husk, and another with a smooth, blue-greyish shell. I am not sure yet if are any flavour differences, but I will find out and let you know.
Quail eggs and two sorts of preserved eggs.
Unfortunately, they didn't appear to have any salted eggs on my last visit, which led me to purchase some "fresh" duck eggs instead...
Lowlight: Exploding Rotten Duck Egg
What you want to do is to buy the things that everyone else buys, which are replaced regularly. Those Asian greens are fantastic. Avoid the things which look like they have been sitting there for a while, like the duck eggs in the fridge, which I have seen the last few times I went to the shop, but finally decided to try anyway. I thought they were dodgy looking, the last four in the same tray for the past few weeks or longer, but there were no salted eggs for sale, and I had the idea that I would make my own.
The fact that the cashier had to leave the counter to check the price of them should have been ample warning, but I bought my duck eggs anyway. They felt well chilled; what could be wrong? I discovered the answer when I sat down in the car. Just as we were about to drive home, there was a sound like a gunshot. Something wet hit my face and the horrible sulphurous smell of rotten egg spread through the car.
The case of the exploding egg.
So there you have it. There's good and there's bad, not to mention plenty of eggs-citement to be had at your local D. H. Supermarket.
Store Details
D. H. Supermarket (大華超市)
83 Dominion Road, Mount Eden, Auckland
(09) 630 2900
Opening hours:
Mondays to Sundays 9am - 7pm (inner shops close 6:30pm)
D. H. Supermarket is at the city end of Dominion Road.
If you love street food, the closest you can get to the experience in Auckland is at the Auckland Night Market, held weekly in Pakuranga on Saturday evenings. We first discovered this thriving bunch of stalls (not so much on the street as in the covered parking area of the Westfield mall, underneath The Warehouse) nearly half a year ago, and were totally blown away by the variety of food available. From Philippine meals to Italian desserts, to all sorts of Chinese snacks, you couldn't help but get excited.
Lots of people at the Auckland Night Market, especially if you go at dinner time
We returned again last evening, and while some stalls have changed, there were just as many people as ever. There was even a live musical performance.
Unique Offerings
Here are some things I saw for sale yesterday, which I have not seen anywhere else in Auckland:
1) Goose eggs
[Added 14 January 2012: I have since seen goose eggs for sale elsewhere, from Dahua (79-83 Dominion Road) to the Avondale Sunday Market.]
Large goose eggs in a basket
2) Freshly pressed sugarcane juice, available for $4 a cup at a stall selling a strange mix of snacks.
Man squeezing sugarcane through a pressing machine
3) Hong Kong stylegai daan jai (雞蛋仔), a.k.a. eggettes, egg puffs, bubble waffles, HK cakes, Chinese egg balls, etc. These could do with a bit more crunch, like the best ones in Hong Kong, sold from a little store in North Point, but they had the right flavour. Yours to try for $3.
Egg waffles as sold in Hong Kong
[Added 14 January 2012: I have now discovered these for sale in town also, from a little shop in the Mid-City Arcade called Citizen Ice Shop. There, they charge $4 for these "QQ Egg Cakes", which were unfortunately filled with raw doughy bits. I guess they need a bit more practice in the cooking of these waffles, but at least they cooked them to order.]
[Added 26 Feb 2013: Errm, and the Citizen Ice Shop is no more.]
[Added 20 April 2014: You can now buy "Egg Puffs" for $4 from Togoo on Lorne St. They are a bit more spongey than I am used to, but they still taste pretty good, with a bit of crunch at the edges, and an optional sprinkling of black sesame seeds.]
4) Dragon's beard candy (龍鬚糖), a.k.a. Chinese candy floss; sugar pulled into tiny strands, in this case rolled and filled with chopped nuts, dessicated coconut, etc. in front of you ($4 for a box).
Freshly rolled dragon's beard candy
You don't actually get to see the formation of the sugar strands at the market, but YouTube has an amazing video of the Korean version of this candy being made:
A Fantastic Range of Foods
Of course, there were also many items which could be found elsewhere, but which you perhaps wouldn't normally go out of your way for. Although many of the stalls at the market were Chinese, there was a good range of specialties from different ethnic groups:
1) Sri Lankan appa, thin, bowl-shaped pancakes made from a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk, and filled with a topping of your choice. These were made by the people of 7 Siri, a restaurant in Mount Roskill. I ordered the egg one ($3), and watched as the lady oiled the pan, swirled the batter around to coat it, then cracked an egg inside. It was delicious with the spicy sauces served on top.
Egg appa, topped with delicious spicy sauces
2) Steamed rice noodle rolls (豬腸粉), a Cantonese dish served with sesame paste, sweetened soy sauce and optionally chilli sauce ($3). I love sesame paste! The same stall offered combos with hot and sour soup (which was also delicious), as well as soy sauce chicken wings and fish balls, which we didn't manage to try.
Steamed rice noodle rolls, simple yet satisfying
3) Japanese takoyaki, okonomiyaki, andobanyaki; octopus balls, savoury pancakes and filled sweet cakes respectively. There was sushi for sale too, but I guess people prefer to eat more interesting hot foods, given the option.
Piping hot takoyaki balls
4) Maori hangi, and rewena bread; a smoky mix of root vegetables, chicken, beef and pork ($8.50), and potato bread ($1 per slice). The hangi had unique flavours, for sure, but having food pre-packaged in plastic boxes and reheated in the microwave didn't really help to sell it. The bread was fresh and moist, but not something you really want to fill up on when there were so many other things to taste.
Hangi food stall
5) Lángos, Hungarian deep-fried flatbread ($5 - $9). I've seen this stall before at the Grey Lynn Park Festival, and even at the Opening Day of Wynyard Quarter earlier on in the day, and it's always had huge queues. Not here at the Auckland Night Market however, even with free samples offered, perhaps because you could buy Chinese deep-fried bread sticks for less money just a few stalls down.
Man offering a sample of langos
6) The Chinese deep-fried bread sticks, mentioned above
It was fascinating watching the dough expanding and being twirled around in the hot oil
7) German style sausages from Fritz's Wieners, served in a bun with onion or sauerkraut. I'd noticed that their tiny Customs Street shop was no longer around, so it's good to see that they are still trading from a mobile stall.
Bavarian style sausage stand
8) Korean pancakes, at two for $5, even cheaper than the hugely popular No. 1 Pancake corner shop in town. A variety of fillings are available, from the sweet (choco, red bean paste) to the savoury (beef, pork, potato & cheese).
Korean pancakes are tasty fresh and hot
9) Wok-fried seafood. Not sure what kind of food this was supposed to be or whether it tasted any good, but the flames and action of the cooking definitely drew the punters in.
A dash of fire with your mussels?
Let me tell you there were many, many other stalls that I have not described. I tried to ignore the desserts (profiteroles, cakes, frozen yoghurt with fresh fruit) and baked goods, as well as the fairground junk food like popcorn, candyfloss, potato chips, deep-fried spring rolls and mini donuts, and there were still many dishes to be tasted.
Products From Past Visits
Given the huge amount of items on offer, we weren't able to try everything that we wanted to. Choose wisely, because something you are saving for your next visit may not be available then. Here are some dishes that we have seen before, but which we were not able to find last night.
1) Hand-pulled noodles
Man pulling noodles for beef noodle soup
2) Fresh Malaysian satay
Malaysian satay stall
3) Chinese sticky rice dumplings (糉子), a.k.a. zongzi, wrapped in bamboo leaves. You could choose to buy them hot (for eating immediately) or cold (for taking home) and they came in both the sweet (plain glutinous rice treated with lye water) and savoury (filled with mung beans and pork) varieties. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take a photo.
4) Bibimbap from a van, oddly enough sold with coffee. I was hoping to try this last night to see how it compares to those from Korean eateries around town, but it was not there this time.
Unusual food van offering of bibimbap and coffee
5) Skewers of chocolate coated fresh fruit pieces, not that it was particularly amazing, but variety is always good.
Possible Improvements
I think the Auckland Night Market at Pakuranga is great already, but there are some things that would make it even better:
1) The atmosphere of the venue could be improved
If this could be held outdoors, or somewhere that doesn't look like a garage, it would be that much more pleasant to eat there
2) More vegetables in the offerings
Yes, there are already vegie stalls, but I am thinking a bit of greens for dinner. The stand selling three ripe avocados for $3 made me wish for a bit of Mexican street food! At least let me pretend I am having a somewhat balanced meal, please.
A Great Experience
Overall, I would highly recommend a trip to the Auckland Night Market. Parking isn't an issue, as long as you are happy to walk a little, and it is definitely an experience that you won't find anywhere else in Auckland. Don't forget to bring lots of cash (although some stalls offer Eftpos), and go with a group of friends so you can share the food and try more dishes (finding a table to sit together at could be difficult though)! I can't tell you what stalls will be there when you visit, but you will be sure to find something interesting and delicious.
