Adelaide Night Market & Carols by Candlelight

Hello again fellow foodies! I'm back!!! I know, I've been a way for a while and despite my careful planning to keep all you followers entertained, somehow random matters got in the way. Though completely irrelevant to food, I just got married 7 weeks ago! Well, we did have nice food so, some relevance to food. Following a whirlwind day I have since been trekking around the big USA for 5 weeks with Mr. Foodie with so many great food experiences I can't wait to share with you lot. Needless to say I'm still injecting life back into my house and discovering hidden cobwebs but some things never change like my kitchen smelling of spices the very next day. Bliss. 

With Christmas just around the corner we were quick to put our decorations up after miraculously unpacking and storing our mountain of shopping. Getting in the Christmas spirit we decided to head to town for the annual Carols by Candlelight event at Elder Park. We parked up and as we were walking towards Elder Park we discovered what looked like a street market! Turns out it was the Adelaide Night Market, one of Splash Adelaide's many events to bring the city streets to life and encourage people to visit the city. The market is held every Sunday from 5pm-9pm until March 21st 2013 showcasing jewellery, crafts, cultural goods, gourmet produce and most importantly to me, hawker and street food! It was all very cleverly set up with stalls on both sides of the lawn, chairs, umbrellas and plenty of benches to sit and enjoy the evening sun among the aromatic smells of fresh hawker food cooked in front of your eyes. 

We decided to try a little something from a few stalls (because we were greedy really) so here's stop 1. Los Compadres serving Mexican Tacos with a choice of Vegetarian, Pork or Chicken. We chose the Chicken Taco which was beautifully spiced chicken with coriander, onions and pineapple. As usual we went straight for the hot sauce and a wedge of lemon to go with it. It was pretty tasty and a very yummy combination but would have liked more chicken as we couldn't taste the chicken as much in the mix. 

Next Stop was Swinging Bowl. Somehow my inner Malaysian always has me drawn to Malaysian cuisine. I remember seeing these guys at the Malaysian Carnival. These guys charcoal grill the satay sticks right in front of you. The aroma is very appetizing. Other dishes on offer are Lamb or Vegetarian Briyani, Beef Rendang, Nasi Lemak, Curry Puff, Chicken Korma and more. 

Mr. Foodie getting ready to order

I'm going back to Malaysia in just under 3 weeks and cannot wait at all to feast despite it not being the best idea after coming back from USA and then going through Christmas. Swinging Bowl's Chicken and Beef Satays are pretty good. The satay sauce is delicious, none of that peanut butter business. I have only just found out that their restaurant is actually located on Stephen's Place off North Terrace in Adelaide CBD. Definitely would like to swing by to try some other dishes.

Lamb Briyani with Sweet Chilli Chicken - Flavourful, delicious, satisfying and made me happy although Sweet Chilli Chicken is not really an accurate translation but yes, it tastes just like that. 

We were getting pretty full by this point so it was time for our last stop for some sweets. These guys have a stall in the Food Plaza in Chinatown and today they were selling Fried Kuey Teow, Grass Jelly Drink, Custard Puffs and Chocolate and Peanut Crispy Pancakes. 

Grass Jelly drinks are actually very refreshing drinks even though the black colour may seem off putting but just think about Coke, it's black too. Grass Jelly drinks are sweet with a hint of vanilla and the perfect summer beverage especially when you've been eating deep fried goodness. For $6 we got a box of 20 custard puffs which were pretty delicious and moorish as we actually finished the whole box in no time. 

Custard Puffs

The Chocolate and Peanut Crispy Pancakes are definitely something I miss from home. While this one is not quite like it, it was still enjoyable to eat. First let me start by saying it is nothing like the pancake you know. These foldovers are crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside usually filled with crushed nuts and sugar. This was all crispy and had chocolate but still pretty tasty. 

Chocolate and Peanut Crispy Pancakes

Discovering the Night Market was a pretty nice surprise for our tummies and to end the night with Carols by Candlelight was amazing. The last time we went it was too windy for fireworks but this time, we got it! It was a nice break from sorting through nearly 3400 photos from our trip along with post wedding jobs. Merry Christmas everyone!