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Melbourne's huge appetite for Night Noodle Markets

Larissa Dubecki
Larissa Dubecki

It's not hard to believe, watching the crowds who swamped the Night Noodle Markets each evening, that it was responsible for a city-wide chicken shortage.

An institution in Sydney for 15 years, the markets were cautiously welcomed to Melbourne for the inaugural Age Good Food Month, but the city embraced the event like a Bali backpacker going for the last banana pancake. Organisers say it will be back next year.

They hoped for 10,000 customers each night. Instead the markets averaged more than 20,000 a night for a two-week run.

In the Alexandra Gardens, popular Flinders Lane restaurant Chin Chin pulled together 8000 pulled-pork sliders, Gelato Messina offered 5800 gelatos and Wonderbao lost count of its bao. They regularly faced 30-minute queues. Hoy Pinoy had to hunt for chickens to keep up with demand.

Izakaya Den had three chefs up all night making udon noodles. ''No one knew what it was going to be like so we were flying blind,'' co-owner Simon Denton said.

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Plans are afoot to expand the markets from Alexandra Gardens along the Yarra to the Palm Lawn, which would double the number of stalls.

Good Food Month festival director Joanna Savill said: ''We have been absolutely delighted with the response from Melburnians, who clearly love the chance to enjoy great food with 20,000 of their friends.''

Chin Chin's John Kanis echoes other stallholders when he says they'll have a better idea of how to approach the event next year. ''It exceeded expectations. We need to think about how to get the queues served faster.''

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Larissa DubeckiLarissa Dubecki is a writer and reviewer.

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