Mission #5: Mount Wellington & Mount Field

Ah so I am finally back from this super holiday…and yet I have so much to write! I’ll be recapping my adventures for a while – sorry for dragging it out, but I really had no energy to write during the trip and I really want to share these adventures with you! Continue reading →

Mission #3: Laverton Market

I hope you’ve enjoyed my quieter, third mission of mobile food so far. Before I go on to talk about some of the stalls at Laverton Market, I’ll provide you with a few mobile food tips for the rest of the year.

• MARKETS: Look out for all the markets rolling in for summer including Coburg Night Market (Nov), St Kilda Twilight Market (usually Dec) and a new market called called Hank Marvin Market at Alma Park, St Kilda East (Nov). It has already confirmed the likes of Hammer and Tong, Koba and more!
  
• NICHOLSON ST PROJECT: Speaking of Hammer and Tong Truck, they recently posted the below photo with the caption “sneak peak on our new project happening soon”. Watch out Nicholson St!
  
• GOOD FOOD MONTH: Finally, it’s Good Food Month next month and the Night Noodle Market returns! It didn’t impress me too much last year with its crowds, small portions and overpriced, unauthentic food. But hey – hopefully it improves this year and I know heaps of people last year had a different opinion. Includes the likes of Chin Chin, Longrain, Red Spice Road and more!

Pho Trang

Now back to Laverton Market. I’ve written about a Vietnamese place here before that does excellent Bun Bo Hue (Hue-style beef noodle soup) and xoi (sticky rice). On a few later visits we noticed a new pho place pop up (beef noodle soup) so thought we should give it a try.

True to its tagline, they serve various Vietnamese noodle soups, mainly different types of pho, and a few other items. They even have a menu to give you when you are seated – this doesn’t happen often at outdoor stalls.

They accidentally made two special phos (usually just a mixture of all the meats) instead of one with just beef balls and sliced beef – but I’m not complaining. We also ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee but it’s hard to go wrong with that!

The bowl was filling but did look small upon first impressions. It definitely wasn’t one of the best bowls of pho I’ve ever had, the broth acceptable, average even, but the meat and beef balls not the best quality either.

My friend ordered Bun Rieu, crab noodle soup with a tomato broth. As you can see they packed a lot of tomato itself into the bowl, which made it a bit too strong and didn’t leave a lot of room for other fillings.

It’s no surprise that despite this new opening, the other Vietnamese place in the market is still bustling and more crowded than Pho Trang.

Eggy Egg Puffles
We were also fascinated by this different type of dessert from Hong Kong called an Egg Puffle. It resembled a waffle but with egg-shaped sections, whilst the sections could be filled with different flavours.

We sampled a cheese one, which was not bad but my friend enjoyed the vanilla and strawberry more. The flavours were very subtle but present, a bite of the strawberry revealing a thin red layer inside the puffle. The crispy nature of the dessert along with the convenience of breaking it into pieces to share make it a great concept. Check them out here.

The market is definitely not short of food. You’ll see people walking past with corn, sausages, BBQ skewers and more. Some are particularly busy each weekend so they must have built up large followings, especially as permanent stalls.

The fun also lies in discovering all the types of things for sale – from goldfish to hardware and clothes!

Laverton Market is open every weekend from 7am-4pm but experience shows that a lot of stalls start packing down at around 2pm or after lunch.