October 13, 2011

Recap of the Chinatown Night Market

This past Thursday, Chinatown played host to the latest Night Market in Philadelphia. It's a relatively new concept organized by The Food Trust that exploded quickly when hundreds of people unexpectedly showed up to the first Night Market in East Passyunk in 2010. Since then, Night Markets have been held in University City, Mount Airy and now, Chinatown.

Philadelphia's Night Markets are several blocks of food trucks, tents and tables offering a global selection of ethnic foods. They offer a great way to try some of the newest or most locally-famous food trucks that you may not get to during the day. We picked our targets based mostly on the lines and what we hadn't eaten before.

Bradd and I took our first shot at live blogging an event during the Chinatown Night Market, so if your reaction to any of our last few posts was "what the heck are they talking about," that was it. I have to hand it to journalists and other bloggers who do this regularly because it was a lot of work! It was fairly thrilling at first (in our heads) but after a while, you kinda feel like you're looking at your phone more than all the cool stuff going on around you.

Regardless, I'm glad we did it and now you can peruse our thoughts on more of Philly's food trucks in the posts below. Cut us a break on grammar and photo placement - our iPhone and Android devices have great Blogger apps, but it's still tough to juggle your phone, food and best writing skills in the middle of a crowded street. Scroll down for some additional photos of the event, too.

If I can offer a little wisdom to newbies at future Night Markets: 1) You have to go into it expecting crowds and lines, but if you take your time and explore in small groups, it is manageable. 2) I don't see why people bother waiting in the insanely long beer lines. If you really need a beer, swing into a local bar or discretely pack a few of your own, with cups. 3) Don't approach it feeling like you have to try 10 different trucks. Many of the portions were a decent size so I, at least, was full after a just a few stops.

In our bizarre order to consumption:



1. Vernalicious - German sausage, chicken bahn mi and a pile of bacon. New truck, usually parked around Temple University.
2. Crepewalk -Sweet and savory American-style crepes. Veggie crepe was my favorite of the night. Usually parked in University City.
3. Zsa's Gourmet Ice Cream - Locally made ice cream in cups or sandwiched between cookies. Roves, see Facebook page.
4. Hardena Resto - Indonesian specialties, like chicken and lamb satay and beef rendang. I think this is a restaurant in Point Breeze, not a truck.
5. Strada Pasta - Lasagna and and pulled pork. Facebook page says they are coming soon, and they served out of a tent, not a truck, so TBD on location.
6. Renaissance Sausage - Pork sausage. Didn't have the energy to post on this one, but it was good and the girl who owns it was funky. See pics below. Roves around the city.

2 comments:

Melissa said...

I'm envious that you had the fortitude to wait in those crazy lines. Everything sounds amazing.

LesisMore said...

I want to go to there!