(Photos: L -Veronica & I eating Taiwanese Car Wheel Cakes, R-Market stall)
(Photos: Above- L to R: Pastry Chef making the Taiwanese Car Wheel Cakes, Below- underwear for sale with food stalls in the background & Veronica eating dumplings!)
Ever since I arrived in Vancouver in January, one of the number one things on 'my list' to do was to go to the Summer Night Markets in Richmond. I sat patiently through days of rain in Winter, enjoyed seeing the sun come out in Spring and now with Summer all but nearly over I finally got to experience the food and atmosphere of the famous markets.
No trip with three girls in a co-op car can really go right from the start can it? With a Brit who hadn't driven in awhile, a Canadian who sort of remembered where to go and a whinny Australian who wanted to eat, the trip from downtown Vancouver wasn't to be a simple one! But with no Thom Thom, no directions and two hours of driving around (and multiple stops!) we arrived at one of Canada's biggest night markets.
I had been told by Veronica (the Canadian) that this was THE place for Chinese food and also cheap underwear! What more could you want from a market really?
Despite arriving at 11pm and only having an hour to feast on all the delights we certainly made the most of it. Veronica steered us first to the dim sum and chow mien stalls that had mountains of noodles fried and ready for eating! Each stall was yelling in multiple languages about what they had to offer and why there place was better than the stall next door - which would look exactly the same and be offering the same food.
As usual though my eyes were already set on dessert...there was bubble teas, ice-creams, crepes, cookies, but one of the most fascinating stalls to watch was the Taiwanese Cakes or Car Wheels. Essentially a waffle with different oozing centres such as Nutella, custard or fruit, all wrapped and cooked fresh on the spot. The pastry makers had huge custom cut irons which were kept constantly hot while batter was poured and centres added. They were churning out more than 15 a minute, all with a cool calm tone to serve the hungry crowds.
I was in heaven and I should admit to running back just before close to try the same cakes but made at a different stall in the shape of fish! (see photo above)
Food aside, jewellery, knock off bags, socks, underwear, orchards and even animated shirts that had small screens which moved to the beat of a song (see video below) where all lined up neatly, line after line making it possible to buy just about anything.
Personally I think it was good thing we arrived with only an hour before the markets closed, because I certainly put on 1-2kgs in less than 60 minutes! The Richmond Summer Night markets are a must for any foodie, just make sure you wear your elasticised pants. Oh and ladies don't forget if you're looking for a cheap pair of lacy red underwear you can get that too!
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