Off we go to another impressive Sydney food market! Are you coming with me? Come on, come on!

This little beauty is called Eveleigh Farmers market and it is based in a Blacksmiths workshop in Darlington near Redfern station. I am a smidge jealous I don’t live in the neighbourhood. Oh to skip across to Eveleigh market every Saturday morning for bread and fresh flowers. I mean, look at this little local fella. Who were his flowers for? Too cute…

We made a bee-line to the most famous person in the place – Kylie Kwong. Kylie is a television / celebrity chef in Australia who runs a restaurant in Sydney called Billy Kwong. Matt and I went one night and ate ourselves silly on sang choi bow, crispy chicken, local greens and pork belly. We practically rolled out of there! So when we heard she personally cooked up a storm at Eveleigh market, as part of her version of community service, we had to try every dish she served. Number one: The Steamed Bun. Fluffy, white treasure troves of delicately spiced, pulled pork – which wound up looking like this when we were done with it!

Number two: Dumplings: slippery, irregularly shaped pork parcels in a tangy, vinegary sauce that made our taste-buds dance. Number three: (This one’s for you, Ria!) Vegetarian pancakes: Handmade pancakes (think Peking duck pancake wrappers) with omelette and fresh herb filling, topped with another delicious zingy, hoisin-y sauce. This might have been my favourite. Or was it just because it was the biggest dish and I am a piglet?

Billy Kwong vegetarian pancake. Look at those herbs!

What for dessert? There were options. Of course. I considered the Freshpops stand.

(That’s not me, by the way, with the svelte figure. Not after all that Billy Kwong food, pah ha ha!) These were the flavours on offer, which would you choose?

I went with Mint infused Apple, after some deliberation (Watermelon seasalt! So tempting…). It was divine. B1 agreed and ate most of it, despite my pleas to share. She wasn’t having a bar of it. To compensate I came close to buying this cupcake from The Cupcake Princess, just because it was oh-so-pretty. Check out at the poppy!

But no, once again my “needs” (did I really need a cupcake after three courses of delicious chinese fare?) were cast aside as B1 threw a well-timed tantrum and insisted on a cupcake for herself. I tried to find the least sugary one on offer. Hmmmm, yes, that’s me, trying to find something with minimal sugar….at a cupcake stall. I know, I’m shaking my head too. I settled on this one. Absolutely covered in what the Australians call “sprinkles” and what New Zealanders call “Hundreds and Thousands” (That begs the question – what do Canadians call them?) She diligently ate all the icing and passed me a soggy lump of cake to finish off my Eveleigh market feasting.

Cupcake sprinkles

And you know what? Even deprived of most of the icing and a little “loved” it was delicious. A proper, oddly dense and fluffy (that’s the real trick with cupcakes isn’t it? To get both those textures?) darling little vanilla cake. What a morning, what a market. Eveleigh, Eveleigh, oh how I love thee! So. Have I tempted you to come visit us in Sydney yet?

Hugs, Hannah x