Food & Dining: The Night Market

The Bar and Tables
Image from Locky's English Playground

If you are working in Central, you should not be a stranger to this highly popular Taiwanese restaurant. Located on 6-7/F, 11 Stanley Street, it is one of the quickest restaurants to be filled at lunch. Usually by 12:15pm, the hungry queue begins to appear. 

7/F panorama
Image from Locky's English Playground

The Night Market is loved by the Centralians for a number of good reasons,

Old Central looking out through the huge windows
Image from Locky's English Playground

1) It has got a pretty decent environment. It's not as grand as a 5-star hotel lounge for sure, yet it is not shabby at all! On 7th floor, the contrast between the blue surroundings and the brown background, the shadows cast by the comfy, warm ambient light through a generous number of glass mug-ceiling lamps, the white marble tables together with the plain white eating utensils, all seems to have blend amazingly well with each other.

So packed!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

2) The brilliant food, of course!!!

Kung pow prawns lunch set
Image from Locky's English Playground

There are quite a few selections on the lunch menus, but those who come here often order just 3 of them, Kung Pow Prawns, Fried Pork Chop and Beef Noodles.

Close-up on the Kung pow prawns
Image from Locky's English Playground

Although it is called Kung Pow, the Kung Pow sauce is in fact not spicy, rather, it has a sweet-and-sour tomato with slight fragrance of chili. The prawns are as crunchy and as juicy as a plum, with taste of freshness in every bite. Surely the ingredients are nothing but the best.

Thick and tender
Image from Locky's English Playground

The fried pork chop is gorgeous to look at, marvellous to have. It is not the richest taste of pork around, but the thickness and tenderness help pull the overall score. The whole fried pork chop set in ceramic plate Image from Locky's English Playground The side dishes differ day to day, one day it is scrambled egg, pickled turnip and carrots, sauteed beans, another day they are all changed. Image from Locky's English Playground What is really good about the side dishes is that they are always very colourful, what do you think? It just makes you want to take photo after photo. Iced passion fruit tea (left), iced jasmine milk tea (right) Image from Locky's English Playground Each lunch set comes with a drink of your choice, Paper coaster Image from Locky's English Playground A roaster on mug Image from Locky's English Playground no extra charge for putting it on the rocks.

Sunlight makes shadow Image from Locky's English Playground

Old-ish office buildings in the background Image from Locky's English Playground

With the warm sunlight shining in from the massive windows and cool air-conditioning in the restaurant, it gives me a feeling of being on an exotic holiday, having a really nice meal in a small cafe by the beach.

A roaster in the bowl
Image from Locky's English Playground

3) Last but not least, the price is not exactly that expensive! For every cent that you pay, you get the mood, the comfort, the quality that you are paid for. For roughly $125 in total, in a central business district like Central, this is considered as one of the best place for lunch with no compromise in the food quality.

My wife shared some pork chop with me
Image from Locky's English Playground

Yes, there might be one too many old-ish office buildings outside the windows, but instead of ruining your appetite, it spices up the meal with history. I can't avoid but think, "it mustn't have been easy to run a restaurant as such". The view and the atmosphere -- the whole package, makes this meal extraordinary.

Without the view, the air-con, the decor, the lighting and the sunshine, the same plate of food may very well be a delicious version of a more-than-usual lunch box, but it will not even cost half as much. So yeah, you are paying for the entire experience, and yes, it is definitely worth it.

Why is the rating so bad on Openrice? I guess I wouldn't want to make this place too famous either, because selfishly I want to keep this place all for myself!

Vocabulary:

shabby -- (adj) looking old and in bad condition because of being used for a long time or not being cared for:

Resources:
The Night Market @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=46265&tc=sr1