Written by: Muhammad-Ahad Ghani
The Richmond Night Market can be a chaotic experience for those who want to sample everything but can’t for lack of time or money. The yearly market shines a spotlight on street food, and runs Friday to Sunday from 7 p.m. to midnight. If you’d like to avoid the confusion and get Instagrammable pictures in a timely and budget-friendly way, read on. I have compiled a list of the best finds at the 2018 Richmond Night Market to help you make more informed decisions of what you should or shouldn’t try.
ROTATO
A well-known South Korean street food, tornado potatoes, also known as twister potatoes, are essentially skewered potatoes cut in a spiral, deep-fried until crispy, and topped with different seasonings. You’ve probably already seen Rotato’s tornado potatoes plastered all over Instagram. It’s about time you catch up!
Rotato offers seven different seasonings, such as seaweed salt, curry, and cheddar cheese. It also, hands down, has the longest line at the night market. After waiting in line for around 45 minutes, I got the one with the sour cream and onion seasoning for $7, while my friend tried the cheddar cheese.
I will say that it didn’t justify its lengthy wait time or the $7 price tag, but it tasted delicious and looked beautiful in all its potato glory. Fried potato in all forms is generally a safe bet, but you’ll leave Rotato winning for sure. It’s also good for your Insta game. I recommend getting one and sharing it with your friends or family, after snapping it for your social media, of course. However, I do suggest going a little early to avoid the long queues.
TROPICAL BAR
What screams summer louder than watermelon? Enjoy freshly squeezed watermelon juice in a matching fruit bowl through a pink flamingo straw from Tropical Bar. Rather than washing your food down with the same old, unhealthy soda, switch things up and get this healthy and refreshing drink for $7. It makes for a great Instagram moment and provides enough for two people.
If you’re going on an especially warm night, this cool drink is a must-have. Once you’re through with the juice, don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the bowl with the spoons they provide you with for the leftover watermelon. Needless to say, the fresh fruit juice tasted amazing, especially after all the walking and waiting in lines. It provided me with a much-needed boost of energy. If you’re not a watermelon fan, no worries, because the stall carries pineapple juice in a matching fruit bowl as well. I’m betting it’s just as refreshing.
CHURROS IN ICE CREAM
The name says it all. Churros in Ice Cream offers an original, sprinkled, or Oreo churro in a cup, with or without a scoop of chocolate, vanilla, or green tea ice cream. For an extra dollar, you can even put it in an inflatable unicorn, rainbow, flamingo, or palm tree float to make your Instagram snap extra striking. Float included, this will cost you $14.
The main attraction here is evidently the float rather than the churro. It’s a solid churro that’s quite delicious and definitely filling, but also the kind you’ve had a number of times before for a much smaller price tag. After a rigorous decision-making process, I decided on the unicorn float. It’s the one I’d recommend.
Essentially, this is your ideal Instagram-worthy find: a mouthwatering and aesthetically pleasing churro, ice cream, and float. It’ll get the likes rolling in. So if you’re all about the ‘gram, go for it. If not, I suggest you skip this one and head on down to Cookies and Cream for their delightful ice cream sandwiches. They don’t make for as striking an image as the churros, but taste remarkable nonetheless.
THE TAIYAKI
“It’s my fault you don’t come back a 2nd time” is written in bold in front of The Taiyaki’s stall. For those of you not familiar with a taiyaki, it is essentially a Japanese fish-shaped cake made with pancake or waffle batter. The batter is poured into a mold, filled with things like custard and chocolate, and then cooked until golden brown. At the night market, the taiyaki goes for $5.50. It not only comes with a filling of your choice, but is topped with ice cream and two Pocky sticks or Oreos.
I got the custard filling with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The waffle was light and fluffy and the combination of the hot and the cold was quite good. This was definitely worth a try and it makes for a perfect Instagram-worthy dessert. My only grievances are that there was very little filling inside the taiyaki and that the size of the ice-cream scoop was relatively small. Be careful because The Taiyaki has one of the longer queues at the market, so get there early to avoid a lengthy wait.
RAINBULB
After all that food, try Rainbulb’s vibrant and colourful light-up carbonated drinks in plastic bulbs. Each bulb comes with an LED light at the base with three different modes: fast-flashing, slow-flashing, and strobe-flashing. Fruit flavours include grapefruit, strawberry and raspberry, orange and mango, kiwi and pear, lime, and melon with their own designated colors and straws.
I’d recommend the melon. It was the right amount of sweet. It’s also green and looks the coolest when lit up. The single goes for $8 and a double goes for $15. The drinks are refreshing and delicious; the perfect way to keep all the food down. The real highlight, however, is the bulb they’re served in. This has got to be the most innovative find at the market. Who doesn’t like a colourful drink? Make sure you get a cool Boomerang of the flashing lights with this drink.
TSUGA FRY HOUSE
The blooming onion at Tsuga Fry House might just be the best-tasting thing on this list. Maybe it’s my love for onion rings or for fried things in general, but it is one of the most underrated finds at the night market. It’s essentially an onion, deep-fried to perfection and served with a spicy mayo dipping sauce. It doesn’t sound super fancy but I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot.
It’s crispy and the onion tastes sweeter than regular ones. Its $9 price tag is justified by its size. For an extra dollar, they melt some cheese on top with a blow torch burner. I can guarantee that you won’t be able to finish this on your own since it’s pretty heavy. Make sure you take some friends along with you for this one. And since you won’t be finding any queues here, you’re sure to get the piping hot onion within minutes. It’s sure to catch the attention of your Instagram followers as it’s something most won’t have tried before.
The Richmond Night Market runs until October 8 and admission is $4.25.
