Now since this is still a relatively new event, they still
have some kinks to work out. The biggest problem with food festival built
around food trucks is that often enough those trucks have problems. This
happened twice- “Say Cheese” grilled cheese truck and “Mini-Trini” Trinidadian
food. Of course I was looking forward to both of these the most. My luck.
I love the concept of the Night Market: close down a long
street in a cool neighborhood, invite 40 + food trucks and various restaurants
and sell lots of food for around $5 each. Unfortunately as when any “festival”
is built around the food, there are going to be long long long lines.
Of course, some of the best known trucks, Gaupos Tacos,
Pitruco Pizza, Zea May, Smoke Truck, and anything tacos had ridiculously long
lines that I could not justify waiting in. Luckily our weather was fantastic
and despite the ominous clouds that hovered like a warning, rain did not come
to the Night Market. Though I must say, I
thought it would kill the lines a bit if it did.
Now what did I eat you may ask?
Well, as we got there right at 7pm when it opened I thought
I would hit up Sugar Philly first to beat the lines before everyone else got
there sandwiches and wanted dessert.
I went for the three macaroons that the lovely “waiter”
suggested, milk and honey, tiramisu, and salted caramel. These babies were
huge. And the tiramisu was incredible! I like the salted caramel but it was a
little too salted for my taste and as Aaron had already gobbled up the sugar
cookie-esque milk and honey, I couldn’t judge it properly.
I felt a little weird eating dessert first when I was so
hungry so while Aaron was waiting in line for this sausage sandwich from Renaissance
Sausage, I got this plate of homemade gnocchi from Mama Maria Ristorante
Italiano.
It was very good with only the occasional bites of watery gnocchi but I was so hungry I didn’t care and since they didn’t have a huge line, I went for it.
It was very good with only the occasional bites of watery gnocchi but I was so hungry I didn’t care and since they didn’t have a huge line, I went for it.
Aaron got a Yard’s Brewery beer from one of the various Yards’
stations around the festival. (They were the sponsors after all.) I wanted to
get a glass of wine from Penn Woods Winery but after a taste of the only red
wine they had (Merlot) and the fact that the tiny pour was $7 I passed on the
so-so wine. I love the concept of wine from Pennsylvania grapes but I’m picky I
guess and it was a really small glass.
After gobbling down my gnocchi at an open table (gasp!) we
ate my macaroons and thirsty me went for an iced latte and Rival Brother’s
coffee truck. It was the perfect refreshment and a pretty average price.
But back to the tables, I was shocked there was actually a
place to sit. Now, these were hard to come by but it worked for me as I
balanced my pasta and dessert.
We wanted to keep going further like Mackenzie and Jon who
left us in the beginning and got the amazing Wisconsin cheese curds I had been
drooling over but then company included wanted to circle back and get some
tacos. Now don’t get me wrong, these bad boys were the real deal but this line
was massive. As in block the entire road wrap around the opposite sidewalk bad.
I got the chicken tacos. They were delicious but the “mild”
I thought I got set my mouth on fire after I finished half and the spiciness
ruined my appetite a bit. What a shame for my stomach but a blessing for my
wallet.
Check out these virgin pina coladas they were peddling. Wow.
After that it began to get dark so we decided to walk to the
end of the festival at the Piazza and then walk back to our car. Honestly, we
didn’t even have to drive since Mackenzie and Jon live so close but they didn’t
know it went to the Piazza (a few
blocks from them) so we parked at the opposite end. No big deal.
Review:
Night Market Philly in Northern Liberties was a lot of fun. Live
music, lots of great people watching and some really great food from local
people. What could be better? Shorter lines, but let’s be realistic here. Aaron
was a little on the quiet-tired side so we probably could have stayed longer
but honestly two and half hours was a good amount of time to hang out. The
weather was lovely which made the whole occasion even better. I’m glad I
brought a lot of cash though as I saw lots of people hitting up the ole-ATM
quite a bit. This Night Market couldn’t have been on a better street, which was
just as interesting as the festival itself. Despite the fact this place is
super close to my sister, Aaron and I don’t get here much. I’d like to change
that along with my cash flow. Night Market is a great event and if you have a
chance, go see it next month at the Italian Market as it parks at Washington
Avenue. If I can get another generous day off from my boss to make the trip, I
will definitely be there too. Because I AM getting a grilled cheese and no one
can stop me.
Enjoy!
Love,
The College Cuisiner
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