Thursday 26th July 2018 - Chatswood Mall Markets

I've blogged about some of my favourite foods stalls to eat from at these markets previously as well as some of the food stalls I will not eat from again and have rated them.

I was tossing up whether to stick to one of my favourites tonight or try something new from the Thursday & Friday Chatswood Mall Markets.

I decided to try something new. A new market stall that popped up during VIVID this year was called Mr Squid Noodles and this is exactly what it sold.

The stalls menu included fried salt and pepper squid tentacles which was quite a large serving overflowing in plastic takeaway containers (although no price was indicated on their display boards), squid leg noodles for $11 (a very generous serving) also in a lided takeaway box although not plastic, squid legs only for $7 ( I'll come back and comment on this item which I chose to purchase), chicken fillet noodles, squid fillet noodles ( ie same as squid noodles but using the cut up body of tge squid instead of just what they call "the legs" of the squid) , vegetable noodles and these thin squares of fatty glazed bbq beef which I believe are of Singaporean origin and which I used to love to eat in multiples when I was younger but now know better not to eat ( delicious but very high in fat and sugars).

Back to my purchase of squid legs only for $7 a serve. I wasn't sure how small or large a serving the squid leg noodles would be and what would be in them. Usually with a dish so good you end up getting a very small amount of squid and all noodles however this dish was well portioned with an equal serving of noodles chinese vegetable and bean sprouts with a generous amount of bbq squid legs topped over the serving of noodles and vegetables. You have to have patience waiting for your order as it took a very long time to construct a few servings at a time. The dish is constructed in layers and sections on the large bbq. First the squid legs then the handfuls of noodles then both are tossed separately and oil  and then the chopoed up Chinese vegetables followed by bean sprouts then sauce and other flavourings are added in towards the end from large squeeze bottles over the noodles and squid on the bbq. There is an awful lot of tossing and turning of everything over the bbq for even cooking and flavour coating.
My number was 40 however when I received my serving of squid legs only, I was very disappointed and just as well I didn't decide on the squid leg noodles. The serving I received was served in a small round plstic container overflowing nd eaten with not a pair of chopsticks but a bamboo skewer. Was it worth the wait? No not really. The flavours were good lthough a little on the sweet side. However the worst quality was the overcooking or undercooking of the squid legs. They were so tough and chewy to eat tht I had trouble picking them up nd swallowing them. If this was on Masterchef it would have been a 8/10 for taste and a 5/10 for over and undercooking it. Inconsistent in each squid leg some were tender others were rubbery and chewy.

photos below