The return of squid on a stick

The DC couldn't come with us on the Hydro Fields and Bungalows ride on Sunday because he had to work, so he met up with me at Ed's Real Scoop and, full of ice creamy goodness, we went on to the T&T Waterfront Night Market on Cherry Street. This seems to be a tradition^* with me: bike around the city, eat squid on a stick.

It was, I will admit, a trifle bizarre to round the corner and bump into macarons first thing.

I got the lavendar-apricot, which I put into my purse and which had the same fate as all macarons that go into my purse. Smushed, but tasty. Very light flavour.

But that was for much later. We wanted street food. We did a quick recon, which didn't take long since it's not that big of a parking lot. The place was packed, and there were lots of booths selling tasty treats. Most of them seafood, which was a bit of a problem because the DC is just not that into fish.

We decided on lamb skewers, or yang rou chuan, for our first course.

It's lovely getting these right off the grill. Nice and tender, with a wonderful flavour. It's always a bit challenging eating off skewers, especially in a crowd -- I'm always worried someone will knock into me from behind and impale me on my food^** -- but they were worth the trouble.

We wandered a bit more, sussing out our options, and I said I had to have squid on a stick again. It may have been this guy's artistry that pushed me over the edge...

...but the lineup for this booth was ridiculously long, so we found one in the other aisle with practically no line. That's usually a warning sign, but not in this case.

I think the DC's main objection to BBQ'd squid is how Lovecraftian it looks. Tasty, tasty despair.


This was much better than the ones I had last time. Not so chewy, and overall more flavourful, if a wee bit spicy. Pretty good! I had to wash it down with some lemonade, for I am a delicate flower, spice-wise. I managed to convince the DC to try a tentacle -- I wish I had captured that moment on film, because his face was priceless -- and he agreed that it wasn't so bad. High praise, indeed!

There was a lot more food I wanted to try, like the Smelly Tofu or the fruit-juice-inside-the-actual-fruit or non-squid-filled balls^***, but sadly the ice cream had made us too full and we were both a bit tuckered out. We could have waited around to get hungry again and see the market at night, but it was over two hours until sunset, and the thing is there wasn't much else to do if you weren't waiting in line or eating. They did have a stage, but at the time there was only a fitness class demonstration or something going on. Not quite as interesting as the tai chi demo from a few years ago. So we decided to leave. I was sad because I feel like I didn't do the market justice.

Next time, I will come at night, and with an emptier stomach! Squid of the world, you have been notified.

^*Is it a tradition if you've only done it once before, several years ago?

^**And now you will be too. You're welcome. The trick, of course, is to hold the skewer sideways and pull the meat off to the right or left. Less potentially stabby.

^***They should make an educational pamphlet on the actual names of the street foods for dopes like me.