Wakefield Market

Laura: When I first came to NZ, many years ago, my parents’ friends brought me to this food hall market. From the outside the market looks old and a bit run down. There was only a small sign of the place which indicated that they sell food in there, unlike now, where they have a big sign saying ethnic food stalls. When you enter the place, you can smell food, glorious food!! well Asian food mostly…The smell that will stick on you if you stay for a bit too long, and that’s one thing I kinda dislike about this place. I smell like food every time I eat there, but this doesn’t stop me from going, the food they sell is good!

Peter: I’d only ever walked through the Wakefield Market (it’s opposite my flat) but never stopped and eaten there. It was Laura who prompted me to stop in this rather odd food hall. Compared to the usual food halls, where everything is fairly uniform and large brands compete for space, the Wakefield Market is small, with little unique stalls providing a good variety of food. The tables and chairs are a mix of styles, and mostly they work too! You’d be forgiven for thinking that the place is dirty, it’s not, it’s just a bit old!

But none of that is important if the food is good, and fortunately, the food is good, and it’s cheap! There’s a range of stalls, from Indian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and so on. My favourite is the Japanese stall with it’s “Tama”, and Laura seems quite obsessed with Lion City and their noodles and Grass Jelly Tea!

Laura: Lion City has always been my fave since I first landed my feet at this place. It is owned by a very nice couple, I think they’re from Singapore…assuming from the name of the place. I have two fave dishes here, their “Singaporean Fried Noodle “and “Fried Mee Hoon”. What I love about the dishes from Lion City is they really taste like home cooked meals. The dishes are simple, they don’t look fancy, but they taste good! They also have grass Jelly drink, I can’t really explain what it is exactly, all I know is it’s good for you especially when you have a fever, it’s very soothing. They also have very tasty bean curd and soy bean milk, yummm ^_^

Peter: For lunch I find a pile of rice and noodles a little too much, so my favourite place is “Moshi Moshi”, the Japanese stall. There they make something I’d never tried before, tama. Tama is a sort of omelette made out of bean sprouts, egg, milk, flour (I think) and cabbage and a selection of ingredients such as bacon and mushrooms, or corn, or cheese, etc. Served covered with Japanese mayonnaise and BBQ sauce, you end up with a great tasting, light, yet filling snack or meal. And for $5.50, the snack size suits me for lunch perfectly!

Laura: Although every time I go this place I always order something from Lion City, my mum and sis seemed to be more adventurous than me. They’ve tried the Chinese Food stall next to the Bubble Tea stall, their fave is the Mee Goreng. To me, the taste is just ok, but the BBQ pork that goes with it, yummmmm. The best in Wellington I’ll say..well for Asian food anyway. I’ve triedd the Indian food once, the Murtabak was ok, not my fave. If you fancy some roast pork or roast duck, then you gotta try Tam’s BBQ, their meats are just delish. I also fancy the Thai food that’s located right at the Wakefield St entrance.

So one weekend, you should really go to this place and try the ethnic food they have to offer there. They only open weekends, some stalls open on Thursday too from 10-5. Be quick, I heard they’re only going to be there until the end of this year since that development of the nice fancy apartment is going to start soon!!!

Peter: Yup, Laura is right, get stuck in and try it out before they redevelop the place into the swanky new flats and offices that are going in. No doubt the market will not be a part of the completed development, it’s far too random and thrown-together to be part of a new ‘proper’ development, which is a shame. Don’t let the odd look of the place put you off, get stuck in to the food and then enjoy a nice walk along the waterfront, only a stone’s throw away.