Toast the opening night of The Canberra Times Night Noodle Markets on Friday, with a limited-edition beer from Capital Brewing Co.
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The markets will feature more than 20 Asian hawker-style stalls serving up dynamic creations and signature dishes alongside live music, DJs and the Enlighten architectural lighting installations from February 28 to March 9.
The opportunity to create a signature brew for the occasion was too good to pass up for Capital's head brewer Wade Hurley.
"The culinary adventure that is the Night Noodle Markets provided us with a wonderful opportunity to create a unique brew" he said.
"You can't pair banging bao, spicy noodles, or succulent satay with any ordinary, garden variety, wallflower of a beer. You need something big. Something with some serious flavour that's still crisp, refreshing and sessionable enough to combat the fiercest curry."
So he and the team at Capital devised a hoppy lager named Flavour Town, in a nod to US celebrity chef and lover of big flavours, Guy Fieri. True to the lager style Flavour Town has a crisp malt backbone thanks to the addition of pilsner and Vienna malts. Then, in a departure from the style and to compliment the vibrancy of many of the Asian dishes on show at the markets, the brewers have crammed the beer full of Northern Brewer, Centennial and Citra hops which add lemongrass and lime notes to the brew.
Pushed for a perfect food pairing Hurley said, "Oooh, that's a tough one! There's so many great dishes at the Night Noodle Markets that the beer would marry well with ... but for me it'd have to be Pork Bao or a spicy Pad Thai."
Capital Brewing Co is the exclusive beer of this year's The Canberra Times Night Noodle Markets as part of Good Food Month. Capital beers will be pouring from both Hartwell and Deuce bars at the markets this year.
What you need to know
When: The markets run from Friday, February 29 to Sunday, March 9. They open from 5pm on weekdays and 4pm on the weekends, so you can get there early and fill up on delicious food before the Enlighten projections switch on at dusk. The Noodle Markets are open until 10.30pm every night.
Where: Reconciliation Place, in between the National Portrait Gallery and Questacon.
What's on the menu: There are 25 stalls to choose from and there are gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian, dairy free, egg free and Halal options.
How much: Entry to the Noodle Markets is free.
How to get there: After 5pm, there are lots of free parking options throughout the parliamentary triangle. Due to congestion, it's sometimes best to park a little bit further away and walk back in.
Good to know: The event is completely cash-free, with EFTPOS available at all stalls. It's all ages, and dogs are also welcome.