where jess ate

Every Wednesday until October, 99 Sudbury will be featuring a Night Market (@NightMarketTO) curated by Foodea (@foodea). Unlike most other night markets which primarily feature late night eats, this market is more of a farmers market and bazaar featuring fresh produce, food vendors and retail vendors.

The market is open in the evening from 5pm to 10pm in the Gallery at 99 Sudbury.

Last week, I attended the official launch of the night market and while the vendors may change week to week, this post should give you a good idea of what to expect.

As promised, there were a couple vendors selling fresh produce with some fantastic-looking fruits and vegetables.

To start off the night, Mike and I headed straight for La Rivolta (@LARIVOLTApopup), a pop-up/catering company that serves Italian fare. However, this evening, they were only serving drinks.

We tried all three cocktails they had to offer, the Bourbon Daisy, Pimm’s Cup and Midnight Chase, all of which were priced at $8 each.

While walking around the market, we noticed a large crowd around Me.n.u (@MenuFoodTruck), another pop-up you’ll find at a lot of food events. I’ve never tried their food before but given all the great things I’ve heard about them and the crowd surrounding their table, I knew I had to check them out.

As I approached their table, I noticed they were serving deep-fried rice balls – 2 for $6. The first one I tried was the Pokéball – Chinese sausage rice ball stuffed with smoked mozzarella cheese and roasted vegetables. I never would have paired Chinese sausage with cheese but it worked so perfectly. I loved the salty bits of the sausage and the smokiness from the cheese.

We also tried the Porkzilla – braised pork belly stuffed with mozzarella cheese and vegetables, another delicious ball. It had a nice crisp exterior like the Pokéball and c’mon, who doesn’t love pork belly? This one was another winner!

Our next stop was the Cool City Oyster Yard (@CoolCityOyster) counter which was shucking fresh oysters.  The offerings for the day were Fanny Bay oysters from BC for $3 a piece. I only had one but I assure you, it left me wanting more.

If you’d prefer to have your oysters sitting down, walk on by to their “surf shack” patio next to the 99 Sudbury parking lot. If you’re thinking of dropping by Cool City Oyster Yard, don’t wait too long though – this pop-up will be closing once the summer weather is gone.

If you have a sweet tooth, dropping by SmashCake (@SmashCake_TO), a pop-up baking and catering company, is a must! This evening, they had a table full of cupcakes but what caught my eye were their ice cream sandwiches.

Ashley, the owner of SmashCake had 2 flavours to choose from, Frozen Peanut Butter Cheesecake and Red Velvet Strawberry Cheesecake ($4 each). Mike and I couldn’t decide which one to get so we got both! That’s my answer to (almost) everything…

Both ice cream sandwiches were incredible! The red velvet consisted of two red velvet cookies sandwiching a thick layer of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. You could taste the cheesecake more in this one, which was Mike’s favourite.

I actually preferred the peanut butter…but this is coming from a girl who eats PB&J sandwiches for lunch everyday, so go figure.

For more good eats, just step outside and you’ll find food trucks by the entrance. This evening featured Stuft (@StuftTruck) and Pretty Sweet Mobile Cakery (@prettysweet_to). Since we were already “stuffed”, we only picked up some cupcakes to go.

The cupcakes are priced at $2.75 each. Popular flavours like red velvet and salted caramel would have been my pick but unfortunately they sold out pretty early on. Our next choices were the Chocolate Cupcake and Mint Chocolate Cupcake.

We tried the cupcakes a day later and the cake base held up quite well – still nice and moist. Unfortunately, the icing didn’t hold up quite as nicely and became quite hard. So, definitely eat them fresh if you can!

If you’re looking for something to do after work on a Wednesday, check out the 99 Sudbury Night Market for some good eats and drinks while helping out local vendors!