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Taste of Melbourne, 2012

Despite the fact I wanted to vomit for the remainder of the day at last year’s Taste of Melbourne, and despite the fact that I’d be out for 12 hours drinking and eating for my birthday on the same day, Taste of Melbourne 2012 was something I looked forward to for months!

Much like last years review, I’m not gonna bore you with the details, you can Google them. Here’s the good stuff – what was eaten :D

The Botanical’s lamb burger with truffled mayo (10 crowns)

Mahjong’s steamed BBQ pork buns (6 crowns)

Sake’s chirsachi salad – yuzu dressed sashimi, thin noodles, seasonal leaves and tempura crunch (12 crowns)

Sake’s tonkatsu cups – panko fried pork belly, mustard miso and BBQ sauce in a lettuce cup (8 crowns)

Mamasita’s blackeyed bean taco (6 crowns)

Livingroom’s beetroot cured salmon with vanilla & lime pickled cucumber, and horseradish cream. (10 crowns)

Burch & Purchase’s choc chip cookie ice cream

Libertine’s apple & frangipane tart with maple ice cream and candied walnuts (8 crowns)

Albert St Food & Wine’s Meyer lemon tart (8 crowns)

Another great day of eating and drinking, in the beautiful sunshine at Albert Park lake… life is good :)

Tags: Albert St Food and Wine, Burch and Purchase, ice cream, lamb burger, LIbertine, Livingroom, Mahjong, Mamasita, meyer lemon tart, Sake, salmon, steamed pork buns, taco, Taste of Melbourne 2012, The Botanical, tonkatsu

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Categories foodie days, reviews, special meals

Eating Sydney: Night Noodle Markets

30 Oct

Multicultural Cuisine of…

Asian

Night Noodle Markets
Hyde Park,
Sydney, NSW
Website

As part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival this October, Sydney’s Hyde Park welcomed the Night Noodle Markets. With a few bars, dozens of hawker-style food stalls, and live music to keep everyone entertained, this little set up ran every few nights in October, and we were lucky enough to be there for a night of Asian deliciousness!!! Yayyy!

The atmosphere was really incredible – there were people absolutely everywhere, lots of noise, music, laughing, sharing and eating! There were dozens of food stalls there, and I really couldn’t remember all of them…

But it truly looked beautiful, all lit up with multi-coloured lights shining up onto the palm trees, and bright lanterns all over the place lighting the way to the food. People were sitting on picnic rugs, at tables, or just where ever they could find space on the grass. It was a beautiful, warm night, and the crowds were certainly out in force. It reminded me a little of the Queen Vic Night Markets in Melbourne, but had such a different atmosphere being out in the park, I loved it!

The food was absolutely delicious, if I had to pick a favourite… I really couldn’t! Here’s what we tucked into…

Assorted dim sum

Pad Thai

Okonomiyaki

Sticky coconut rice with mango – reminds me of Thailand :) yummmm!!!

It was all delicious, and we really had an awesome time sitting out in the park eating our way around :) Can’t wait until summer market time in Melbourne!!

Zumbo at The Star
80 Pyrmont St,
Pyrmont, NSW
(02) 9810 7318
Website

Tags: asian, dumplings, harker food, hyde park, night noodle market, okonomiyaki, pad thai, street food, Sydney

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Categories chinese, foodie days, japanese, reviews, street food, thai

Little Mule Co, Cupcakes, and Hofbrauhaus

6 Aug

Multicultural Cuisine of…

Cupcakes, Sandwiches, and Beer!

A rare Saturday off + a sunny Melbourne winter day + nothing to do = a trip into the city to wonder the streets and eat some food :) Sous-Jeff and I actually really love just wondering around and stopping in at random places we find on the way for a bite to eat, with no aims for the day in particular other than just having a good day out and spending some time together!

Because don’t live super close to the city and car parking is ridiculously expensive, we always catch the train into the city, getting off at Flinders St Station. Tradition now stipulates that upon disembarking from the train at Flinders St, grab a mini Pie Face each, and 2 Little Cupcakes each. I’ve blogged a fair bit about Little Cupcakes (see some beautiful cakes and read all about them here & here, and also as the inspiration for one of the recipes in my cook book!). This day’s offerings brought carrot cake and brownie for Sous-Jeff, and lamington and red velvet for me. YUMMMMM, as always :)

Ok, once that was done, we could get on with the day! We wondered along aimlessly for a while, and peeked up a few alleys, got a few random bits to eat on the way… then we stumbled on Somerset Place, where we ended up at The Little Mule Cycle Co.

The Little Mule Cycle Co & Cafe
19 Somerset Pl,
Melbourne
(03) 9670 4904
Visit Website

This unassuming little hole in the wall is home to a custom bike shop, as well as a little cafe focused on serving good, honest, home-style meals. It’s a cosy, little environment, with communal style seating and a whole lotta bike stuff!

I just felt like a little something, and Sous-Jeff had a sandwich craving, so we were at the perfect place! We consulted the menu and placed our orders (sandwich-wise, you can choose from a toastie, a melt or a baguette), and waiting 10 minutes or so for them to come out.

Sous-Jeff went with the salami, basil pesto, sundried tomato and scarmoza (like a mozarella cheese) melt. It was bloody delicious, and I wish I’d gone with that too! That said, I question it’s value for money at $9.50…

I went with a toasted sanga (yes, that’s what it is called on the menu!) of tomato, basil pesto, scarmoza and spinach. The bread was amazing after being toasted, but unfortunately a bit bland and lacking in seasoning, and not really sure i was worth $8.00.

All in all, great homely food, nice, chilled out atmosphere, just not sure I’d be willing to pay that much for a sanga again.

Would rate it 5 out of 10.

A little bit more wondering after that… oooohh, a pigeon!

And in the meandering and pigeon watching, stumble onto a new cupcake store that we hadn’t encountered before! Exciting times! Now, keep in mind that so far today we had already had cupcakes from Little Cupcakes, and a bloody amazing Peanut Butter Smash cupcake from Cupcake Central. We were expecting good things, especially when this is what we saw in the windows.

Cupcakes on Pitt
3/353 Little Collins St,
Melbourne
(03) 9670 2992

I didn’t get a photo as Sous-Jeff’s curiosity got the better of him and he beat me to it, but he ordered a lovely looking chocolate cupcakes with yellowish, honeycomb frosting, topped with half a Crunchie. I’ve gotta be honest – after cupcakes with Little Cupcakes and Cupcake Central, this was incredibly disappointing. Dry and relatively tasteless chocolate cake, couldn’t quite be saved by the frosting. Bit of a let down :( Points for the frosting, which was pretty good and smooth, and the presentation of the other cakes in the store.

Would rate it 3 out of 10.

In between the food, we made a few stops for drinks, including a stop into the Mitre Tavern, which we’ve been to and loved before, and finished up at another favourite of ours, for both the food and drinks, Hofbrauhaus. Yup, just how we roll on a Saturday afternoon…

Tags: CBD, Cupcakes on Pitt, Hofbrauhaus, Little cupcakes, Little Mule Co, Melbourne, sandwiches

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Categories desserts, foodie days, pub, reviews

QVM Night Market

25 Feb

QVM Night Market!

Queen Victoria Suzuki Night Market (Wednesday nights, 5:30pm onwards, mid November – February)
513 Elizabeth St,
Melbourne
(03) 9320 5822
Visit Website

Ohhh how I love the Night Market!! I love the Queen Vic Market at the best of times, but the night market just takes it to a new level! There are hundreds of people around, for the food, the drinks, the shopping and the live music. It’s an incredibly lovely atmosphere, everyone’s smiling, and it’s just a fantastic way to spend a mid-week hump day night! Of course, my favourite part of the market is the food, so here are my find from my last visit to the night market – highly recommend you head over next Wednesday night and try some for yourself!!

First up, gozleme! A hand made, Turkish pastry filled with ricotta and spinach this time around, theses are fried and delicious! Sadly, there wasn’t quite enough filling in this one, but other than that, beautiful delicate pastry.

Next up, a very highly stacked arepa – a traditional Colombian, ground corn cake, topped with sausage, cheese, salsa, refried beans and guacamole. Little bit disappointed in the arepa itself – it was honestly a little flavourless, but the toppings were delicious and very plentiful!

The prawn pizza – wow! It was only a little pizza, but the prawns were enormous, fresh and soft, with loads of melty cheese, caked onto a fresh, thin base. Loved it!

Chicken and chorizo paella. Just got the one chunk of chicken drumstick, which wasn’t enough to share, and there wasn’t a heap of chorizo, but the flavour was absolutely flawless. This plate was literally licked clean.

Onto my favourite part: dessert. First up, Lebanese honey dumplings. Well, they were meant to be covered in honey. Once I got to the start of the line though, I discovered chocolate was an option as well. Without Sous-Jeff next to me to supervise, I went with the chocolate, plus some. These were the best things I ate all night, they were soft and doughy inside, and golden and crisp on the outside, smothered in delicious, melted, creamy milk chocolate. Will gladly forfeit dinner and just order 4 bowls of these next time.

And finally, the cupcakes – I am physically unable to leave the night market without one, but this time there were quite a few I wanted to try. Sous-Jeff, in his wisdom, suggested a few minis so I could try a bit of everything – great idea! While there are heaps of flavours to choose from, the bases are all the same, just a standard chocolate or vanilla. It’s the frosting that makes them special, and the frostings really are something to behold.

If you haven’t been to the night market recently, do yourself a huge favour and head in this Wednesday, the last one for this year’s season!!!

Tags: arepas, cupcakes, gozleme, honey dumplings, night market, paella, pizza, Queen Victoria Market

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Categories casual dining, desserts, foodie days, italian, lebanese, reviews, spanish, street food, turkish

Taste of Melbourne, 2011

19 Sep

So, the Good Food and Wine Show was a great day out for me. Any day where I can eat and drink the best of Melbourne until I can no longer move is generally a good day for me. Which is why it is so bizarre to me that that I’ve never actually been to the Taste of Melbourne before. I was determined for this year to be different, and as soon as tickets were released a few months ago, I jumped straight online to snap mine up. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, it’s held annually in Melbourne (and Sydney), and showcases the best of Melbourne’s finest restaurants and food/wine/beer producers. Kind of like the Good Food and Wine Show, but with little restaurant set up through out.

Into the belly of the beast we go...

II’ll try not to bore you with too many details, but I’ll run you through my highlights. In order of devouring…

1. St Katherine’s KFC Fried Chicken

Golden, crisp and delicious. Nuff said.

2.Pistachio Macaron and Chocolate Mud Cake

Gonna be honest, can’t remember where these came from, but they were beautiful! I really hope the name of the store comes to me…

3. The Kitchen Cat’s Pulled Pork Panini

Quite literally melt-in-your-mouth soft meat… wow…

4. Margarita Pizza from San Pellegrino

Thin crust, lots of cheese, sweet basil, bloody good pizza!

5. Chocolate Decadence at LuxBite

Well, you can see what it looks like, I don’t think words are really necessary. Just wow. Wow.

6. The Botanical Wagyu Beef Burger

Small, but good. Nice hit of ginger, and just a little bit fancy. But too small.

Also thoroughly enjoyed the Rekorderling ciders and Rebello strawberry Moscato on offer in the beverage department, and Sous-Jeff enjoyed, well, pretty much every beer on offer. All in all, it was a great night, with my only regret being that I couldn’t eat any more! I would have loved to have seen a bit more from the showcasing restaurants, but what I did try was delicious, and probably nothing that I’d have ordinarily ordered. I did sample more than my weight in goodies, and didn’t photograph even close to half of what I ate, but it was a great time and I’ll certainly be attending again next year!