Taste of Melbourne 2010
I won tickets to go to Taste of Melbourne from My Food Trail, and I used them to attend tonight’s session at the Royal Exhibition building. Isn’t the Royal Exhibition building gorgeous? I love this building!
Naturally, I planned what we were going to eat well before I arrived. Here’s what we ate!
Koots Salle a Manger
We had the seven hour braised leg of lamb with mushroom and potato pave and glazed baby carrot (12 crowns). Mhmmmm…. as you would expect, the meat was really tender, and it was surrounded by a very savoury sauce – though it was on the edge of being too salty for me.
If you think this looks good and you’ll like to try it – unfortunately Koots Salle a Manger was Thursday’s pop up restaurant and isn’t appearing on the other days.
Mezzo Bar & Grill
From Mezzo, we had the slow braised pork cheek with white polenta, raisins and marsala sauce (8 crowns). The pork was so tender, and it was topped by a very vinegary red cabbage. The meat itself could’ve used a touch more salt, but I enjoyed this. Alastair said that he didn’t like it that much, but he still polished off the bulk of it. So he can’t have disliked it that much!
Libertine
This is the smoked duck, apple and walnut rillettes ($10 crowns). The shredded duck meat was salty and smokey, and almost made me think of pate. The bread was VERY crunchy and a bit hard to eat. I would’ve liked a bit more apple and cabbage to offset the duck mixture – it’s a bit hard to tell in this photo but there was a generous amount of the duck. It was still good though!
Maze
We had the seared, cured Marlborough King salmon with a warm sweet corn and potato salad (12 crowns). This was great – the salmon was full of flavour, and cooked really well, still moist and flakey. The fish went well with the corn and potato salad, it was a bit sweet, sour and slightly smokey. Thinking about this dish, it’s actually very simple, just done really well.
Charcoal Lane
From Charcoal Lane, I chose the wallaby tataki with ginger, soy, and horseradish (10 crowns). I enjoyed this a lot, but the soy sauce was rather strong – so a warning to anyone who isn’t a big fan of soy sauce. The stuff on top of the meat (whatever it was!) was good, giving a bit of texture and crunch to the dish. Funny story about the herb – I asked Bro what it tasted like. He replied, “It tastes like green.” I thought he was being unhelpful until I tried the herb and had to agree with him – it tasted like green. There you go. (Worse food blogger ever, I swear.)
Sarti
And finally, for dessert, we went to Sarti and had the pistachio “panna cotta” with caramel salted popcorn (8 crowns). I don’t know why it was “panna cotta” on the menu – I thought it wouldn’t be really a panna cotta at all, but it looked and tasted like one! It was a good panna cotta too – very creamy, and tasted very faintly of pistachio, and was flecked inside with vanilla seeds. I also really liked the popcorn, which was sweet, salty and crunchy altogether. But in hindsight, I shouldn’t have selected a dessert for our final dish. I should have used the crowns for another savoury dish because after we spent all our crowns, we walked around the exhibits, sampling food and drinks and…
We could’ve skipped dessert because we then ate a free sample of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and shared an ice cream sandwich from Pat and Stick’s ($6 each or 2 for $10 – or you could use crowns). We had the chocolate lace flavour which was a butterscotch almond and oat cookie, with chocolate ice cream inside. I can highly recommend the ice cream sandwiches! Ours was really delicious!
In addition, we also ate several pieces of chocolate from the Green & Blacks’ stall plus marshmallows dipped in their chocolate fountain.
There were also several other ice cream stalls, so there was enough sweet stuff around to satisfy the dessert stomach!
Being Thursday night it wasn’t very crowded, which was great! I didn’t need to line up to get any of the food, though there was a rather long line at the Palace, to get the wagyu burger I believe. It helped that I had decided on what we were going to eat beforehand, so we were able to eat everything we wanted, and then spend time afterwards looking at the different exhibits.
I enjoyed it, but to be honest if I hadn’t have won tickets I wouldn’t have gone. I’m not sure if I will go again next year (unless I win tickets again!). I purchased $60 worth of crowns between the two of us, and if we had paid for entry, it would basically be the cost of a meal somewhere (though admittedly, probably not at any of the restaurants featured at Taste of Melbourne!). But it was good to try food from all the different restaurants and see all the different exhibits, and like I said – we did enjoy it.
If you’re going over the next few days – enjoy! What dishes are you looking forward to? What did you enjoy the most?
For more posts on Taste of Melbourne 2010, see (deep breath):
penny aka jeroxie
August 26, 2010 @ 11:33 pm
You are quick! I love the pig cheeks and hooray for Ben & Jerry’s… went back to look for you but you were gone… gahh…
Agnes
August 27, 2010 @ 3:14 pm
My brother lined up for B&J’s three times… haha! I liked the beef cheek too. Hope that you eat lots on Saturday 😀
April @ My Food Trail
August 26, 2010 @ 11:34 pm
You are fast in getting this post up. I’m going to bed now! Glad you had a good time & it was lovely bumping into you (twice!). Your photos are fantastic! I’m going to try the ice cream sandwich when I go again!
Agnes
August 27, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
April – yes, eat an ice cream sandwich! It was so yummy 😀 It was good to see you and I’m glad you got to eat some food eventually 😉
Celeste @ Berrytravels
August 26, 2010 @ 11:44 pm
Oh!! I’m so glad you put this up coz I’m going tomorrow and this will help in my decision making!
Good tip about the desserts, I’ll make sure not to order too many desserts!
Agnes
August 27, 2010 @ 3:26 pm
Hope you enjoy it, Celeste! 😀
Cherrie
August 26, 2010 @ 11:46 pm
I also had the beef cheeks and it was so tender and delish. I also wandered why it was “panna cotta” Well whatever it was, it was so creamy and yummy
Agnes
August 27, 2010 @ 3:26 pm
Cherrie, it was weird that it was “panna cotta” – but you’re right, it was very good!
OohLookBel
August 27, 2010 @ 10:05 am
Nice roundup! It’s great that the Melbourne Taste is undercover. I wish I could have come to Melbourne for it, but at least I now know which restaurants I need to visit (thanks!).
Agnes
August 27, 2010 @ 3:27 pm
Bel, omg does that mean the Sydney Taste is out in the open? o_O
Hannah
August 27, 2010 @ 1:00 pm
Oh, that dessert! Pistachio and salted popcorn! And that Pat & Stick image makes me want to cry – last year, after yearning after them on blogs, I spotted a selection of them at Manuka Fine Foods. I’d only just had dessert at lunch, though, so swore to myself I’d come back the next weekend and try one.
What to know what happened during that week?
BLOODY PLACE BURNT DOWN.
Agnes
August 27, 2010 @ 3:27 pm
Hannah, I think that’s a sign from the universe. No ice cream sandwiches FOR YOU!
Conor @ HoldtheBeef
August 27, 2010 @ 4:22 pm
Well done for being so organised with the food choices, and for taking the responsibility of the selection! I think you chose very wisely, sage menu selector!
Ice cream sandwich, oh goodness, I want one for my Friday afternoon tea. Don’t think I would like an “ice cream sandwich” though 😉
Agnes
August 30, 2010 @ 9:50 pm
Hehee, oh Conor, hopefully you never get an “ice cream sandwich”. 😉
Tammy
August 29, 2010 @ 11:06 am
That was quite the food extravaganza. Good that you planned in advance.
Agnes
August 30, 2010 @ 9:51 pm
Hi Tammy! I always try to be prepared when it comes to food! Hehee 🙂
Taste of Melbourne 2010
August 29, 2010 @ 12:01 pm
[…] Off The Spork […]
Simon Food Favourites
August 29, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
i really enjoyed Taste of Sydney last year but the melbourne one looks even nicer. our one was outside but indoors would be more sensible for all weather. 🙂
Agnes
August 30, 2010 @ 9:51 pm
Simon, I still can’t believe the Sydney one was held outdoors! That is crazy town 🙂
Travelling in Mary Janes | Melbourne Food Blog | Malaysian Cuisine | Singaporean Cuisine | Restaurant Reviews | Recipes | » Event: Taste of Melbourne 2010
August 31, 2010 @ 11:04 am
[…] Iron Chef Shellie My Food Trail Off the Spork Kitchen […]
Thanh
September 2, 2010 @ 9:12 pm
It’s funny what the bloggers thought about the food. Some dishes divide people but a few did have universal problems. The Libertine duck dish definitely just tasted like pate on a really crunchy piece of bread. The wallaby tataki was definitely way too salty.
The whole value for money argument is really a contentious issue. If I had to pay for entry too, I would really consider whether to go. Even with free tickets, it was still quite costly. I guess it’s a fun thing and in part you are paying for the experience, so I would go back if I have free tickets next year.
Agnes
September 5, 2010 @ 10:24 pm
Good thing we got free tickets, hey? 🙂 I actually noticed a lot of people holding complimentary tickets when I went. They must give a hell of a lot away! I really don’t think I’ll go next year unless I win tickets again. The food and experience wasn’t great enough for me to think it’s worth the price of entry + crowns!
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
September 15, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
so seriously behind on comments!!! I wish I could eat my computer screen, I really want to try that ice cream sandwich. It almost looks like its in between two pieces of ryvita crispbread!!