Taste of Melbourne 2011: opening night
Disclosure: Alastair and I received an entry pass courtesy of Hothouse Media and Taste of Melbourne. We paid for our own crowns.
Is anyone heading to Taste of Melbourne this weekend? Just like last year, Alastair, Bro and I stopped by the gorgeous Royal Exhibition Building on the opening night to check it out.
Before buying any food, we wandered around the stalls, trying out samples and chatting to some of the stall holders. There was lots of things to try – tea, ice cream, salmon, juices, cheese, chocolate, wine, beer.
The owner of the Rochester Ginger stall was kind enough to give me a small bottle of the ginger drink after we stopped by for a sample. I really liked the ginger drink – it’s non alcoholic and made from pressed ginger, so it has a real ginger kick.
But on to the food. This year we spent $70 / 70 crowns and purchased 5 dishes, one beer and a cocktail. Here’s what Alastair and I ate:
The Millswyn: 10 hour braised beef cheeks with beetroot, spinach and field mushrooms (12 crowns)
I was really keen to try this dish from the Millswyn, but unfortunately I found it a bit disappointing. It was cold, stone cold, and I just didn’t find it interesting. The meat was tender, but not falling apart – it just seemed to hold together. Perhaps that was due to the temperature of the meat.
The Botanical: Wagyu beef burger (12 crowns)
There was a big crush at the Botanical when we got there, and Alastair and Bro both had to wait to get their burgers. They were teeny little things, though at least they had two small meat patties. I didn’t try any of the burger, but both the boys said that it was good.
St Katherines: Prawns, braised tomato, saffron, cardamom, fennel, toasted almonds (10 crowns).
We went to St Katherines so Bro could get the fried chicken, and Alastair decided to try out one of their dishes. I don’t know about this dish. I stole one of Alastair’s prawns, and I thought it tasted weird. There was a strange bitterness to it – maybe too much cardamom or fennel?
St Katherines: KFC “St Katherine’s fried Lilydale chicken” (12 crowns)
Initially we weren’t going to eat the fried chicken from St Katherines, but Bro ate it and gave it a rave review, “The best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten,” so we had to try a serve. And it was definitely really good. Tender and juicy, it was covered with a spicy coating that went really well with the mayo on top. My only criticism is that I found the coating a bit claggy and floury. But I haven’t been eating wheat for the past couple of weeks, so perhaps I’m a bit sensitive to it. It seemed to be just my issue because Bro went back for another serve before we left. :p
The European: Regal King salmon fishcake with tartare (8 crowns)
The last thing we ate was a salmon fishcake. It wasn’t bad, though a touch dry in the middle.
So that was all we ate! Even though we hadn’t eaten much, I didn’t feel like eating any more. So I spent our last crowns on a cocktail from the Sensology bar (“if you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain…”) while Alastair had a beer.
(Do you have the pina colada song in your head now? You’re welcome. Mwahaha.)
We had a good time, but my thoughts about Taste are the same as last year. I still think it gets quite expensive if you need to pay for entry as well as crowns. But it is quite cool to be able to sample several restaurants in one night, if you’re into that.
As for me though, you can see that I wasn’t particularly excited by the food this year. However this could be solely my fault – I’ve cut a lot of stuff out of my diet, which really limits what I can eat. The fried chicken was definitely a highlight, and now Bro wants to head to St Katherines solely on the strength of that chicken.
This year I enjoyed walking around to the different stalls, having a chat, and trying out samples more than the restaurant food. Have you been to Taste of Melbourne this year? What was your favourite thing?
By the way, if you’re interested in attending, it’s not too late. There’s sessions being held on both Saturday and Sunday – check out the Taste of Melbourne website for more details.
And for more on Taste of Melbourne 2011, check out these blogs:
penny aka jeroxie
September 16, 2011 @ 10:46 pm
I tried the KFC tonight and thought the same as you. Eton Mess was thumbs up!
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:13 pm
Yes I did hear someone else say the Eton mess was good. Did you eat anything else that was really good?
Iron Chef Shellie
September 16, 2011 @ 10:50 pm
that bloody ginger man is at everything!
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:14 pm
Haha he is! I remember that he was at Taste last year too.
Cherrie
September 16, 2011 @ 10:52 pm
I agree abt the dried chicken. I wanted to try the braised beef cheeks, luckily I didn’t
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:15 pm
Yeah I was a bit disappointed with the beef cheeks. Normally I love meat that’s been braised for a long time. Ho hum.
Bianca @ The Cooking Capers
September 16, 2011 @ 11:15 pm
I tried the KFC as well and really enjoyed it!
What the heck about the wagyu burger, though!? You got two patties? I got one! And one measly piece of lettuce and that was IT. And they made us wait for ages at the end of the night for it. AND did yours have pickled ginger in it? I found that a really odd combination, and didn’t like it. I thought the whole idea of wagyu meat was that it was supposed to be so good you ate it as plain as possible…..? Impressed with everything else though 🙂 was a really fun night – and I get to do it all again tomorrow!
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:18 pm
What?! You got ripped off! I can’t believe you only got one meat pattie.
leaf (the indolent cook)
September 17, 2011 @ 12:09 am
Quite a mixed experience there! At least the burger and the fried chicken was good.
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:19 pm
Yes it was a bit of a mixed experience… oh well.
Winston
September 17, 2011 @ 8:38 pm
I found the KFC quite floury too. But heck, it’s fried chicken how can anyone not enjoy them still. Fun times! =)
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:21 pm
Haha I agree – it was fried chicken so it was still good 🙂
Hannah
September 17, 2011 @ 8:40 pm
You always have a crown in my mind.
Agnes
September 20, 2011 @ 9:21 pm
I can always rely on you for a random comment. x
Nic
September 19, 2011 @ 3:16 pm
We had quite a mixed reception to the whole thing as well. I have been to TasteLondon a few times and it beingthe original there is no comparison.
What I found was London chose exactly the right businesses to get involved. But in melbourne it seemed like they were just trying to fill space. What was the deal with the facial promotion and the tent selling diff flavoured licorice? Is that the market they are pitching to?
interesting to see some wine places trying to charge for tastins while others did not. They could have also sectioned different products into areas i.e wine, restaurants, seafood, sweets etc.
Also the food was lackluster. Do they really thing they can get away with charging around $12 for a tiny dish when they are just looking at the cash in hand they will receive?
Yes, there are people out there who hope to go to the restaurants at Taste so they can say they have been there without having to fork out the cash – but so be it. I tried a number of dishes but there was nothing close to having me call up to make a reservation.
Rant Over
@shark4chipdrink
Agnes
September 24, 2011 @ 10:46 pm
Feel free to rant away!
I agree that the food is very expensive… the portions are really, really small. It could be a fantastic event with some tweaks – Taste of London sounds great.
John
September 22, 2011 @ 12:24 pm
Looks good and I am happy to know about this kind of stuff. I have to say that I also tried the KFC as well and really enjoyed it!Yeah! I found the KFC quite floury too but I had fun eating the food.
April @ My Food Trail
September 25, 2011 @ 11:33 am
I think maybe it was just you with the claggy/floury KFC! Mine wasn’t like that at all.
Good on you for sticking with your diet even in the face of so much temptation!! 🙂
Agnes
September 26, 2011 @ 11:22 am
Hehee there is no temptation 🙂 It’s like I’ve flipped a switch in my head – very strange!