Thanks to Chai I went to the Taste of Melbourne festival today. It was delicious!
Since I don't have a lot of time to post (leaving on holiday in 1 day and haven't packed anything!) here is the tour we did -
The Courthouse - Carbonade of beef with pomme puree, parsley and caper salad. Absolutely delicious, tender melt-in-your mouth beef with buttery pomme puree and a sharp zingy salad.
Circa, the Prince - Slow cooked Sher Wagyu, braised meat pie, truffled coleslaw, licorice spiced pumpkin. Meltingly tender wagyu, perfectly seasoned with soft flakes of sea salt as tasty as beef I've ever had. The meat pie was too small to really stand out. I tasted no truffle in the slaw, which was crunchy and fresh. The pumpkin was ... well ... pumpkin.
The Press Club - "Hellenic Republic" lamb souvlaki. Apparently I'm not the only one putting chips in my souvlaki! Soft doughy bread encasing tender lamb cuddled up to a few french fries and a lick of mustard. Very sexy.
Nobu - Beef Tataki: Seared beef topped with onion ponzu, spring onions and garlic chips with ponzu dress. Pink slices of just seared beef in zesty sauce topped with crunchy garlic and soft spring onions made for a memorable mouthful. I loved the heady vinegar of the sauce - made me want to sip it from a wine glass.
Verge - Slow cooked pork belly ‘Nan Ban Zuke’, shiitake and seaweed. An interesting fusion of sweet, sour, salty and deep flavours. 2 little slices of pork belly does not lend itself to being shared for tasting however the deep, richness of the sauce and the slippery shiitake will never be forgotten. Class Act.
Interlude - Roast Beef with Trimmings. Pale pink and tender the beef. Sweet and sticky the jus. Meaty and firm the veg (carrots). Warm was the horseradish sauce. Perfect was the bread sauce to absorb all the juices and create a grand plate indeed.
Jacques Reymond - Saddle of Highland venison tataki, soft parmesan polenta. Wonderfully rich, strong flavoured venison overpowered the lacklustre polenta and the few beans. The parmesan wafer was crunchy and moreish.
Longrain - Vanilla Tapioca pudding with lychees & jackfruit. One of the most amazing, love-at-first-bite dishes of my life. If you try one dish and one dish only from this list, try this one. The absolute stand out for me and my better half, we both thought this was the best dish of the whole festival - a triumph!
The Press Club - "Press Club" mastic pannacotta married with "Maha" turkish delight filled doughnuts. Soft creamy just-set pannacotta bed on which two or three plump doughy donuts cuddle - not just any donut, flavour packed with turkish delight! A dreamy yet rock n roll dessert, deserving of the kudos from everyone who had some.
*we had no fish or seafood because we are travelling in a day. No point taking a risk.
