Best places to eat and drink in Melbourne and Victoria
We may only be two months in, but this roasted chicken dish in delectable sauce is lick-the-bowl superb and an early contender for 2020’s dish of the year. Here’s where to try it – and why you’d better be quick.
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FOR SEAFOOD BY THE SHORE
For seafood-lovers, all roads lead to Apollo Bay this weekend when its much-loved annual seafood festival takes over the harbour and town.
On Friday night, Alejandro Saravia (Pastuso, Farmer’s Daughter) will host the a gala dinner cooking up a banquet of sustainable seafood, while on Saturday the harbour will be buzzing with an “off the boat” seafood market.
Along with music, pop-up restaurants, demonstrations, a bycatch barbecue and casting competitions, it promises to be a day it would be shellfish to miss.
With more than 8000 people expected across the weekend, the festival is the coastal town’s major annual event. For the full program of events and tickets: apollobayseafoodfestival.com
FOR A DUTCH DINNER
There are tulips on the tables, bitterballen and Oma’s snert on the menu and Netherlandish pop on the stereo.
When it come to the world’s great cuisines, it’s fair to say Dutch is rarely cited by anyone but a Dutchman.
But such are talents of Rob Kabboord, who’s called Australia home for more than two decades but whose heart still beats orange, that a pop-up serving Aus-Dutch neobistronomy at The Hotel Windsor is one of the city’s best new spots for a meal.
Meaning “tasty” in Dutch, Lekker! marks the return Kabboord to the stoves of Melbourne after four years as head chef at Sydney’s Quay.
But many here will remember him from the marvellous and missed bistro Merricote and similar cheeky-and-approachable fare that hides its high-end technique in deliciousness is on offer here in across a generous, five-course $85 menu.
Those bitterballen – crunchy, panko coated orbs of slow-braised veal to swipe through mustard – are the beer-drinker’s bar snack and there’s a tight selection of local microbrews in the fridge to go with.
You get a couple of choices through the set menu but everyone begins with a terrifically tasty salmon-cream cheese cigar and warm fennel seed-flecked rolls, and, midway, a (very) early contender for dish of the year.
Shards of roasted chicken skin pierce an airy béchamel that, in turn, is a decadent doona hiding chunks of chook in a rich broth surrounding a gloriously sunshiny yolk.
Called “Which came first? Chicken or egg”, it’s lick-the-bowl superb.
Beforehand, a hefty kingfish roulade topped with cucumber sorbet is the first time melon balls have been seen in the city since shoulder pads, while a Germanic snout-to-tail feast of pork – from roasted belly to crunchy ears – with fresh peas and an artful garlicky pea velouté is Kabboord’s meaty reimagining of a traditional split pea soup.
Here for a good time not a long time – the pop-up is scheduled to run through to Easter – get in quick to see what a clever clogs Kaaboord is, and just how tasty Dutch food can be.
Lekker! 1 Bourke St, Melbourne. lekker.melbourne
FOR A FAB FEED
Whether it’s delightful dumplings, sizzling steaks or souvas and sushi galore, Moonee Ponds’ newest dining precinct has global hungers covered. Featuring an outdoor plaza with alfresco eating areas, Hall Street Dining is part of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Moonee Ponds Central.
Six new restaurants form the heart of the precinct. Angie’s Kitchen offers handmade dumplings as well as traditional Chinese dishes with a twist, Hero Sushi and Zeus Street Greek take care of Japanese and Greek while Macelleria, which opened last week, is a butcher’s shop where top-quality steaks and burgers are cooked to order straight from the cabinet.
FOR SIPS ON THE SAND
Port Melbourne’s The Exchange Hotel has popped up on the beach offering seafood and salads, ice cream and burgers and icy cold sips in the sun on the sand by the bay.
Full service beachside cabanas can be booked for up to four people during the day or for sunset, while bottomless sunset sessions will run every Thursday from 6pm-8pm.
The Pop Up Beach Club – at Port Melbourne Beach by Bay St – is open daily until Feb 24 from midday until 10pm.
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