Possum pie, ant pavlova: The weirdest dishes you can eat in Melbourne
MELBOURNE is known as the land of the long black and smashed avocado, but there are plenty of off-kilter options for adventurous foodies. From green ant pav to possum pie, these are the weirdest dishes to be found in and around the city.
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MELBOURNE is known for being a foodie mecca, and there are plenty of off-kilter options for adventurous diners who are sick of sipping lattes and smashing avo on toast.
From green ant pav to possum pie, take a walk on the wild side and check out the wackiest dishes to be found in and around the city.
MELBOURNE FOOD EXPERIENCES YOU MUST TRY
GAME MEAT — POLEPOLE
Thursday nights are when things really get wild at this trendy CBD bar.
The Lt Collins St drinking hole serves game feasts for groups of more than six people, with meats like camel, crocodile, ostrich, guinea fowl and wild boar on the menu.
Previous specials include sliced ostrich fillet with farro salad and kohlrabi purée, and crocodile-stuffed duck neck, with fried leek, watermelon soup and fennel relish.
Not visiting on a Thursday? Daily offerings include a game meat special and game meat sausage, along with scrumptious goat and rabbit curries.
BULL ‘PIZZLE’ SOUP — VARIOUS
Squeamish gentlemen, look away now.
Known as an aphrodisiac in some cultures, the sexual organ of a bull is one of the add-ons you can opt for in your aromatic Vietnamese soup.
Hien Vuong in Footscray and the CBD’s Pho Dzung City Noodle Shop are a couple of the eateries where this unusual delicacy can be sampled.
Melbourne’s Vietnamese restaurants are renowned for their no-frills nose-to-tail offerings: tendons, trotters, tripe and offal are also commonly found in steaming bowls of pho.
EMU, WALLABY — CHARCOAL LANE
Australians are famously unsentimental when it comes to eating their own coat of arms, but this Fitzroy diner takes it one step further with a menu which heavily features native Aussie flavours.
Kangaroo, emu, wallaby and Victorian eel are some of the meats to be found at the social enterprise restaurant, which provides mentoring and opportunities for young people, including Aboriginal youth.
Native plants like coastal succulents, muntrie berry, rainforest herbs and strawberry gum are also used to flavour Charcoal Lane’s contemporary offerings.
Even the cocktails have a bush tucker twist, with a wattleseed espresso martini among the drinks on offer.
PIG TROTTER BIKINI — ANADA
Don’t be fooled by the name, you won’t find any Lady Gaga-style meat accoutrements at this cosy Fitzroy cantina.
The petite sandwich is Spain’s answer to the croque monsieur and owes its name to Barcelona’s Sala Bikini concert hall.
Anada’s incarnation uses the tender meat of a pig’s trotter and is served on a dollop of creamy prawn bisque.
Other unusual tapas offerings include smoked duck heart torrija, and bone marrow and ox tongue served with rye bread. Top it all off with the refreshing sheep yoghurt sorbet dessert.
ANTS — ATTICA
Australasia’s best restaurant for six years running needs no introduction — and neither do its ants.
The polarising ingredient is liberally sprinkled on not one, but two desserts on the Ripponlea establishment’s 17-course dining experience: the green ant pav and black ant lamington.
The “crunchy” and “crispy” bugs have been likened to “sour popping candy” by one Tripadvisor reviewer.
Acclaimed chef Ben Shewry also offers his famed whipped emu egg on the menu, along with bunya bunya pine and red kangaroo.
ATTICA ONE OF WORLD’S 20 BEST RESTAURANTS
CRISPY LUNG, BRAIN CURRY — SALERO KITO
Those who have been to Melbourne culinary institution France Soir will be no stranger to its lamb brains with caper sauce, but have you ever had brain curry?
This humble nasi padang joint has a selection of West Sumatran specialties for diners, with crispy beef lung and lamb brain curry among the delicacies enjoyed by Melbourne’s Indonesian community.
Less adventurous foodies can stick to tried and tested favourites like beef rendang, corn fritters and fried chicken.
Get your offal fix at Salero Kito’s restaurants in the CBD’s Tivoli Arcade and Malvern East.
SCHMALTZ — COPPER POT
Copper Pot diners are best advised to leave their diets behind.
Most restaurants serve butter with their bread, but this Euro-centric eatery in trendy Seddon takes the fat overload one step further with an offering of milky white schmaltz.
The slippery, pungent mix of pork and duck fat is littered with crunchy crackling for calorific measure and slathered onto rich slices of dark beer and rye bread by Cobb Lane Bakery.
It’s a decadent winter warmer for the ages.
POT OF GOLD IN MELBOURNE’S INNER WEST
PIG EAR BANH MI — UNCLE
Pig ears are making their way from dishlicker-only territory to the plates of discerning diners hankering for a crispy fix.
Modern Vietnamese canteen Uncle dishes up banh mi stuffed with brittle pig’s ear matchsticks, which pack a crunchy punch of meat, skin and cartilage.
Diners at the Collins St outpost can also order beef tongue and cheek wrapped in beancurd skin, along with wagyu curry with a side of tendons.
CHEESE TEA — VARIOUS
The latest beverage trend sweeping Asia has finally made its way to Melbourne.
Here’s how to make tea trendy again: Slather a creamy layer of cheese froth on top of fruity teas for a surprisingly tasty mix of sweet and salty flavours.
You can find this unusual concoction in the CBD at Oritea, Heekcha Cheese Tea and Happy Lemon. It’s also made its way to the eastern suburbs at Top Tea in Box Hill and Doncaster.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, YOU CAN NOW BUY CHEESE TEA
“ROADKILL” — ROYAL MAIL ON SPENCER
This West Melbourne pub is like any other city watering hole, dishing up steaks, parmas and pastas — unless you visit on a Wednesday night.
Roadkill night sees meats like bison, mutton bird, pheasant, crocodile, camel and hare rotate on the menu.
The pub also serves up a possum pie, complete with crumbed tail.
Owner Michael Hermans says kangaroo tail is one of the pub’s favourite cuts of meat, and has also been known to put prairie oysters among the specials.
WOULD YOU TUCK INTO A POSSUM PIE?
RUSSIAN DELICACY WORLD CUP FANS SHOULD TRY
— Did we miss any unusual cuisines or dishes? Let us know in the comments below
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