Flavours of Asia Market Festival Preview

Disclosure: I was invited as a guest to the preview of the Flavours of Asia Festival. 

“There’s horse-racing at this time of year?” my mother comments as a tv ad for the Sportingbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day at Caulfield racecourse plays in-between an episode of MKR. 

Although the Spring Racing Festival is certainly a huge event on the social calendar in Melbourne, it’s easy to forget that through the year there is always horse-racing going on, although I guess that might not generally interest the average person.

But what if you tie in a food festival in with that? A bit of racing and entertainment and actually good food at the race course? Well that perks my interest (I do like a bit of a bet)!

I was invited to a preview of the Flavours of Asia Market Festival, held as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, with carefully picked member of the food scene to feed the crowds, with dishes starting from just $5. 

I’m crossing fingers that the weather holds out this weekend, and that it’s as beautiful as our preview night; balmy weather is simply perfect for ‘The Market Mule with a Kick’, the feature cocktail for the evening and the weekend, with the usual vodka and ginger ale components with an addition of chilli. Yum!

To start us off, Hammer and Tong’s red and black rice salad was clean and refreshing, Wonderbao’s pork bao was steaming hot, fluffy and moreish; bringing me back to greedy lunches in Hong Kong as a kid. 

But honestly, not to play favourite’s, but Hoy Pinoy totally played it with their Lechon Kwali, slow braised and crisp fried pork belly with buco, chilli and yemma sauce. It was the kind of dish that when James Meehan, one of the founders, comes over to ask how it is, you can only thumbs up as the crunch of the crackling does all the talking for you. A little sweet, and perfectly succulent; I’d like thirds please!

As we chit-chatted amongst ourselves, there suddenly was an irresistible aroma in the air…and like bees to honey, we swarmed over to the barbecue, where Hoy Pinoy had their Inihaw na Baboy and Inihaw na Manok skewers barbecuing away, the deliciously smokey aromas filling the air. 

Inihaw na Baboy are the pork belly skewers in a banana ketchup glaze, which are beautifully cooked and sweet, and I simply adored the juicy beautifully rendered pieces of fat on the pork belly…however, I was a little more partial to the Inihaw na Manok, which are chicken skewers in a traditional soy glaze, or for those who are familiar with filipino food, something akin to adobo. 

The chicken skewers I found were much more tender, the meat and all the flavours just melting in the mouth. 

Wonderbao’s gua bao’s are always hard to go past, how do they get the buns so fluffy? One bun was filled with braised pork belly, which was luxe, moreish and decadent, whilst the other was stuffed with fried tofu, which were a refreshingly light option after all the meat! 

I always like getting involved in making food, so when Hammer and Tong asks for an assistant, I’m the first to throw my hands up, and teeter through the kitchen door in my heels, and form an assembly line with Simon Ward to get some soft shell crabs out to the other guests! (Thanks for helping take pictures Agnes!)

I make 10 in a pretty reasonable time period, but apparently on a busy night at the Queen Victoria Night Market, they can pump out around 1000 of these! Phew! 

I'm apparently more than happy to work for soft shell crab burgers. What can I say? I'm cheap labour. 

For some reason, despite it’s notoriety, I had not had one of the famous soft shell crab burgers from Hammer and Tong…and I’m so happy to say, that it totally lived up to all the hype. The bun is perfectly toasted, a slight crunchy char on the edges, but fluffy all up in the top. The soft shell crab flavour definitely comes through, despite all the other additions, and the light tapioca batter is just right…you can hardly tell it’s battered at all!

We’re definitely struggling by this point…but there’s always, always space for ice-cream. Especially when it’s a black sesame ice-cream gua bao by Cream Supreme (brought to life by the Wonderbao guys as well). Whoa. The black sesame ice-cream was intense and deep in flavour, the gua boa is fried until it’s golden and crisp, with a sugar crust over the top…what a clever bunch indeed. 

So, no plans this Saturday? Maybe you should have a date with some of Melbourne’s most delicious Asian food vendors, which includes more than what we sampled a couple of nights ago. I’ll probably pop down myself at some point in the afternoon to also check out Overdosa's dosas (obviously), Lankan Tucker's roti rolls and Eat the Chicken's fish cakes (funnily enough) so say hi if you see me there!

Need to know: 

Saturday 28th February 

Gates Open: 11am - 6pm 

Caulfield Racecourse, Gate 22, Station Street, Caulfield VIC 3145

$20 Adult entry which includes admission to the racecourse and the Flavours of Asia Market Festival. Tickets available at mrc.racing.com 

Tuck Shop Take Away

Although I was a bit of a loser in high school (like seriously, super loser), my primary school days were rocking, especially when I still lived in Hong Kong and had my group of besties that I'd run around the school grounds with, crushing on all the boys (hey there Jonathon…and Joseph…and David…and Daniel…) 

Stepping in to Tuck Shop Take Away, I'm transported back to those primary school days, complete with a chalkboard menu, water fountain/bubbler (whatever you call it) with colourful plastic cups for water, old-school desks, a bunch of other cute and quirky school time memorabilia and some nostalgic American references (mostly in the desserts). It's so adorable.

And then it's manned by two men with serious beards, the juxtaposition is kind of hilarious, and pretty darned hipster. Ah Melbourne.

Despite the name Tuck Shop Take Away, there are actually seats in the joint, although it is somewhat limited. Despite it being a Friday, I was quite surprised that Brad and I could get a seat, although we did get there a bit later in the evening so probably missed the main dinner rush. 

The menu is pretty straight forward, with a couple of burgers on the menu, jaffles, chips and an awesome looking array of milkshakes, sodas and spiders. That and soft serve. Ooooh.

Although it's not written on the menu, they do offer up gluten free buns which I was pleased to hear about, along with the spiel that they bake their own gluten free bread, which intrigues me even more.

Gluten free buns never make burgers very sexy looking…but hell. This is the best burger I've had in recent memory. Maybe even this year. 

You all know how reluctant I am to relinquish the 'best' title on anything...

The Minor Burger, which both Brad and I got, is made from 100% beef pattie, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, onions, pickles and tuckshop sauce. Simply classic.

It's not often that Brad actually gets even mildly excited about food, but he was definitely 'mmm'-ing away from me and licking his fingers clean as we devoured the juicy and meaty burgers. For me, I just couldn't get over how well the gluten free bun was done. Soft, fluffy, brioche-like, with a subtle sweetness, that just lends itself to the rest of the flavour profile. I loved that with each bite, all the elements just melted into each other into this perfectly tender bite of just right.

I really wish I could breakdown all the elements that make this so good, but I can't, because it's just got to be all together. 

Another thing that Tuck Shop Take Away is doing just right? Those hand cut chips. Hoo boy. A must order in my books. Absolutely golden and fried to crispy perfection. Loved that the skin was left on, providing an extra crunch and a little more flavour.

Oh and Nutella milkshakes the size of my head. My hairdresser may have freaked out when she saw me post it on Instagram as she's planning for me to be in a leather catsuit for the next competition we're doing…but hey…a nutella milshake is not an everyday occurrence I guess...(but maybe it should be...)

Tuck Shop Take Away

273 Hawthorn Road

Caulfield North 3161

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Caulfield Cup Teaser at Black Caviar Restaurant

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest by the Melbourne Racing Club 

The Spring Racing Carnival. Renown for the beautiful racing grounds, the fashion, the stunning thoroughbreds and the jockeys who become mainstream tv stars, just for a season. 

What's it generally not known for? Let's be honest, it's food. 

I've been a huge fan of the races for years, especially the ones at Caulfield, with its more relaxed atmosphere than at Flemington. I had taken horse riding classes for 10 years, so have always loved the statuesque creatures, and in university, loved the thrill of watching the races, with a little money on the line, and having an excuse to dress up. Oh and eyeballing all the smartly dressed men too of course. 

Since uni days, food at the racecourse has improved, with Grill'd setting up shop in more recent times, and a much better range of options generally being available, but when I was invited to see what was on offer at the Black Caviar restaurant for the high rollers at the Crown Golden Ale Caulfield Cup Carnival, I definitely could not turn it down!

We started our evening in the foyer of the restaurant, with a glass of bubbles as we waited to see Ian Curley (of the European and more recently Kirks Wine Bar) and Julian Robertshaw would be serving up. 

A delicate mini fishbowl of meredith goat's cheese, edible soil and pickled heirloom carrots got the palate started, with a nip from the cheese, and a touch of vinegar from the carrots. The edible was a bit too salty, but I still cleaned up the little bowl. 

Our second canape though, was simply perfection, a tartare of tuna topped with finely sliced green apple batons, green apple jelly, cavaiar and green apple, champagne and wasabi sorbet. So refreshing, light and zesty, one fishbowl was not enough!

We were soon ushered into the kitchen, where in the throng of the Crown Golden Ale Caulfield Cup Carnival, they can expect to be serving 1000 people a day! Wowch! 

Master Brewer, Tully Hadley, from the Carlton United Brewery, talked us through their new Crown Golden Ale, which just from pouring out, you could instantly see is darker and richer looking compared to the Crown Lager that most of us have come across (at some point or rather I'm sure anyway…) and this translates to the palate. I was surprised to learn that we should be drinking ales at about 5 to 12 degrees, not fresh out of the fridge or esky that we seem to be accustomed to, which gives more flavour to the beer (makes sense when you think about it really now though…)

Following the Master Brewer, it was time for the slightly gruff, but friendly Ian Curley to demonstrate how our dinner, a fricassee of john dory with oyster and mussel escabeche, was made. 

The kitchen was filled with beautiful and aromas, making me feel like I was more at the beach on a summery day rather than a commercial kitchen. Especially when I greedily volunteer myself to eat the first oyster that Ian shucks on the spot. Bliss.

We also had jockey's Michael Rodd and Chris Symons helping out…although I'm not sure if Michael is really helping out that much! 

I also jumped in to give a hand scooping out the escabeche on to plates and making sure we had precisely three micro herbs on each plate as well. We just had to do 20 plates, I can only image what it would be like to do 200! 

When we finally got around to eating the dish, it was just lovely. Although the night we were at the Black Caviar Restaurant was a bit cool, I could imagine this on a warm sunny afternoon, a fresh and sweet, light and bright flavour, with perfectly cooked john dory and mashed potatoes with smoked eel. He went there. Swoon!

Between mains and dessert, the Carlton United Brewery spoilt us, and let us sample two of their beers from their Ambassador range, a 2012 vintage and a 2009 vintage, which in the wine world would equate to reserves (or so I would imagine). These beers have three times as much malt in them compared to the Crown Lager, and are aged in 4 months in French oak barrels, imparting vanilla flavour notes.

Served in big bulbous glasses, it was easy to forget you were drinking beer almost, until it is poured and the golden molten colours remind you that this isn't any white or red wine you've ever seen before! The 2012 was big and fruity on the nose and palate, a bit of punch and playfulness, whiles the 2009 was dark and rich, with caramel and toffee notes creeping throughout. The latter was definitely my preference. 

As we sipped on the fanciest, and possibly most expensive beer I have ever had, dessert came out in the form of a rhubarb and ginger pudding with mint caramel ice-cream, hot and steaming. The rich ginger went perfectly with the beer, and was surprisingly quite light, with the sweet rhubarb beneath. The mint caramel ice-cream was quite intriguing as well, and not a combination I would normally imagine to put together, but it all worked somehow. Got to love the creativity that chefs have! 

So whilst we were treated to the best of the Melbourne Racing Club, I do hope this starts a trend in the Spring Racing Carnival and be providing great food, no matter where you are in the concourse. I do hope to pop by with fascinator in hair to see for myself, or see if I can just name drop Ian Curley and gate crash at the Black Caviar Restaurant on the day…think that'll work? 

Black Caviar Restaurant 

Rupert Clarke Grandstand

Level 3

Caulfield Racecourse

Restore Cafe Bar

Spring. Makes you think of flowers, sunshine, pretty floral printed dresses, hayfever and random sprinklings of rain.

And I suppose that's what you usually get, unless of course, you live in Melbourne. This girl is a little bit schizophrenic. She'll be all sunshine and 25 degrees early on in the week and then come the weekend, when I want that gorgeous disposition she was displaying before, when I'm planning to be at the Caulfield Cup, she gives me hail and torrential rain the day before the event.

Yes I've decided Melbourne is a she, how else would you explain all those mood swings?

I love going to the races and do make the effort to be there at least once a year, my favourite races to attend being the Caulfield Guineas or the Caulfield cup. I tend to find the Flemington racetrack is even more overrun with drunken teenagers and bogans and just gets too busy for my tastes. So this year, despite the horrible weather nearly canceling the cup, I rounded up a few guys and we suited up and dolled up (the latter probably just being me).

Initially we had planned to go to a cafe a couple hundred metres away from the track, because I couldn't really find anything else popping up on yourrestaurants.com, but just a hundred metres or so from the train station, this little place caught my eye.





And all I really did want were eggs anyway.

So we trotted into Restore Cafe Bar, as the clouds started to part and the sun tried to squeeze through the cracks and was greeted by one of the most jovial Asian men I have ever met. Full of energy, full of smiles and ever eager to help, putting together some tables by the window for us. It was meant to be!







Coffees for the boys and a chai latte for me. Beautifully frothed milk, and incredibly comforting in the chill 15 degrees. Quite a number of people popped in and out with takeaway coffees, understandably, they are pretty good.

And then, it was eggs for everybody!





Both the boys got the big breakfast, both with poached eggs, it smelled absolutely amazing as it was set down in front of them. Whilst the presentation not the most elegant, the boys seemed to enjoy themselves well enough!



I went for the omelette, this picture does no justice as to how big it was, it really was huge! Lovingly hidden within that, there was ham, cheese, mushrooms and chives and onions inside. I really loved the abundance of chives and onion, really gave a lot of flavour to the whole thing and the cheese....oh the cheese! It was also remarkably not that oily at all, the eggs was quite fluffy (although flat) and although I was initially daunted by it's size, it didn't take very long for it to be demolished away! Have to prepare the tummy for all that bubbly on the track!

This is the sort of place I'd love to be a regular at, friendly staff, homely food. Whilst breakfast was delicious and a great way to start the day, I unfortunately didn't do very well at the races and ended up down $25! Darn!

But we were so thankful that the sun did come out and we were only showered on twice!

Restore Cafe Bar
18 Derby Rd
Caulfield East, 03145