Feasting on Saturday

Jim and I drove down to Melbourne on Saturday morning, leaving Rupert and Hugo to look after Ross, who had stepped in to house sit while Jim and I went gallivanting for the weekend.

We took the tram from the flat in East Melbourne to the Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre.  For the avoidance of confusion, this is not the Royal Exhibition Building, which is a Victorian edifice in Carlton. The MCEC is a relatively new building in Docklands, by the river. I had not been in it before, though I have noticed it and even walked past it once or twice.

Some weeks ago I had an email from the Maggie Beer Newsletter, which I subscribe to, offering me a heavily discounted ticket to the Melbourne Food and Wine show. So I bought it.  I also bought a (not discounted) ticket for Jim.  In many ways it was similar to the BBC's Good Food Exhibition, which Jim and I went to a couple of times at the NEC in Birmingham.  Smaller, of course, but similar.

I enjoyed it.  I like pottering around, looking at things you don't find in the supermarkets and shops, and often not in the markets. I agree with Jim that there might have been more food tasting (there was LOTS of wine tasting). And next time we go we will go on the Friday, not the Saturday (a lesson I should have remembered from our Birmingham experiences; we only ever went once on a Saturday!). It was getting very crowded when we left. I will also book us into a masterclass or two and into one of the lunch experiences.  Having said that, we very much enjoyed our Wagyu beef and mashed potato, with a glass of wine in one of the not-booked lunch areas.  We had only had a couple of wine tastings so felt that we deserved a proper glass with our lunch.

We left the show and wandered down along the river, in the autumn sunshine, to the Factory Outlet centre.  I know that officially we have moved into the winter but the weather thinks it is still autumn. It was sunny and relatively warm, the deciduous trees are still wearing their autumn colours and the days are autumnal with misty/foggy mornings clearing to sunny days. Saturday was a lovely day for wandering around the Yarra in Docklands.

There is a pub across the road from the flat called the Prince Patrick.  We went there several times when we came visiting from Tupton. We drifted away from it simply because there're so many eating choices within easy walking distance from the flat.  Lindsey and I went in once, many months ago. It had changed hands and we felt no need to make a return visit. Last week there was a flyer in the flat's letterbox announcing that it had new owners, a new chef, a new menu and had been refurbished.  Jim and I decided to risk it for dinner on Saturday night.

I'm glad we did. We walked in and there were people sitting about. This was an immediate improvement on my last visit with Lindsey :-D  The menu is a classic Australian pub menu, but there is nothing wrong with that.  Our food was delicious. They make their own chips. My chicken parmigiana was beautifully cooked. Jim demolished his fish and chips with appreciative pleasure.  We will definitely go again - although there are, as I said, many, many eating choices around us.

We will simply have to come to Melbourne for the weekend more often.