Sunbury Farmers Market

Firstly I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope you had a lovely day :)

Gatehouse Cafe

The Sunbury Farmers Market is a boutique market held every second Saturday of the month.  Located in the beautiful grounds of Salesian College, it is right next to the Gatehouse Cafe and the historic Rupertswood Mansion.

I went to the November market and was captivated by the gorgeous surroundings and beautiful, fresh produce.  It wasn't the best day weather wise and a regular commented that there weren't as many sellers as usual at this market.  Nevertheless there was still a lot on offer including fruit and vegetables, honey, handmade soap, baked goods and even fresh meat! 

Here are some pictures of the produce which was available on the day.

Fresh greens!  I brought snow peas, kale and spinach which went into a delicious stirfry.

 

 
Delicious smelling soaps - Orange and Cinnamon, Lavender and Rosemary, Frangipani, Mango...

Honey ...

  

I love homemade sauces and relishes and always try to stock up at markets.  Anything with chilli is a favourite! 

Otway Prime meat

And finally bread, baked goods including bagels and cute cupcakes...

The next market is January 13th, 2013.  The address is 1 Macedon Street, Sunbury. 

 

Little Pieces - November 2012

This post is a collection of bits and pieces from the past month.  Some are reviews that for some reason I won't be doing a full post on - usually because I'm not happy with the photos.  Some are things that just took my fancy and I thought might be nice to share.  I hope you enjoy...

I spotted this gorgeous, patient pair outside my local supermarket.  Such beautiful, well behaved puppies!  The car's not bad either! 

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I had dinner with friends at Curry Leaf Cafe Indian restaurant in Elwood. We had a voucher and as they had a number of deals running at the same time there was some confusion as to what we could have but the staff were very nice and accommodating.  Unfortunately my photos didn't come out and these pictures of our entree and naan bread are the best of a bad lot!  The samosas and chicken tikka were very nice.  The naan bread was delicious.  Lovely and flaky.  We also had some curries, rice and dessert. The food was nice - fresh and tasty.  I wouldn't cross town for it but if I lived near by I would definitely go back.

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On a recent Saturday I went to the Flemington Market twilight market.  The market is held every month on a Sunday at Flemington racecourse however this was a special twilight event.  Lots of great ideas for Christmas presents and lots of delicious food.

Lovely hand made cards and gift bags

Cute horses looking for a home!

Gorgeous Christmas wreaths

I didn't have a lot of time to explore the market but before I left I did indulge in a snack of Gözleme.  This Turkish pastry is rolled out, filled, folded and cooked - I was impressed by how quickly and efficiently these women were working.  My feta and spinach Gözleme was very tasty.

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Strange name for an Italian restaurant but that is exactly what Supermaxi is!  Located in St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North the interior is modern dominated by a large centre bar.  The lighting is quite dim so sadly a lot of my photos did not work.   We shared a couple of entrees including these gorgeous stuffed olives.  We weren't expecting them to be deep fried but they were crunchy and salty, very moreish and lovely with our crisp sauvignon blanc.

Olives stuffed with fontina cheese and deep fried ($11)

Bread with fruity olive oil for dipping

Polpette di melanzane ($12)

More deep fried goodness - in this case eggplant balls - delicious but a very large, filling entree if you weren't sharing!

Our mains were lovely but alas no pictures!  We had pasta, fish of the day and the crumbed veal cotoletta with coleslaw which was the pick of the evening.  Mains were around the $30 mark.

Chocolate panacotta with raspberry sauce ($13)

We shared dessert.  A deliciously sweet end to a lovely meal.

I liked Supermaxi (except for the dim lighting!).  They also have a range of pizzas on offer which looked great.



 
 

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A soothing picture to finish.  I took this picture of the sky at sunset from my balcony.  I love the soft pink and blue fluffiness.

Movida Bar de Tapas

Movida Bar de Tapas
1 Hosier Lane
Melbourne 3000

The original of Frank Camorra's Movida restaurants, Movida Bar de Tapas is down the cobblestone, graffiti covered, Hosier lane, accessed from Flinders Street.  Dining here has been on my 'list' for quite awhile and I was not disappointed.  It definitely lives up to the hype.

We didn't have a booking on this busy Saturday afternoon but were lucky enough to grab some seats at the bar, which really is a great way to experience this restaurant.  We ordered a lovely Tempranillo and nibbled on the complimentary bread and olive oil whilst we perused the menu.

The menu is made up of Tapas, (single serve),  Raciones, (for two) and Postres, (dessert).  We shared a few tapas, one racione and one postre.

Salt Cod and Potato Fritter

The Salt cod and potato fritter was gorgeous.  Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.  Very moreish.  We ordered 2 serves of the fritters so we had one each.

Pollo Escabache Al Miguel - Spiced Chicken Escabache Tapa on Crisp Crouton

The spiced chicken on a crisp crouton was delicious.  A nice contrast between the soft creamy chicken mixture and the crispy croutons.  Again we ordered 2 serves.

Alcachofa - Roast Jerusalem Artichoke with Crisp Onion

The roast Jerusalem artichoke was our favourite tapa.  I've always been a little fascinated by this vegetable because Jerusalem artichokes are not from Jerusalem, and they’re not even part of the artichoke family! They’re actually related to the sunflower.

Though not the most attractive dish it was sublime.  We only ordered one of these - big mistake!

Braised Snapper and Cuttlefish with Mussels, Chorizo and Tomato

For our larger dish we had a daily special - braised snapper with mussels.  This was a lovely dish.  The fish was very succulent, the tomato and chorizo delicious.

Santiago -  St James Tart with an Almond Milk Sorbet

We finished with the St James Tart.  This is a traditional almond cake so named to honour Santiago (St. James), the patron saint of Spain.

It was delicious, moist and gooey.   The almond milk sorbet was a refreshing accompaniment.

As I mentioned Movida definitely lived up to its hype.  The service was exceptional.  Casual yet professional and attentive. I can't wait to return to try more of the menu.  And hopefully some more of the Jerusalem artichoke!!

 

Taste of Melbourne 2012

Taste of Melbourne is an annual festival showcasing dishes from Melbourne's best restaurants.  This year's festival, (15-18 November), is being held at Albert Park for the first time and my sister and I went along to the Friday night session.  Many thanks to The Chronicles of Ms I-Hua for our tickets :)

The currency for Taste is Crowns.  

Each crown equals $1 and you can buy books of 10, 30 or 50 crowns.  Dishes are tapas sized and vary in price with most between 6 and 12 crowns. 

There are plenty of outlets offering wine tastings or you could buy a glass.  My glass of Laurent - Perrier champagne at 14 crowns was the most expensive purchase of the night. But so worth it.

We shared a number of different dishes. Our choices were sometimes dictated by the long queues for some restaurants.  If we couldn't see where the queue ended we moved on!

The Lamb burger with truffled mayonnaise from The Botanical (10 crowns).  This was very nice. We particularly liked the mayonnaise.  The bun could have been softer but overall a good start.

The crumbed pressed confit pork medallions with apple and fennel coleslaw also from The Botanical (8 crowns).  Delicious!  Succulent crumbed pork and crisp coleslaw.  Possibly our favourite of the night.

We caught part of a cooking demonstration by Philippa Sibley (Albert St Food & Wine), hosted by Chris Badenoch (Josie Bones).

A number of chefs are demonstrating over the weekend.

Next we had the Tempura king prawns with smoked chilli mayonnaise from Taxi Dining (10 crowns).  Yum.  The prawns were delicious, the tempura crunchy and the chilli mayonnaise was quite spicy.

Chilli trio dumplings (duck, pork and chicken) from Mahjong (8 crowns).  I love dumplings and these were delicious, however we couldn't really tell which was which!  The fillings all had a sameness about them.  But they were still lovely, fresh and spicy.

Christmas cake pops from Burch & Purchese.  So cute and tempting but we resisted!

Prawn Burger with Crustacean Aioli from The Aylesbury (10 crowns).  This was really tasty but a bit hard to eat. Again I would have liked a softer bun but that's just a personal preference.

Dorper Lamb ribs with pea and mint also from The Aylesbury (6 crowns).  These were really good.  The meat melted off the ribs.

And to finish, something sweet.  Warm chocolate mousse, toasted marshmallow and caramel popcorn from Livingroom (8 crowns).  This was very rich but surprisingly light.  I would have liked more of the caramel popcorn and the gooey marshmallow at the bottom of the cup was a nice surprise.  

 

We also tried the Summer berry Eton mess from Mr Hive Kitchen & Bar (6 crowns).  This was an interesting interpretation of this classic.  A strawberry mousse with beautiful fresh berries and crunchy meringue pieces.

 

Leaving with our freebies.. The Lilydale bag is actually a picnic blanket!  So cute.


The festival continues on Saturday and Sunday.  It can be an expensive event.  If you are not lucky enough to secure a free entry ticket the fee is $30 at the door or $25 if you purchase in advance and then you have to purchase your crowns. But it is a lot of fun and it is a great opportunity to try different restaurants.  I'll be back next year!