Taste of Melbourne Festival

We recently attended the Taste of Melbourne Festival during Good Food Month in Melbourne. Food and wine festivals are a great opportunity to try a few different restaurants or wineries within an afternoon without venturing too far in the process. It’s a great way to explore a region or cuisine and it’s always a good excuse to get out.

The Taste of Melbourne Festival was held in Albert Park, within walking distance of the train station, so it was located in an easily accessible location which also allowed you to have a drink and not worry about driving home. It was an impressive lineup featuring Albert St Food and Wine, Chin Chin, Huxtaburger, Mamasita, Movida, Taxi Dining Room, The Smith, Bomba and more. There were gastronomic features from Canada with smoked salmon, Tasmania with oysters and all over Victoria with wine and wonderful food. It was impressive.

In addition to food stalls, the festival hosted cooking classes, drink making courses from sensory labs and wine tastings from a range of wineries and breweries.

We tried a few different options including oysters from Tasmania, cocktails from sensory labs, soft shell crab tacos from The Smith, calamari from Albert St Food and Wine, local mushrooms, blood sausage, a beautiful jerk rub from Bossman Food and a beautiful caramel chocolate dessert from Burch and Purchese.

The Calamari was a bit overdone and chewy, the soft shell tacos were cold, the local mushrooms were hot and full of flavour but the star of the show had to be the chicken marinated in the Jamaican Jerk from Bossman Foods.

The food was generally quite good and there were lots of free samples, but the only drawback was the festival was located outside on a grass lawn. The organizers had prepared walking tracks for patrons, but if the weather was bad it could result in a less than ideal day.

The festival really represented what Melbourne and Victoria have to offer and showcased regions and their specialties. There was enough options for everybody to be satisfied and it was an exciting place to be. We had a great afternoon and I’ll definitely be returning next year.