There’s plenty of news to digest in Melbourne’s food and drink scene; so much so that keeping up with the goings on might sometimes feel overwhelming. But we’ve got the cure for what ails you – or at least your attention span – with Melbourne and Victoria’s latest served up hot, fresh and fast.
Old Man Sun brings new moves to the cellar door experience on the Mornington Peninsula
Over at Old Man Sun, the next generation of Mornington Peninsula winemakers are bringing you a series of delicious, low-intervention wines from their Red Hill vineyard. It’s the new project from Tom McCarthy and Sarah Saxton, familiar names around the Peninsula’s wine-making circuit, who are producing several stunners – including a chardonnay, a couple of pinot noirs and a shiraz – from a true heritage site established in 1989. There are a few ways you can experience Old Man Sun’s brand-new magic, like ordering a bottle of the good stuff, or going direct to the source this weekend as the cellar door opens for their first seasonal gathering. Expect plenty of wine from Old Man Sun and friends from Mise En Place, fresh-shucked oysters from moveable oyster operators Finn’s Oyster Bar, live music and a whole lot of Peninsula pride.
Seasonal Gathering at Old Man Sun, 12 noon-5pm, Saturday 31 November, 38 Paringa Rd, Red Hill South, tickets from $30 and include a drink and three oysters, bookings here
It’s a wagyu wonder: Blackmore Wagyu drops into Circl for a very special, very limited five-course dinner
Circl executive chef Elias Salomonsen is joining forces with acclaimed Victorian producer Blackmore Wagyu for a two-night beef bonanza. The five-course menu is set to showcase the prized full-blood wagyu in all its glory, with a particularly compelling rare beef sanga with roasted flank steak improved only by a bone marrow and horseradish mustard; there’s bavette with prawn-head bisque, café de Paris and caviar; and the main event, a wagyu tenderloin dressed with three types of mushrooms prepared in three different ways. Salomonsen and Blackmore have comitted to the bit across every inch of the menu, too, signing off with wagyu for dessert, in the form of smoked beef-fat ice cream and wagyu-fat caramel. Want in? All you have to do is book a seat at the table, and you’re probably going to want to fancy yourself a bit of wagyu, too.
Circl x Blackmore Wagyu, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, $235 per person, bookings essential.
The burrata festival is back: Prahran Market is going curd-crazy this November
Local cheese pushers That’s Amore are back with another celebration of the curd-filled cheese, this time taking to the produce-rich halls of Prahran Market for a lactic party like no other. There are two ways to get involved: snap up a ticket to Melbourne’s most exclusive burrata-centric opening party on Friday 13 November, or hit up the festival for free on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November. Check out the market’s vendors and their exclusive burrata specials, and take on the burrata trail. Want more? Of course you do. There’s cooking demos with the gang from That’s Amore, tastings galore and plenty more burrata-related action besides.
That’s Amore Burrata Festival, Friday 13 through Sunday 15 November, tickets from $15 to the Burrata Festival opening party, free entry on Saturday and Sunday, more via prahranmarket.com.au
Chapel Street’s $59 all-you-can-eat yum cha challenge will send you into dim sum delirium
Would you like some prawn har gow with your pork siu mai? Xiao long bao along with your prawn toast? Or would you prefer a table full of succulent barbecue pork buns? It’s a great time for an even better price at Prahran’s good-times Chinese diner Suzie Q, where $59 gets you 90 minutes of unlimited yum cha every Saturday and Sunday. Regulars will know the Suzie Q signature, the truffle mushroom fried rice, and then there are those salt and pepper chicken wings – both of which are included in one of the city’s best-value bottomless deals.
Bottomless yum cha at Suzie Q, 247 Chapel St, Prahran, 12pm and 1.45pm sittings every Saturday and Sunday, 10 per cent Sunday surcharge applies, bookings recommended
Preston’s Jamsheed takes on yum cha
Preston’s best urban winery Jamsheed, meanwhile, is getting in on the action too with a new yum cha-adjacent lunch series they call Yumsheed. This one isn’t bottomless, but they do have plenty to get excited about: shokupan prawn toast that’s splashed generously with fermented chilli, pillowy bao stuffed with wood-fired pork jowl, bountiful bowls of duck wonton soup, salt-baked chicken, crispy tofu doused in a yuzu koshu sauce, and, of course, a winery’s worth of great wine to pair with it all. It’s happening monthly on Sundays and kicking off this weekend, with a Christmas special taking place mid-December.
Yumsheed at Jamsheed, Sunday 11 October, Sunday 8 November and Sunday 13 December for lunch, bookings recommended
If you like durian and fancy the food at Ho Liao, you’re going to love what they’re up to this spring
Are you the type of person who believes your delicious Malaysian meal could do with a little durian? May we direct you to Junda Khoo’s Ho Liao. Right now, the team are serving up some of their most in-demand dishes remixed with fresh Musang King durian. We’re talking Musang King cream mud crab, we’re talking Musang King dry-aged Peking duck, and we’re talking a series of shaved-ice desserts putting durian front and centre.
Ho Liao Musang King durian menu, on now for a limited time, Level 2, Rainbow Alley, Melbourne, bookings recommended