TOUCH
Eating with your hands and getting to feel the textures of your food – whether you are nibbling fruit plucked right off the trees or getting down and dirty hunting mud crabs – can make your dining experience even more appetising and satisfying.
Feast on the best of Tasmanian seafood… straight from the waters
Seafood is as fresh as it gets in Tasmania, where you can indulge in freshly caught oysters, abalone and more – the moment they are hauled up into your boat.
Try: Get fed very well on the Tasmanian Seafood Seduction tour, a full-day cruise that sets sail from Hobart’s waterfront and makes its way down the Derwent River and into the D’Entrecasteaux Channel that surrounds the famed Bruny Island
Your first stop? The Get Shucked oyster farm, where succulent, freshly harvested oysters await. The cruise then makes a stop at one of Bruny Island’s secluded bays, where your guide will jump into the deep blue to hunt for abalone and sea urchin.
You, on the other hand, get to drink in the breathtaking surroundings and savour a cool sea breeze…until it’s time for lunch which will comprise the day’s catch as well as fresh bread, salads, artisanal cheeses, organic juices, cider, beers and wines. Did someone just hashtag #thegoodlife?
Be a fruit farmer for a day, any time of the year
At Rayner’s Orchard in the Yarra Valley north of Melbourne, you won’t have to time your visit with specific fruit harvesting seasons – this farm has more than 450 types of fruit that are harvested at different times of the year. This means that at any one time, you will be able to pick some tamarillos (an exotic relative of the tomato that tastes sweet with a hint of tang), pomegranates, grapefruits or berries, depending on seasonal availability.
Try: The Fruit Tasting Adventure Tour, where you’ll get to hop on a trailer and explore the farm’s sprawling grounds and sample varieties of fresh, juicy fruits. During the tour, you’ll also get to pick as many fruits as you like and take them home for a small fee. Also, have fun at the fruit-bottling workshop and take home an unusual souvenir.
Join a food foraging tour
When does your food get fresher than a farm-to-table dining experience? The answer: When you forage for your meals. Australia’s fertile lands, vast oceans and verdant forests mean that food – in its freshest and most natural form – is everywhere, if you know where and how to look.
Try: The Hunt and Gather Seafood Experience is a full-day tour that kicks off in Port Lincoln, a 50-minute flight from Adelaide. It involves a four-wheel drive through sand dunes before your lunch – cue fish and abalone – gets pulled out of the clear waters. If you feel up to the challenge, you can also try fishing for the tenacious fighting Australian Salmon.
After that, lounge on the pristine white sand beach with a glass of wine in hand, while your Australian Coastal Safari host whips up a delicious seafood lunch. Don’t forget to watch out for the resident dolphins and sea lions that frequent the area.
If you are in Broome in Western Australia, sign up for a mud crabbing tour by Lombadina at the Dampier Peninsula. The indigenous Bardi people here have looked to the ocean for thousands of years as their food and spiritual source. On your mud crabbing tour, your guide will teach you more about the area’s different flora and fauna. And, of course, you’ll get to experience how the locals hunt in the creeks for mud crabs. The reward: a feast of fresh crab, salad and famed Lombadina bread (PS: some say it’s the best bread on the peninsula).
SEE
Most of the time, when we say “eat with your eyes”, we don’t only mean savouring the exquisite plating, colourful ingredients and photogenic dishes. In Australia, especially, with its panoramic views of famous landmarks, you’ll be feasting just as much with your eyes as you tuck in at these scenic restaurants.
Sit back, chill and eat at Brisbane’s picturesque South Bank
South Bank is Brisbane’s premier lifestyle and culture hub, and as its name suggests, it is located on the southern bank of the Brisbane River. Expect 17 hectares of parklands, Instagram-worthy river views, and cafes and restaurants that will satisfy the most discerning palates.
Try: This riverfront bar at South Bank, Otto Osteria. Its menu is inspired by northern Italy so look forward to chargrilled local bay squid, mini focaccia and spaghetti Cacio e Pepe, as you take in the gorgeous panorama of the Brisbane River.
Where the food looks as good as the views
Locals and tourists alike head to Circular Quay in Sydney to marvel at the sights of the Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. The area is always lively as it is home to the city’s main ferry terminus, where ferries leave every few minutes for Manly’s surf beach or Taronga Zoo. On a clear and sunny day, al fresco dining at one of the many eateries here is a must.
Try: Quay, a fine-dining restaurant helmed by celebrity chef Peter Gilmore. This is the place to be if you are celebrating a special occasion or just want to pamper your taste buds (and eyes).
The restaurant offers sweeping views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, equally scenic in the day or night. The food and plating are a sight to behold, too, as the chef takes inspiration from nature and works closely with farmers, fishermen and artisans to create his dishes. Think: food-as-art dishes such as the Cherry White Coral, made to resemble a coral, and the Poached Marron, decorated with lots of white flowers.
Dine in a historic Perth institution
For 140 years, the iconic State Buildings in Perth were the address of a post office, a land titles office and the treasury – at different times of its history. Today, they have been converted into the elegant COMO The Treasury, a hotel-and-retail development from where you can easily explore landmarks like Elizabeth Quay and Kings Park.
Try: If you have time for only one Perth dining institution, book a table at Wildflower located at the top of COMO The Treasury. The restaurant prides itself on using native ingredients such as finger lime, wattleseed and bush tomato, and offers a window seat view of Swan River and the Perth cityscape. The emotive artworks by local artist Valerie Sparks add to the visual spectacle of this restaurant.
Complement fine cuisine with awesome lakefront views
Lake Burley Griffin is so well-known in Canberra that it is sometimes simply referred to as The Lake. The 40km shoreline, as well as the accompanying parks and gardens, offers opportunities for fishing, cycling, kayaking, strolling or a meal-with-a-view at the many lakeside cafes and restaurants.
Try: An iconic waterfront destination, The Boathouse boasts unrivalled views of Lake Burley Griffin and key monuments such as the National Carillon and Parliament House. It also offers a casual outdoor bar area. Previously, The Boathouse only served dinner; now, its lunch service also gets the same fine-dining treatment, with standout menu items such as dry aged duck breast, pork loin, and more. Come dinnertime, you will be rewarded visually with an amazing sunset view.
HEAR
There’s no food without history so get ready to listen to the gourmet tales of farmers, bakers, brewers and native storytellers as they share more about what’s going into your tummy.
To market, to market, to hear the stories of food
Visitors to Australia should always include a visit to one of its many produce markets where they can learn more about how local food is grown, sourced, prepped and cooked from the farmers and traders themselves. We think it’s also the best way to shop and eat like a local for a day.
Try: Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market has a smorgasbord of everything you will want to cook, eat and drink – from vegan sorbets and artisanal cheeses to homemade pastas and the adorably named Tiddly Oggie, a beef-carrot-potato pastry. Be sure to chat with the traders so you not only take away food but also some interesting stories of their produce.
This chef will tell you all about biodynamic and natural farming
Besides farmers and market traders, chefs – especially chef-owners helming independent restaurants with a strong focus on how they source their ingredients – are a wealth of information.
Try: Moonah, a small but innovative fine-dining restaurant located in the coastal wetlands of Connewarre, in Victoria. Nestled among the vines of The Minya winery, the restaurant seats only 12 diners, so each and every one is guaranteed personalised service and a very exclusive dining experience. Fruit and vegetables grown in head chef Tobin Kent’s own kitchen garden are farmed according to biodynamic and natural farming practices to harvest a low yield of nutrient and flavour-dense plants.
The result: a multi-course menu served over three hours and consisting of dry farmed tomatoes with goat cheese, reduced whey, fried saltbush and Mexican tarragon flowers, and crayfish tartare with fermented tomatillo juice. All these are beautifully complemented with Australian wines, also produced with biodynamic and natural winemaking techniques.
Appreciate the Sounds of Silence
Ayers Rock Resort isn’t merely an accommodation; it’s also a lifestyle and cultural destination in itself. Besides offering myriad accommodation types such as rugged outdoor camping sites, cosy home-like apartments and luxurious suites, there are also more than 100 tours, activities and experiences to let you enjoy the unusual beauty of the outback.
Try: The award-winning Sounds of Silence dining experience lets you dig into authentic bush tucker such as kangaroo and crocodile filo under the outback sky, on a dune top overlooking the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, while listening to the sounds of a traditional didgeridoo performance. The bonus: a star talker will decode the southern night sky so you can gaze upon the Milky Way and other planets and galaxies that are only visible from this far end of the earth.
TASTE
When you visit Australia, don’t limit your palate to the usual meats, vegetables and fruit. The country has some of the most unusual and delicious native ingredients that you won’t easily get back home.
Treat your taste buds to a bush tucker menu
One of the largest rainforest areas in Australia is located in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, where you will not only come upon rivers, gorges, waterfalls and mountains, but also a rich variety of plant life. It is also in this region that you can immerse yourself in some bush tucker dining.
Try: Walkabout Cultural Adventures, which is situated in the Port Douglas Daintree region where two World Heritage sites – the Wet Tropics Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef – converge. Helmed by owner-guide, Juan Walker, this tour offers guests a truly unique and intimate opportunity to learn about the environment and wildlife from an Aboriginal perspective. On the agenda? Cruise the mangroves scanning for mud crabs, forage for pipis in the shallows and learn how to throw a spear to catch your next meal.
Get hyperlocal for lunch or dinner
Paying homage to native ingredients is a move some legendary restaurants in Australia have been pushing for over the years by featuring traditional bush tucker such as kangaroo and crocodile meat, wattle seed and finger limes on their menus.
Try: The world-famous Attica in Melbourne celebrates innovative, eye-opening ingredients such as honey ants, emu liver and crocodile ribs – in a fine-dining setting. Over in Cairns, Ochre Restaurant has been wowing the Queensland crowd with its chargrilled kangaroo sirloin and wattleseed pavlova.
SMELL
It’s been said that smell is the most powerful and emotive sense. That’s definitely the case when it comes to sniffing out our favourite coffees, truffles and cheeses.
Follow truffle-hunting dogs on their job
Canberra may be known for being Australia’s political hub but did you know that it is famous for truffles too? Launched in 2009, the Canberra Region Truffles Festival runs throughout the Australian truffle season of June to August. At this annual event, you can enjoy truffle-centric dining experiences at many cafes and restaurants, and even take part in a truffle hunting tour.
Try: The Truffle Farm organises tours where you get to watch their truffle hunting dogs in action. And after the four-legged hunters have sniffed out those prized black ingots, you get to have a taste of them in a six-course degustation meal.
Meet fellow coffee lovers on a walking tour
Melburnians are proud to call their city the coffee capital of Australia. Why? The city has a buzzing (caffeine-fuelled, of course!) café culture, and its laneways are packed with coffee joints brewing single origin drinks. Sometimes, the décor is the highlight, too. Case in point: ST. ALi, a major player in Melbourne’s coffee scene, with the many colourful balloons decorating its external façade, and Wide Open Road, a speciality coffee roaster housed in a converted 1950s warehouse.
Try: If you prefer to learn about your coffee in a more structured way, book the Melbourne Coffee Lovers Walking Tour, which will take you on tasting tours of four cafes and let you discover how your aromatic cup of joe came about.
A day of cheese and chocolate – yes, please
If you love the smell of chocolate and cheese (possibly the best scents ever), head to a cheese or chocolate farm and watch how these yummy foods are made.
Try: In Tasmania, Coal River Farm is a family-run farm that makes its own chocolate and artisanal cheese, lovingly crafted in the region’s famous Coal River Valley. Be sure to order its signature High Cheese, where you can sample a selection of four award-winning cheeses served with fruit paste, fruit and nuts and crisp breads, hand-cut chocolates and a choice of drink.
Still hungry? Don’t fret: they also serve modern Australian cuisine, such as Crispy Lamb, Cajun Duck Legs and Field Pie, made from locally grown and sourced produce.
Keep your wanderlust alive and start planning for your next holiday Down Under with these amazing travel ideas!
