Australia | VanFoodies.com

Posts Tagged ‘Australia’

[Wines] Sipping Our Way Through the Wine Festival #VIWF

Posted in Culinary Events, Drinks, Kathryn, Vancouver, Vancouver International Wine Festival, Wine Series, tagged "The Bogan", Australia, Australia wine, Jacob's Creek, Kaesler Vineyards, Luongo, Rose, Sandhill Winery, Sauvignon Blanc, Serafino, Shaw + Smith, Shiraz, Turkey Flat, Vancouver International Wine Festival, VIWF, Wine Tasting on March 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[Editor’s Note: Please give a warm welcome to Kathryn, our new blogger. With her experience working in the wine industry and sipping her way through many bottles, Kathryn is going to bring some new insight in wine tasting. Check out her debut post below!]

Hello foodies! Thank you for inviting me into your food/beer/wine loving homes. And what is the best way to start my wine blogging debut? It’s to talk to you about the 37th Annual Vancouver International Wine Festival of course!

Joyce and I attended the Restaurant Australia and International Festival Tasting events together. What terrific events full of food and wine to tantalize and quench anyone’s craving for flavour and variety. I will leave the food portion to Joyce (needless to say I enjoyed the food) and focus on the wines of the day.

The first event, Restaurant Australia, wet the whistle and eased us into the day by pairing food with wine for 2.5 hours. It was then followed by the 2-hour afternoon International Festival Tasting – such a short time to give the tasting room, filled with 170 wineries, justice! However, I sacrificed myself and tried as many wines as possible so I could share some tasting notes plus provide you with some behind-the-scenes information that perhaps you can’t just read on a wine label or website.

Firstly, if you are not a fan of the herbaceous or mineral flavours that Sauvignon Blanc usually provides, then do I have a Sauv Blanc for you!
(more…)

Read Full Post »

#DineAustralia – Celebrating Australia Day in Vancouver

Posted in By Invitations, Culinary Events, Food Bloggers, Joyce, Meat, Media Events, Pop-up, Restaurants, Seafood, Travel, Vancouver, Wine Pairing, tagged #DineAustralia, Australia, barramundi, Chapoutier Australia, Grenache, John Placko, kangaroo slider, Shiraz, Tourism Australia, Viognier, Wine Australia, Yalumba on January 26, 2014| 2 Comments »

In celebration of Australia Day on January 26, I was invited to an event last week called Restaurant Australia. It’s put on by Tourism Australia and Wine Australia to promote Australia as a food & drink travel destination.

The event started with welcome speeches from Tourism Australia, Wine Australia and Chef John Placko.

Of course, there was plenty of food and wine to go around. The menu, created by Australian-born Chef John Placko, featured unique ingredients found in various regions in Australia.

Food

Here is what I tried:

New South Wales: Sous vide prawns, caramelized onion sponge, toasted macadamia crumbs, dill fluid gel

Queensland/The Great Barrier Reef: Buderim ginger & lime spiked barramundi, wilted greens and Australian olive oil

Victoria: White Stripe Lamb seasoned with forest berry and Murray River salt flakes, minted cucumbers and beetroot meringue (more…)

Read Full Post »

Australia Travels – Din Tai Fung and Golden Century Seafood Restaurant

Posted in Chinese, Dinner, Lisa, Seafood, tagged Abalone, Australia, Chinese, dim sum, din tai fung, dumplings, Gold Coast, Golden Century Seafood Restaurant, lobster sashimi, Melbourne, Seafood, siu mai, Sydney on September 20, 2011| 2 Comments »

Warning: This will be a fairly long post.

You’re wondering, why am I reviewing two Chinese restaurants when I traveled so far? Frankly, because these two stood out for me…and I may have forgotten to take pictures while I was traveling. You can falcon punch me if you ever meet me. I spent two weeks in Australia, going from Sydney, to Melbourne, to Gold Coast, and back to Sydney again.

Bridge in Sydney by the Opera House.

While in Melbourne, though there are different kinds of cuisines, I didn’t get to try much, or get any photos. I can tell you they have one full street dedicated to some amazing Italian food though. Unfortunately, the Chinese food was terrible and very overpriced. I won’t name this restaurant, but it was in one of the casinos. They charge 6 dollars for a single spring roll that tastes very similar to a microwavable one you can buy from Costco.

My brother is unimpressed by their $6 spring roll. He had to eat both.

Though the food wasn’t the most spectacular, there seems to be a lot of museums and art galleries. And of course, if you’re like my mother, there is a Chinatown by the downtown area.

Gold Coast was my favourite, golden sands and blue waters. I did get washed out by a wave while sitting on the beach though, while fully clothed. By the beaches are all West Coast style cuisines, but I didn’t get any pictures of the food. It was quite delicious, I tried some seafood chowder and lobster linguine.

Golden sandy beaches... cause I don't have any pictures of food.

The mentioned restaurants are both located in Sydney, Australia, where I spent the majority of my time. Both are Chinese restaurants found in the downtown core of Sydney. (more…)