Eating Through Taste of Perth in 90 Minutes!!

I’m often known for miscalculating my distance, last night getting to Taste of Perth was one of those nights I parked at the Perth Convention Centre to be close to Sushia, where I was heading for a girl’s night after Taste of Perth.

It wasn’t until I had parked that I realised Langley Park was a 20 minute walk in my boots rather than the 10 minutes I had miscalculated. Catching a taxi or a bus did cross my mind as I was walking but I figured I’d be faster on foot during peak hour traffic

So my plan of parking didn’t quite work but it didn’t stop me from eating everything I had planned to at Taste of Perth. Luckily knowing that I’d be rushed and eating dinner again at 8pm, I had printed out Taste of Perth’s menu card at home and highlighted all the food stalls I wanted to visit.

After watching the Best in Taste Awards in the CITROËN VIP Lounge, I had 40 minutes left before dinner to eat the four dishes I had marked on my menu card! No surprises that 2 of my 4 dishes were dessert

This is what I had in order of what I enjoyed most (note each crown is equivalent to $1):

SILKS Mango Pudding – crème brûlée, lime crumble, coconut sago & compressed mango (8 crowns)

I had heard great reviews about SILKS but also heard that it was very expensive so SILKS hasn’t been on my immediate To Eat List. However, after tasting this mango pudding which I was only expecting to be on par with my mum’s original mango pudding, it’ll be the next place we head for a special occasion. This mango pudding was innovative and tasty – I was more than happy to pay 8 crowns/dollar for this and would have happily had another bowl.

The sago was thick and creamy, the lime crumble complemented the sweetness of the mango and creme brûlée. It was simply perfect!

My friend Mia had SILKS Seafood Fried Rice which she really enjoyed (12 crowns), she too will be adding SILKS to her To Eat List.

Bistro Guillaume’s MASSIVE Salted Caramel Macaron (8 crowns)

After seeing the portion sizes of some of our savoury dishes at Taste of Perth, I was expecting a regular sized macaron at an inflated festival price but boy did Bistro Guillaume surprise us with this mega dessert burger

it was super tasty too!

Lalla Rookh’s Nonna’s Meatballs – braised pork meatballs, soft polenta, parmigiano (8 crowns)

I had wanted to watch Lalla Rookh’s Eat Drink Perth meatball competition but was working that evening so I was excited to see the meatballs were on the Taste of Perth menu. I was curious to see how it compared to burger boy’s Italian mum’s meatballs. They were good and I’d def go back for more but the mother-in-law’s still holds the recipe to my favourite meatballs

Co-Op Dining’s Cheddar Perogies - caramelised onion and cheddar dumplings (8 crowns)

Like SILK, Co-Op Dining wasn’t on my immediate To Eat List so it was great to be able to taste a sample of what they have to offer. Although the perogies were nice, they weren’t a dish I’d go for seconds especially for 8 crowns. My dear friend and fellow Perth food blogger Martine of Chomp Chomp absolutely loves Co-Op, her Co-Op Dining review is here

Before dashing to Sushia for my girl’s night, I watched Karvan Coffee brew their roasted coffee in an AeroPress coffee maker…

I look forward to trying out Karvan Bunum Wo Peaberry Coffee blend in my new Aeropress Coffee thanks to Leaf Bean Machine.

The winners of Taste of Perth’s 2014 Best in Taste Awards are also dishes worth trying…

• 1st: El Publico’s Cuttlefish Toastada
• 2nd: Bib and Tucker’s Charcoal Roasted Fremantle Octopus  
• 3rd: Greenhouse’s Black Valley Beef Cheek 

Here’s my tips to eating through Taste of Perth in less than 90 minutes:

1. Do your homework and decide what you want to eat before you get there. Be a geek like me and mark it out on your menu card so you know where to find everything. This will also ensure you don’t buy too many crowns, the Taste of Perth currency which is not refundable.
2. Go with a group of foodie friends who are amazing and happy to help you find your must eats quickly (thanks Mia, Liam, Chomp Chomp & Grace).
3. Park close – I lost 30 minutes in eating time, which went to getting to Taste of Perth and back to my car. There’s parking on Riverside Drive, Victoria Ave and Plain Street surrounding Langley Park, some parking on the grass and car parks on Terrace Road.
4. Tweet / facebook later! Focus on ordering, eating, a quick snap (if you are into photographing your eats) and REPEAT.
5. The cooler weather gave me more energy so I’d recommend going to the night sessions!

It also helped that last night wasn’t too packed so we didn’t  queue long for food and the restaurants were super organised. Food took less than 2 minutes from ordering.

If I had more time, I would have loved to have watched the Taste Kitchen food demonstrations, Brookfield Place Table Talks and done Lurpak’s 30 minute Cookery School class. I would have probably left with a bag full of gourmet delights from all the food exhibitors too – I know I would have gone crazy at the FUDGE-A-LICIOUS stall!!

Taste of Perth is a great celebration of Perth and it makes me so proud that our city has such amazing food to offer. It’s great that it is easily accessible for all and although it’s not a cheap food festival to visit, the quality of food was worth it.

Taste of Perth is also a great way to preview what our many great Perth restaurants have to offer and help us decide where to dine next. I am yet to try SILKS and wasn’t sure whether it was worth it but after tasting their mango pudding, I’ve added it to our next special occasion eat list.

Taste of Perth will be at Langley Park 2 – 4 May 2014, tickets can be purchased at the door or online via Ticketek.

Disclaimer: foodie cravings was a guest of Taste of Perth as part of Eat Drink Perth, I received complimentary entry to the festival’s CITROËN VIP Lounge. All Taste of Perth dishes featured on this post were purchased with the exception of Karvan Coffee’s aeropress & coffee which I will sampling this weekend. Refer to my disclosure policy for more details.