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Classic food and drink pairings

/ 01 Oct 2018
Cheese and wine, burgers and milkshakes or yum cha and tea - Victoria's eclectic dining scene has all of these and more.

Coffee and Donuts
Caffeine obsessed Melbourne didn’t take long too embrace the donut craze that hit the nation a few years ago and which shows no sign of slowing down. One of the best combinations of the classic pairing can be found at Sensory Lab cafes throughout Melbourne which stock the famous hand-forged, dipped on demand donuts from the Doughboys. Or at the Doughboys small café which serves Small Batch Coffee. Shortstop Coffee and Donuts in the city centre too specialise in artisanal donuts and organic coffee. 

Cheese and wine
One of the most iconic food and drink pairings, but at Milk the Cow, a late night licensed fromagerie and cheese bar with outlets in St Kilda and Carlton, the cheesemongers love to get creative with their combinations and have cheeses to match spirits, cider and beer. Shifty’s in Fitzroy offers a wonderful selection of cheese from around Victoria, and Bellota Wine Bar in South Melbourne as well as newcomer Underwood in North Fitzroy also know a thing or two about the topic.  Visitors can also check out Queen Victoria Market’s Holey Cheese Festival, 23 – 28 October. Visitors to the North East region should put Milawa Cheese Factory on the must do list.

Pork and cider
The Harcourt region of Victoria, near Castlemaine in the Goldfields, is best known for apple production. Since the 1850s orchards have been planted there and today about 40 percent of Victorian apples are from the region. In recent years wiley producers have diversified their offering and as well as jams, vinegars and other products, offer a growing range of traditional and non-traditional cider. Bress Wine Cider and Produce is one of these producers, their seasonal menu offering a Cider and Swine menu featuring a dish of slow wood-fire roasted shoulder of Berkshire Black pork teamed up with a reserve vintage cider.

Yum Cha and tea
Yum Cha is a Melbourne favourite for gatherings of family and friends and is readily available throughout Chinatown and all over the city and inner-precincts. Teaming it up with which tea is the conundrum at popular Oriental Teahouse which offers at least 23 teas including an apple tea, love tea and happy tea. For a more traditional ‘all-you-can-eat’ Yum Cha, visitors should book into one of the sessions at David’s in Prahran, or Shark Fin House in China Town. Upmarket Flower Drum, also offers a traditional Yum Cha.

Beer and chicken
Something about this combination just works, whether it’s the hops of the beer mixed with the spice of the chicken rub. At new multi-layered house of fun, Heroes, diners can head to the rooftop bar and kitchen for a plate of BBQ chicken wings, chilli vinegar, fresh lime and wash it down a choice of six craft beers on rotation. Belleville has the biggest chicken rotisserie in the Southern Hemisphere hiding behind the bar – and a great range of beers on tap. Or if the beer needs to come first, Thunder Road Brewery and nearby Temple Brewery offer lip smacking chicken dishes to go with their onsite brewed range of beers.

Burgers and Milkshakes
Burgers certainly led the American food/diner appreciation society that spread throughout Melbourne in recent years and what better accompaniment than the classic milkshake. The Grand Trailer Park Taverna is up a set of stairs the one might easily by-pass, which would be a great shame for burger fans. With burger options including the Ivan Drago (black Russian tomato) and the David Chang (American Mustard) and milkshakes including the Kinder Surprise and the Splice, it’s a match made in heaven. So many other burger options including The Burger Project with shakes using house-made syrups, and Andrews Burgers in Albert Park with its classic shake menu including the blue heaven.


This content can be shared and edited for the purpose of promoting Victoria as a visitor destination. Not for use in paid advertising. Please credit Visit Victoria.


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