The key to tackling a food festival, and managing to sample plenty of dishes, is to sit down and plan everything you want to try before wandering around and becoming overwhelmed with the selections—your eyes are always bigger than your stomach so it’s good to prioritise. After thorough and careful assessment, we began.

Our first dish was Ortiga‘s chicken and lemon croquettas. These had a rich, creamy filling, cut with a hit of zingy lemon, and a delightfully crunchy deep-fried breadcrumb shell. The ultimate comfort food, and still being a bit crisp in the late morning, it made for a good start.

In search of wine, we happened upon the next on our food tasting list—Moda, which was serving a tapas plate of marinated Hervey Bay scallop with lemongrass and grapefruit; Gold Coast prawn ceviche with orange and vanilla; and piquilla pepper and fish salad. The chef, Javier Codina, is quite simply a genius. His food is so enticingly full of flavour. It sounds simple but has a complexity that leaves you wanting more and more.

After a quick sip of 2011 Stonier Chardonnay, it was off to Brents for crispy confit duck with eureka lemon and liquorice. Delicious! The duck was so soft it just melted in your mouth and the liquorice crisp was a brilliant textural change that held its flavour in the mouth and cut through the richness of the duck. Loved it!

Next stop 1889 Enoteca. We’ve tried to visit this popular restaurant three times (always booked out), so it was great to finally try their food. On the menu, potato gnocchi with pork and fennel sausage, black truffle tapenade and, parmesan cream. Great dish, you could really pick out the aniseed flavour of the fennel in the pork sausage and the gnocchi was light and fluffy, but I fear the sauce was just too rich for such a hot day. About half way through this dish we were full, but assisted to the finish by a glass of 2010 Stefano Lubiana Primavera Chardonnay.

In dire need of something lighter and fresh, it was off to Armstrongs for crisp fried Toowoomba range pork cheek, caramelised onions and apple puree. OK, so that doesn’t sound lighter, but it came with a refreshing salad of lettuce and apple with a vinaigrette. The pork was like one of Nana’s slow-cooked Sunday roasts—soft, salty and wonderfully intense. There’s no room for the health conscious at a food festival, you just have to embrace it.

The last of the savoury dishes was Aria Brisbane‘s daube of Darling Downs beef pie with Paris mash and a glass of 2010 St Hallett Faith Shiraz. Talk about died and gone to foodie heaven…buttery pastry around a thick meaty filling, topped off with creamy mashed potato, it really doesn’t get any better.

I have to admit, we both needed to sit and relax (with a glass of 2010 Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz) for quite some time before even considering dessert, of which there were plenty on offer. In summary:

• Custard tart with fresh local Red Hill raspberries from Confit
• Macaroons (caramel, chocolate and strawberry) from Boucher French Bistro—light and luscious
• Meringue with mascarpone cream, Babinda banana and salted butterscotch sauce, also from Boucher French Bistro—game over, this dessert was amazing!
• Chocolate sour cream cup cake with real Red Hill raspberry butter cream, again from Boucher French Bistro—gorgeous and just the right amount of sweetness.

You could not ask for a better day, venue and setup for the Delectable Food Bowl, it was perfect. A great showcase not only of Brisbane’s favourites, but of well known local restaurants and cafes as well. The organisers had arranged plenty of tables and chairs, and the chosen area in Botanic Gardens offered both shaded and sunny grassed areas for lounging around. And with three stages for live music, visitors to the festival could experience a different vibe from each of the three different precincts.

The only down side—massive queues for “delectable dollars” (I’m sure some people waited for well over 30 minutes to purchase the only currency accepted at the festival) and then currency sellers ran low later in the afternoon. This would certainly have affected sales at the food and drink outlets, but it did seem to sort itself out after the mad lunch-time rush.

All in all I think the event was a success…and judging by the crowd, an event that Brisbane-based foodies have been crying out for. Looking forward to 2013!

Taste of Sydney is a great place to try signature dishes from some of Sydney’s best cafes and restaurants, not to mention Australian wines. There were also demonstration classes and chef’s tables where you could experience firsthand how these signature dishes are created, which is absolutely fascinating for motivated home cooks like us.

We only managed to squeeze in sample plates from five restaurants, but the offerings were incredible. If only we could have eaten more!

Here’s what we had…

Etch Dining

• Seared scallops with cauliflower puree, bhaji and curry

This was without a doubt our favourite of the day. The scallops were seared perfectly so that they were sweet and tender. The cauliflower puree was deliciously creamy, contrasting beautifully with the crunchy bhaji. The curry sauce was flavoursome but not overpowering—a tasty mix of sweet and savoury with just a hint of heat.

Restaurant Balzac

• Saddle of suckling pig with baby garden peas

The pork had obviously been slow-cooked for a very long time and any trace of fat had melted away. It literally fell apart in the mouth, so juicy and tender. The peas were sweet and minty, a refreshing cleanser after the richness of the meat. Fantastic!

Four in Hand

• 12-hour braised lamb shoulder with pea and feta salad

Minty peas seemed to be a common theme with the meat dishes. These peas were really yummy with feta melted through to make a sort of dressing. The lamb itself was amazing. So full of flavour, it reminded me of nana’s lamb roast—the one she’d cook slowly and lovingly for hours in her wood-fired oven. Divine!

Assiette & District Dining

• District Dining spicy free-range Lilydale chicken with lime aioli and coleslaw

So tasty! This dish was large pieces of tender chicken breast in a spicy, crispy batter. The coleslaw had lots of crunchy vegetables and a really light and zingy dressing. All served with lime aioli, which was creamy, with just the right amount of tang, and oh so more-ish. Think of it as a grown-up version of KFC’s crispy chicken strips…District Dining’s strips satisfy the kid within but are actually fresh and healthy.

Bilson’s & Number One Wine Bar

• Apple tarte tatin with calvados crème anglaise

You just don’t see enough calvados (a pear and/or apple brandy) on menus. So when we saw this dish on the tasting menu, we knew we had to have it. Soft, sweet apple, crisp pastry and rich cream—really, does it get any better than that? This was a lovely way to finish off the afternoon.

Taste of Sydney was a brilliant afternoon out. Being around others who love food and wine as much as we do, and chatting together about our experiences, it really heightened our excitement about food.

We’ll definitely be keeping 8–11 March 2012 free for the next festival.