If you enjoy perusing a wide choice of menus reflecting varied ethnic influences, you’re going to enjoy eating in Australia’s cities – but you’ll pay handsomely for it too. The cost of eating and drinking out in Australia has sadly soared in the last decade, but if your budget allows you can enjoy genuinely world-class cuisine, particularly seafood.
Café culture in Melbourne
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All state capitals have a lively café and restaurant scene in their inner-city areas. While restaurant meals are expensive and bar prices high, you can pick up reasonably priced meals from a variety of places, particularly if you enjoy Asian cuisine. Trendy street eats (pop-ups and food vans) are also good to explore, and the coffee culture rivals – actually, surpasses – that of Italy.
Many restaurants permit you to BYO (‘bring your own’) wine, allowing you to take along store-bought wine to enjoy with your meal. A small ‘corkage’ fee usually applies, but this can save you a substantial amount of money. Shop-bought, Australian wine is relatively inexpensive and of high quality.
Indigenous Cuisine
Recent innovations by Australian chefs have included greater use of indigenous foods in fine dining. Lemon aspen, bush tomatoes, Illawarra plums, lemon myrtle, lilli pillies, muntari berries and other mysterious ingredients are now appearing on menus, often blended with traditional dishes of meat and fish. Kangaroo and emu are commercially farmed and processed. (Both meats are low in fat and high in protein.) Collectively known as native food – or sometimes bush tucker – these are just some of the fruits, seeds, nuts, fungi, mammals, reptiles, fish and birds that sustained Australia’s indigenous inhabitants for up to 100,000 years before white settlers came to the region.
Other bush-tucker ingredients include quandongs (similar to a peach with a touch of rhubarb), wattle seeds (sometimes used in ice cream), Kakadu plums (less sweet than the usual variety) and bunya bunya nuts (delicious in satay). Even wilder Aboriginal ingredients, very rarely seen in restaurants, include the Bogong moth (a hefty moth roasted in a fire and eaten like a peanut) and the witchetty grub (a puffy, white grub found in the trunks and roots of certain wattle trees), which has been shown to be a virtual powerhouse of protein.
Australian cooks have the advantage of the availability of a wonderful palette of ingredients. The country’s climatic diversity provides a wide range of fresh vegetables and fruits, ranging from exotic rambutans, coconuts and lychees to apples, pears and spinach.
This culinary wonderland has developed gradually over the last three decades. During most of the two centuries of modern Australia’s existence, its inhabitants subsisted on bland ‘meat and veg’ fodder, in which lamb chops and three vegetables were standard fare. Cultural intermingling since World War II has revolutionised the national diet. Urban Australia now eats what has been described as ‘fusion food’ – a collage of culinary influences, embracing European and Asian influences, that enlivens basic fish, grain or meat with, for example, a handful of chopped coriander, a splash of olive oil and a dash of chilli.
If you’re into exotic fare, sample goat cheeses from Western Australia or Victoria, cold-pressed olive oils from South Australia, buffalo mozzarella from New South Wales, barramundi fish from the Northern Territory, or oysters, scallops, salmon and other seafood ingredients from Tasmania’s waters.
Fine-dining options are generally restricted to inner-city areas and some wine-producing regions, but most suburbs and country towns have at least one decent Thai or Chinese restaurant. There are, however, culinary black holes, especially in remote rural areas, where café menus will probably include nothing more exotic than spaghetti Bolognese. The traditional Aussie meat pie, doused liberally with tomato sauce, rules supreme in these outposts, as does the hamburger (always with a slice of beetroot, and sometimes with pineapple and a fried egg for good measure). The standard US fast-food chains also litter the nation’s suburbs and country towns.
What to Eat
Breakfast is anything you want it to be, from muesli and grapes or coffee and croissant to a typical English breakfast. It depends on where you are and your hunger level. If you are really hungry, some establishments will serve you a breakfast based on steak or lamb chops with eggs. Try Vegemite on toast – it’s a rite of passage for visitors to Australia, but don’t go too heavy with the spread.
Seafood-lovers are spoilt for choice in Australia
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Fish and seafood. From traditional fish and chips eaten standing up, to lobster savoured by candlelight, Australia’s temperate and tropical oceans offer a fantastic choice of seafood. Fish adorning the menu include the delicious snapper, the meaty John Dory, smallish flounder and bigger sole, the bony but flavoursome whiting (no relation to the English whiting), the tropical trevally and ‘flake’ – a generic term for shark. Then there’s barramundi, which means ‘big scales’ in an Aboriginal language, and is found in both fresh and salt water; game fishermen in the north take ‘barra’ of up to 15kg (33lb). Along the Great Barrier Reef they even eat red emperor, a fish so gorgeous it might take a snorkeller’s breath away.
Treat yourself to succulent seafood specialities such as Sydney rock oysters (as delicious as any in the world), Brisbane’s famous Moreton Bay bug (a crustacean that tastes a lot better than it looks), and gloriously meaty mud crabs. Lobster, grilled or thermidor, is priced for special occasions. You are also likely to come across some of the lobster’s freshwater cousins, small crayfish known locally as yabbies. Prices are less forbidding when it comes to steamed mussels or prawns. A popular and simple Australian alfresco meal for two consists of a kilo (2.2lb) of prawns and a bottle of ice-cold white wine. Scrumptious!
Meat favourites include steak and roast lamb, particularly in simpler restaurants, and pork is also popular. Good-quality organic meats are now on offer at many city and country restaurants. Meat pies are a long-established staple; in Adelaide the speciality is the ‘floater’, a pie served floating in pea soup. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can dine on Australian fauna, such as kangaroo, crocodile or emu; all three are healthy alternatives to the usual fare. The feral camel, too, has found its way onto plates in the Red Centre, and is very tasty.
Vegetables are available in as much variety as anywhere else in the world. As with meat, organic vegetables are on the rise. In restaurants, either vegetables or a salad may accompany your main course, but note that there is a trend for city restaurants to charge extra for these ‘sides’.
Fruit in Australia covers all the climatic zones, from the familiar (apples, pears, cherries, plums and berries from the temperate latitudes) to the tropical (avocados, bananas, papayas, passion fruit, pineapples, lychees, rambutans and mangoes).
Delicious waffles for dessert
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Desserts. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll be in your element here, as there are any number of dessert to dive into, from light fruit-based offerings to heavy puddings. A traditional Australian favourite is the light and fluffy pavlova, a meringue concoction traditionally topped with fresh cream and fruit. It’s a common home-cooked desert, but worth sampling if you see it on a menu. Peach Melba, created for Melbourne’s famous opera singer Nellie Melba by the great French chef Escoffier, is still sometimes found on dessert menus. Also look for ice cream flavoured with wattle seed – roasted ground acacia seeds – which tastes a bit like coffee, and macadamia nuts.
Sydney stalwart Bar Coluzzi
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Exotic Imports
The massive migration from Mediterranean countries – mainly Italy and Greece – after World War II made the first real dent in Australia’s monolithic Anglo-Saxon palate. Italians in particular helped revolutionise cooking, introducing wary Aussies to the wonders of pasta, garlic and olive oil. Today, each capital city has its concentration of Italian restaurants – Melbourne’s Lygon Street in the suburb of Carlton and Sydney’s Norton Street in Leichhardt being the most famous – serving authentic, well-priced food. In Melbourne, with its large Greek population, it is easy to find traditionally made taramasalata, dolmades or souvlaki.
But that was only the beginning. The extension of immigration in the 1970s added myriad new cuisines. The great melting-pot of Australian society meant that restaurants were suddenly opened by Lebanese, Turkish, Balkan, Hungarian and Spanish chefs.
The biggest recent influence has come from Asia. Regional Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and Indian restaurants are now Australia’s biggest success stories, with Korean, Sri Lankan, Singaporean and Indonesian cuisines waiting in the wings. Every capital city offers teppanyaki dining rooms and take-away laksa stalls. Singapore-style ‘food courts’ have sprung up, which have several fast-food stalls offering meals from different Asian cuisines. Supermarkets stock the required pastes and condiments for everyone’s favourite Thai or Indian dish.
Australian Wines
The wines of Australia are among the world’s best – a judgment confirmed consistently at international wine shows. Not only are the country’s finest wines world-beaters, but even the humble ‘kangarouge’ sold in boxes (‘casks’) is the worthy equivalent of any vin de table served in a bistro in France. Australians drink more than twice as much wine per capita as Americans, and anything that’s left over (800 million litres of it) is exported to over 100 countries. Wine is one of the country’s most important export industries and the range sold in liquor stores is extensive and moderately priced.
Australia’s interest in wine production stretches back a couple of centuries. The founder of the New South Wales colony, Captain Arthur Phillip, certainly had his priorities right, and one of the first projects he ordered in 1788 was the planting of vines at Sydney Cove. But the site (now part of Sydney’s Botanic Gardens) was quite wrong for growing grapes, and the experiment failed.
Rum, rather than wine, became the favourite drink under Governor Phillip’s successor. Free-enterprising army officers enjoyed a monopoly on the staggeringly profitable sales of rum, and widespread abuses were reported to London. It was Captain William Bligh, the original hardliner of Bounty fame, who was dispatched to clean up Australia. Governor Bligh was deposed in the Rum Rebellion of 1808, a mutiny led by one of the first wine-growers, John Macarthur.
Today, most of Australia’s European grape varieties are grown by some 2,000 wine producers on 152,000 hectares (376,000 acres) of vineyards. Riesling, Chardonnay and Semillon are the most favoured white varieties, while popular reds include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz (also known in Europe as Syrah). Climatic conditions ranging from warm to hot provide excellent ripening, with an abundance of flavour and comparatively high sugar levels. Australia’s vintage (harvest) occurs between January and May each year.
Wine crop in Barossa Valley
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Wine is produced in every state. The biggest producer is South Australia, where the best-known wineries are situated in the beautiful Barossa Valley, famed for its Shiraz. The most important wine-producing region of New South Wales is the Hunter Valley, noted for its Semillon and Shiraz. Victoria boasts numerous wine-growing regions (the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula are the closest to Melbourne and specialise in cool-climate varieties), and Western Australia’s Swan Valley and Margaret River areas have also made their mark with excellent Cabernets and Chardonnays. Tasmania’s temperate climate produces some fine Pinot Noir.
If you’re interested in seeing where the wine comes from, every state capital has wine-growing areas nearby, and the chance to sample wines at the cellar door is one of their most interesting features. As most wineries are concentrated in a relatively small area, they make ideal touring for a day or – better still – two days, either independently or on a guided tour.
A selection of Aussie beers
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The Amber Nectar
During the 19th century, most Australian beer was made like English ales, until, just over 100 years ago, German immigrants began to brew lighter Continental-style lagers in Melbourne. Nowadays lager is the dominant style, and it’s hugely popular throughout the country.
Beer is served very cold. Temperature is considered so important that beer-lovers will insist on chilled glasses, or will keep their ‘tinnie’ (can) or ‘stubbie’ (short bottle) in an insulating jacket.
Internationally the best-known Aussie beer is probably Foster’s lager, but you rarely see that on tap in Australia. More popular are brews such as Carlton Draught, Tooheys New, Victoria Bitter, XXXX (pronounced Four X), Cascade and Boags. Some beers are sold in ‘new’ and ‘old’ types, the first being lager and the latter darker in colour – approaching a stout. Coopers Sparkling Ale made in South Australia, is a favourite among connoisseurs – it’s rich and strong, similar to the best British real ales. In the last decade there has been a craft beer revolution in Australia, with boutique breweries such as Little Creatures, Matilda Bay, Fat Yak and Mountain Goat producing some very fine ales.
Beer is bought in a confusing mixture of measures that vary from state to state. Typically you will be served a ‘schooner’ (around 450ml) in Sydney and a ‘pot’ (285ml) in Melbourne. Many places serve jugs (1140ml) and pints (sometimes 500ml, sometimes 570ml). In Adelaide, a schooner-sized glass is referred to as a ‘pint’. One thing you can be reasonable sure of, is that you will pay a hefty price for whatever size glass you order – the average cost of a pint is currently around A$12, well above what you’d pay in most London pubs. Beer from bottleshops (some of which offer a drive-through service) is considerably cheaper.
Australia’s standard alcoholic strength for canned beer is 4.9 percent – pretty strong by international standards. A word of advice for weight-watchers from Europe or America: the word ‘light’ or ‘lite’ applied to beer in Australia means lighter in alcohol, not much lighter in calories. The alcoholic strength of beer is displayed on the can or bottle.