Healthy Food: March into Merivale: Launch Party 2012, Sydney (16 Feb 2012)

The Ivy Room, 320 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
+ Ash Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://merivale.com.au

Eat my words — there'll be food!

Thanks to James Cooley from Stellar* Concepts Australia for providing me a VIP invite to the March into Merivale Launch Party. The $20 ticketed event (8 food and drink tokens) was sold out to a capacity of crowd of 1500 people which certainly made it a challenge to get around the place, even with my 15 minute VIP head start. More pre-time would have been appreciated but over the 3 hours I finally managed to get my stomach around to all the restaurant stands to try all the food. Overall I thought the food was even better this year and the decor and atmosphere more colourful and lively. Chef Dan Hong of Ms.G's was in pole position at the main entrance and his Vietnamese ocean trout ceviche with prawn crackers ended up being one of my most favourite dishes of the night — simple with good flavours on a crispy cracker as hoped. Sailors Thai were doing tender and tasty Grilled chicken satay with peanut sauce which got my vote too.

With no time for back tracking I had to sway between savoury and sweet and Ash St Cellar's Raspberry tart of the day gets a worthy mention. Back onto savoury I enjoyed the flavours of the substantial sized Crumbed flathead, pico de gallo, mayo & pickled chili from El Loco although their Field mushroom quesadilla with chipotle mayo was way too messy to eat while standing. I'm a sucker for good quality oysters so it was hard not to like Felix's Tasting of fruit de mare with lobster roll, oyster, prawn & mussel although there was no sign of the mussel mentioned and I wish the lobster roll was more lobster than bun. I would have been happy with just 3 oysters and 2 king prawns as the dish with a bit of nice salad perhaps. Mad Cow probably produced the smallest dishes of all the restaurants but their Signature pavlova with strawberries & passion fruit and Barbequed rangers valley wagyu flank steak were both very enjoyable.

Moving on upstairs I looked forward to seeing what the 3 hatted est had came up with. I thought the Salad of sand crab heart of palm, avocado, chili, pink grapefruit, coriander cress had potential but would have preferred the avocado and pink grapefruit to be more finally diced to eat easier on the witlof lettuce. However I did enjoy their Mascarpone citrus cannoli, raspberries and violets which became a favourite of the night — the brandy snap was wafer thin and crunchy as hoped. By the time I got to Bistrode CBD the queue was too crazy to wait. How could you blame them with a spit roasted whole pig adorning their stand. I later returned but they'd run out of the raw fennel, watercress & lemon dressing salad to go with the pork. I thought the nicely flavoured and tender meat would have gone well with some good crackling and apple sauce or gravy to complete the dish. Chef Nobuyuki Ura was doing his great tasting Spicy tuna ‘dynamite’ roll again for Sushi e — he seriously reminds me of Jeff from The Wiggles. Lethal margaritas were to be had at the El Loco bar for 3 tokens using Espolon Tequila 100% Pure Agave. A new face of Mr Wong provided just one dish of a Steamed Scallop shumai which included a decent amount of prawn inside — definitely a winner, more please.

As a summary here's my list of favourite dishes I would have chosen if I was restricted to only picking 8 with a $20 ticket:
1. Ms.G's - Vietnamese ocean trout ceviche with prawn crackers
2. Sailors Thai - Grilled chicken satay with peanut sauce
3. Ash St. Cellar - Raspberry tart of the day
4. El Loco - Crumbed flathead, pico de gallo, mayo & pickled chili
5. Felix - Tasting of fruit de mare with lobster roll, oyster, prawn & mussel
6. Mad Cow - Barbequed rangers valley wagyu flank steak with spicy barbeque sauce
7. Est. - Mascarpone citrus cannoli, raspberries and violets

8. Mr Wong - Steamed Scallop shumai

March into Merivale runs from 16 February til 5 April and includes plenty of foodie events and $33 restaurant meal deals to be had. Be quick because many events sell out fast. I've already missed out on booking tickets to the Gin Master Class, being a passionate gin drinker myself.

Other March into Merivale Launch Party events:
• 16 Feb 2012 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2012
• 24 Feb 2011 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2011
• 16 March 2010 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2010
• 3 March 2009 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2009

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Opportunity to meet the chefs and try their event dishes, Pretty good value if you pick the right dishes that you enjoy, Great event to mingle and possibly meet new people, Creative and fun atmosphere

CONS: Very crowded and challenging for those who don't enjoy crowds, Need to queue for food at the very popular stands, People line up before 6 pm to be the first ones in

MUST TRY: Booking your events and restaurants soon because they can sell out fast

—

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Let's get ready to party!

$33 meal deals

Amazing, Tasty & Nom Nom come to mind

MS.G’S

Sang choy bao of cheeseburger springroll with potato chip mayonnaise

Vietnamese ocean trout ceviche with prawn crackers

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

SAILORS THAI

Grilled chicken satay with peanut sauce

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Beef curry with roti

ASH ST. CELLAR

Chef Alfie Spina and team

Chicken and chorizo argentinean empanada with salsa criolla — nice flavours although if salsa served in a spoon would have been easier to pour

Ash st. cellar tart of the day with various toppings — raspberry preferred

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

EL LOCO

All smiles under the pressure of popularity

Crumbed flathead, pico de gallo, mayo & pickled chili

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Field mushroom quesadilla with chipotle mayo — was very messy and awkward to eat while standing up

FELIX

Chef Lauren Murdoch (right)

Tasting of fruit de mare with lobster roll, oyster, prawn & mussel — no sign of the mussel and more lobster than bun would have been preferred

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Lamb pie, sautéed mushrooms and tarragon jus

MAD COW

Chef Christopher Whitehead

Cooking the wagyu flank steak

Team Mad Cow in action

Barbequed rangers valley wagyu flank steak with spicy barbeque sauce — very small serving but was very good

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Signature pavlova with strawberries & passion fruit

EST.

Chef Peter Doyle (right) and the team

Salad of sand crab heart of palm, avocado, chili, pink grapefruit, coriander cress — would have preferred if the avocado was more like a guacamole and pink grapefruit was smaller pieces to make it easier to eat without a fork

Mascarpone citrus cannoli, raspberries and violets

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

UCCELLO

Chef Eugenio Riva — loving the glass frames!

Vitello tonnato, piquillo peppers & caper berries

Prawn & calamari salad with saffron infused orzo, olives, chili, cherry tomatoes & parsley

SUSHI E

Chef Nobuyuki Ura aka Jeff from The Wiggles perhaps?

Me trying to match the poster

Spicy tuna ‘dynamite’ roll

WORTH TRYING :-)

Wagyu beef confit with miso sesame sauce, Snapper sashimi, ruby grapefruit, white soy dressing

EL LOCO

Shake it til it hurts

Lethal Margaritas

WORTH TRYING :-)

DAVID O’BRIEN

Chef David O'Brien and the crew for Merivale events

Poached prawn salad, fennel, feta, lemon, celery heart

Roulade of eggplant, zucchini, ricotta & parmesan with pesto, lentils and parmesan

Tuna carpaccio, fois gras butter, brioch, quail egg — would have preferred served in a spoon to eat in one go

WORTH TRYING :-)

MR WONG

Mr Wong I presume

Steamed Scallop shumai

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

SUSHI CHOO

It's sushi time

Creamy salmon and avocado hand-roll

WORTH TRYING :-)

Mixed seafood ceviche

Vegetarian hand roll — the only dish I didn't try on the night

THE BERESFORD HOTEL

Shellfish orecchiette with vongole, mussels, crab, cuttlefish, squid, chili, garlic, parley & lemon — lots of seafood included but I think I was too full by this stage to appreciate