Restaurant News

University of Melbourne Farmers' Market

Our restaurant critics' picks of the latest and best eats around the country right now.

By Michael Harden
Our restaurant critics' picks of the latest and best eats around the country right now: University of Melbourne Farmers' Market.
Given its location on the University of Melbourne's Parkville campus, it's fitting that there's an educational component to Melbourne's newest farmers' market. Staking its flag on Union Lawn (aka the Concrete Lawn, near Union House) every Wednesday until late May, the market is as much about lunch as it is about fresh goods, with many of the stallholders taking the opportunity to demonstrate how their raw produce can be prepared. So at Faranda Farms vegetable stall, for example, there's a different vegetable fritter each week (if it's the cauliflower version run, don't walk) while the Milawa Cheese stall does excellent cheese toasties and Seven Hills Goat Farm offers slow-braised goat in a tortilla alongside the raw stuff. There's also dumplings and teriyaki chicken and Ghost Kitchen is doing Taiwanese street food. The backdrop of berries, free-range eggs, honey, bread, pickles and so on keeps this from becoming just another gathering of the food-truck clan. It's certainly a fun way to do a bit of shopping and eat lunch outdoors, particularly given the beautiful and slightly dreamy surrounds.
University of Melbourne Farmers' Market, Union Lawn, Parkville, Vic. Every Wednesday from 11am-3pm until May 27.
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