Weekend Away - Bendigo Part 1

At the end of May, we enjoyed a weekend away to Bendigo to see the Genius and Ambition exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery. 

Lunch: Day 1

If you are a serious foodie, then Piper Street in Kyneton should satisfy your culinary desires. It is the only street in provincial Victoria that has two restaurants that have been awarded Age Good Food hats. With many cafés and restaurants to choose from, it can be difficult to pick just one to try. Duck Duck Goose & Larder looked very inviting so we snatched a table inside.

 

Items on the menu include ‘Pumpkin bruschetta with goats cheese, rocket, beetroot relish, topped with candied prosciutto ($15.90)’ and ‘Sourdough French toast with seasonal fresh fruit, yoghurt, berry coulis, and almond praline ($15.90).’

 

I didn’t want a big lunch so I decided to have the ‘Soup of the day’ ($9.00). A hearty bowl of potato, bacon, and leek soup arrived with a tiny piece of toast. The aromatic herbs added extra flavour but I just wished they had been a little more generous with the bread so I could have sopped up all my lovely soup. Then again, I just really love my bread...

Potato, Bacon & Leek Soup

 
My dining companion chose the ‘Tart of the day’ ($12.50) served with salad and house made chutney. Today’s tart filling was roasted vegetable and fetta. The salad was a delicious meal on its own as it was full of tasty morsels. The wonderfully puffy pastry of the tart was slightly let down by its filling. It was a little on the bland side and needed a bit of punch from some sharp cheese.

Roasted Vegetable & Fetta Tart

 

Duck Duck Goose uses Supreme Coffee – South Blend and our lattes ($3.80) were extremely gratifying.


Latte

 

After lunch, we perused the larder section of the establishment. Filled with lots of regional goodies, this place is definitely somewhere to visit if you are in the region.


Larder

Address: 17 - 19 Piper St, Kyneton, VIC

Phone: 03 5422 1653

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Dinner: Day 1

For our evening meal, we tried many restaurants but everything was booked out. We noticed that other tourists were also encountering the same problem that night. I would suggest booking a place earlier if you can. As Bendigo is a town known for its rich Chinese heritage from the gold rush, we hoped that maybe the Chinese restaurant around the corner may have a spare table for us. Thankfully, they did! I thought we were going to have to have dinner at McDonald’s at that stage... The staff at the Imperial Palace were very welcoming and we were swiftly seated. The menu also consists of Malaysian and Thai dishes. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera. We started with some steamed dim sims. These looked home-made but were like tough, rubber balls. My dining companion was not a big fan so I ate most of them. The accompanying sweet chilli sauce did not make them more palatable. For my main, I chose the Vegetarian Char Kway Teow which was very enjoyable. I would come back to this restaurant just for this dish alone. My dining companion opted for the Sizzling Beef which was nice and tender. The restaurant was reasonably priced with our total bill, plus two glasses of wine totalling $59.60.

Address: 2 High St, Bendigo, VIC

  

Phone: 03 5443 4329

 
Weekend Away - Bendigo Part 2 coming soon...