Food festivals and collaborations are all the rage right now, so it was about time for a Dumpling Festival. Some of Melbourne’s best dumpling restaurants will be coming together for a five-hour dumpling face-off later this month, a free event that will bring the best out of participating restaurants Tim Ho Wan, China Red, China Chilli, and Dragon Boat. It’s being presented at 206 Bourke Street by Good Beer Week co-founder, and Brooklyn Brewery ambassador, Miro Bellini, all about pairing good beer with great dumplings in 30-minute sittings, right alongside dumpling making demos, Chinese Calligraphy workshops, live entertainment, and more.
30 people will be permitted into the free beer-and-dumpling pop-up restaurant per sitting, each settling down to tuck into one signature dumpling dish paired up with three Brooklyn Brewery craft beers – booking will be essential (website link below). Outside of that, visitors will be able to walk through a precinct full of take-away and dine-in options across the participating restaurants.
Dishes offered during the beer-and-dumpling sittings include pork and prawn dumplings from Dragon Boat; spicy pork won tons with schezwan sauce from China Red; wasabi prawn dumplings from Tim Ho Wan; and mixed cabbage and pork dumplings with homemade sweet spicy sauce from China Chilli.
“Dumplings and beer, the make a perfect pair”, said Bellini. “We’re excited to be doing what we do best with some of Melbourne’s greatest dumpling chefs…offering heaps of tasting notes so our guests walk away understanding how food pairing works and making informed beverage choices when they next dine-in”.
The event will also see Tim Ho Wan preview their Lava Bombs for the very first time in Melbourne, hosting their own dedicated mini pop up from 6pm on the day, where the first 200 people will be treated to the gooey sweet custard dumpling, which has so far only been available in Tim Ho Wan’s Sydney restaurants.
Festivalgoers also have a chance to win a year’s supply of dumplings, and while exact competition details are scarce right now anything would be worth a shot at 12 months full of those perfectly made steamed parcels.
Melbourne Dumpling Festival
Where: 206 Bourke Street
When: Friday 21st October; 5pm-10pm
Website: 206bourkestreet.com
Image supplied
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