10 May 2019
Note: QVM is closed on Monday and Wednesday.
The morning started with cloudy sky but no rain as we took the free tram to Queen Victoria Market. We did a quick tour of the market checking out the food stalls as we came with an empty stomach.
A stall owner outside the Food Hall invited us to try some sugar coated almonds, peanuts and macadamia nuts. Since he was friendly and the caramelised almonds tasted so good, we bought a small packet of almonds for AUD 5 from him. This was to be consumed later during our road trip.
One of the must-try foods at QVM is the freshly baked donuts. We found the food truck American Donut Kitchen parked along Queen Street, selling the highly acclaimed donuts. 5 donuts for AUD 6. Although there was a queue, we did not have to wait very long to get our donuts.
The donuts are made in the truck so they were all nice and warm and coated with fine sugar. The donuts were not too big, so 5 donuts for the two of us to share was just right.
I was initially concerned that the jam-filled donuts would be too sweet so we asked for a mix of 2 plain donuts and 3 jam-filled donuts. The donuts were so soft and delicious. The jam was not too sweet for me. Therefore, I actually liked the jam-filled donuts better.
After the donuts, a cup of long black from The Market Espresso was a good idea. With coffee in hand, we went to the food stall called The Mussel Pot. This store is located in Shed A, the vegetable section of the market. This stall sells fresh mussels as well as bowls of freshly cooked mussels.
It started to rain too, so a hot bowl of steaming mussels was perfect for a cold rainy morning.
The Mussel Pot stall at Queen Victoria Market. The stall has a pair of mussel shells on the top that looked like wings of a giant beetle getting ready to take off.
The menu was clearly posted, with pictures too. We ordered a bowl of mussels, steamed with white wine, garlic and parsley, to share. The mussels were cooked upon order, so we sat and waited about 10 minutes for our meal to be prepared.
The bowl of mussels was served with a slice of bread, ideal to mop up the tasty broth at the bottom of the bowl.
Menu at the Mussel Pot (Left). Mussels steamed with White Wine, Garlic and Parsley (Top Right) and Mussels steamed with Coconut Chilli, tomato, cream and parsley (Bottom Right).
I normally do not like to eat mussels as what was served up in restaurants back home was typically chewy and bland tasting stuff. I had confidence that the mussels in Australia would be fresher and better prepared.
We were not disappointed. The freshly steamed mussels were so well cooked, tender and juicy that we decided that we must have another bowl.
The next one we tried was the spicy one with coconut, tomato, chilli, cream and parsley. The broth at the bottom of the bowl was not too spicy and tasted like curry. We were equally delighted with our second bowl of mussels.
If I were to visit QVM again in the future, I will make sure to have few more bowls of freshly cooked mussels from The Mussel Pot.
After our brunch, we explore the various sections of the market offering items like fresh meat, seafood, processed food, fruits and vegetables etc. This was very similar to what we saw at the South Melbourne Market.
We bought a bag of premium mixed nuts from a stall in the Dairy Produce Hall that offers a wide range of nuts – macadamias, pecans, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and almonds. We ate these nuts during our road trip later and found them so fresh, well roasted and delicious.
As forecasted, the weather took a turn for the worse and started raining heavily. We spend our time exploring the large sections of the market selling Specialty products that includes souvenirs, clothing, bags, pet products, kitchen wares etc. This reminded me of a typical street market in South East Asia, except that these stalls are under large sheds that sheltered us from the pouring rain.
Raining cats and dogs while we stood opposite a pet product stall in the Queen Victoria Market.
The rain lightened up at about 1 PM, just in time for us to leave QVM for some other indoor activities around the city.
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