The Lillipad Café, Glebe, Sydney Credit: Laszio Hrabinsky
Australian native ingredients feature on the menu at The Lillipad Café in Sydney’s Glebe.
#lovensw #ilovesydney
No longer a culinary curiosity, Australian native ingredients have been embraced by chefs and foodies across the country. Here are just some of the places in Sydney where you can sample these unique flavours.
Dining out
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal chefs alike are showcasing the versality and unique flavours of native ingredients in eateries across Sydney.
Yidindji woman Nyoka Hrabinsky runs The Lillipad Café in Glebe, a 10-minute drive from the city centre in the Inner West, which features café stalwarts with a bush food twist. Try the native-spiced gangurru (kangaroo) burger, or a vegetable patty with saltbush, wattleseed, pepper leaf, finger lime and bush tomato among its ingredients.
And at The Tin Humpy in Redfern, a 10-minute drive from the city centre, Bundjalung woman Yvette Lever serves up café fare for breakfast and lunch. Wattle seed features in the Tin Humpy’s moreish brownies. At Botanic House, in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, you’ll find a tasting menu created by Vietnamese-Australian chef and restaurateur Luke Nguyen, who fuses Eastern flavours with native ingredients.
For a fine-dining experience, book a table at iconic sister harbourside eateries Quay and Bennelong, where celebrated chef Peter Gilmore pays homage to homegrown flavours, including foraged samphire and sea lettuce, in his signature award-winning dishes.
The Lillipad Café, Glebe, Sydney Credit: Laszio Hrabinsky
A kangaroo burger with finger-lime mayonnaise and bush-tomato relish at The Lillipad Café in Sydney’s Glebe.
#lovensw
The Lillipad Café, Glebe, Sydney Credit: Laszio Hrabinsky
A kangaroo burger with finger-lime mayonnaise and bush-tomato relish at The Lillipad Café in Sydney’s Glebe.
Straight from the source
The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney is a wonderful cornucopia of native plants; taking a tour with an Aboriginal guide allows you to discover seasonal bush foods — their history, cultural significance and uses, both as food and medicine and you’ll get the opportunity to taste what’s in season. Part of the new South Eveleigh precinct, the South Eveleigh Community Building Rooftop Garden showcases a variety of native edible, cultural, and medicinal plant species. Overseen by Jiwah, an Indigenous company specialising in cultural landscape and design, the garden brings life to South Eveleigh’s rich Aboriginal culture and heritage and offers a range of educational and cultural activities and events throughout the year. The garden is also used by chefs like Kylie Kwong, who features ingredients such as native bush mint on her menu at nearby Lucky Kwong.
In the south-eastern Sydney suburb of La Perouse, visit IndigiGrow’s native nursery and farm to taste-test native edibles before trying your hand at growing your own. You can also try some of the herbs and succulents on sale at the nursery and learn about their medicinal benefits. As a not-for-profit social enterprise, IndigiGrow aims to sustain people, land and culture through the propagation of native plants, including bush foods.
Bush to Bowl is dedicated to growing and educating the public about native plants, particularly edibles. The team runs workshops and sells plants and native bushfood produce from its Northern Beaches farm.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy a tour in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
#ilovesydney
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy a tour in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
South Eveleigh Community Rooftop Garden, Eveleigh Credit: Destination NSW
Native indigenous bush plants at South Eveleigh Community Rooftop Garden
#ilovesydney
South Eveleigh Community Rooftop Garden, Eveleigh Credit: Destination NSW
Native indigenous bush plants at South Eveleigh Community Rooftop Garden
Fill your bags with flavour
You may also find an IndigiGrow stall at the Blak Markets, a marketplace offering bush foods alongside Aboriginal arts and crafts, fashion and beauty products featuring native Australian botanicals. The markets are usually held eight times throughout the year, at various venues around Sydney, including La Perouse. Visit the Blak Markets website for the timing and location of the next market.
Head to Carriageworks Farmers Market in the Inner West suburb of Eveleigh to check out the Currong Comestibles range of chutneys, jams and shrubs (fruity drinking vinegars that can be added to cocktails and mocktails). Each product is made by combining traditional recipes with native ingredients such as rainforest lime and riberries. Also at Carriageworks, Darling Mills Farm sells fresh finger limes and warrigal greens when in season.
Northside Produce Market boasts three family-run businesses championing native foods: Darling Mills Farm offers its produce here too, while Brother Mountain Macadamias celebrates Australia’s favourite homegrown nuts. For the time-poor, Wholefood and Spice produces ready-made cake mixes using ‘superfood’ native ingredients such as Kakadu and Davidson plums as well as spice mixes with ingredients such as wattleseed and lemon myrtle. The market takes place at Ted Mack Civic Park in North Sydney on the first and third Saturday of each month.
Carriageworks Farmers Markets, Eveleigh Credit: Destination NSW
Women enjoying a day out at Carriageworks Markets in Eveleigh.
#ilovesydney
Carriageworks Farmers Markets, Eveleigh Credit: Destination NSW
Women enjoying a day out at Carriageworks Markets in Eveleigh.
Archie Rose Distilling Co., Rosebery Credit: Destination NSW
Archie Rose, in Sydney’s Rosebery, adds native ingredients to its signature gin and bottled cocktails.
#ilovesydney
Archie Rose Distilling Co., Rosebery Credit: Destination NSW
Archie Rose, in Sydney’s Rosebery, adds native ingredients to its signature gin and bottled cocktails.
Drink in the goodness
Australia’s First Nations Peoples have been using native ingredients in drinks for tens of thousands of years, and it seems the rest of us are finally catching on. Amber Sunderland, of Sydney tea company T Totaler, says there is increasing interest in native tea blends, for both their flavourings and their medicinal properties. T Totaler sources many local native ingredients and all blends can be sampled at its Sydney store in The Galeries shopping centre on George Street in the city centre.
If you’re after something a little stronger, check out Sydney craft distiller Archie Rose Distilling Co. The distillery’s award-winning Signature Dry Gin is produced using a balance of 14 traditional and native botanicals, including blood lime, Dorrigo pepperleaf, lemon myrtle and river mint. You can give the gin a go and sample the new range of native Australian bottled cocktails at its bar in Rosebery, a 15-minute drive from the city centre, and book a behind-the-scenes tour of the distillery.
More Inspirational Stories
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, CorowaCredit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a visit to Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, Corowa.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Feast on the riches of one of Australia’s most important food bowls on a road trip through the Murray, named after the mighty river that flows through this southwest area of New South Wales. Float down the river on a historic paddlesteamer wine cruise, stop by farm gates to sample incredible fresh produce, and dine at chic restaurants and bars in this unique culinary playground.
Take the back roads for gourmet treats
Head off the beaten path along The Backroads Trail, a 250km driving route that passes through the small pastoral towns of Barham, Moama, Mathoura and Deniliquin on the upper reaches of the Murray River. Sink your teeth into fresh olives, avocados, free-range pork, honey and citrus fruit from farm gates along its loops and trails, and taste the region’s wines at vineyards such as Restdown Wines. While you’re at this winery, venture out along the Restdown Wetland Walk to encounter Aboriginal cooking hearths and an old sheep camp.
Cruise along to The Old School Winery & Meadery in Womboota to pick up wine, pottery and honey mead. Or seek out Ivy Joyce in Barham to indulge in a warm space, offering local produce from farms for a truly paddock to plate experience in the heart of Murray River country. For more snacks and meaty fare such as British-style pork pies and sausages, head to Pacdon Park’s factory shop in Moama.
You can work up an appetite as you build your own itinerary on the theme of food, paddocks and produce, and find suggested routes and maps to Murray River farm gates, at the Echuca Moama Visitor Centre.
Wine and dine along the river
Embark on a wine tour by water in Moama, where the first steamboats made their way up the Murray in 1853. Take a Murray River Paddlesteamers Wharf to Winery Cruise from the town to Morrisons Riverview Winery for a leisurely lunch. Or drive along the river, stopping in at Three Black Sheep for risotto and woodfired pizzas, and tasting crisp dry whites and full-flavoured reds at St Anne’s Vineyards, where you can nibble on a cheese platter overlooking a scenic lake.
Head east along the riverside roads to rest and recharge in the town of Tocumwal, known for its riverside beaches, golf courses, glider flying and iconic Big Murray Cod statue. Start the following day with a solid foundation of breakfast pizza (topped with bacon, eggs and a hash brown) at The Old Bank and indulge in a scoop of ice-cream or sorbet from Tocumwal Ice Creamery – flavours include rocky road, green apple or macadamia. If you’re in town on a Saturday, pick up honey, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, dressings and other condiments made by local producers at the Tocumwal Foreshore Markets.
Continue your odyssey along the river to Corowa, the birthplace of Australian Federation. Immerse in the town’s rich turn-of-the-20th-century colonial heritage as you make your way to the former 1920s flour mill housing Corowa Distilling Co. Here you can book a whisky tasting and behind-the-scenes tour and buy locally made chocolates and sweets from sister shop Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory. Work off an indulgent afternoon with a walk along the river before settling into the stylish Circa 1936 hotel, which is housed in an Art Deco former bank on the main street of Corowa.
Celebrate regional ingredients in Albury
From Corowa, follow the Riverina Highway eastward to the city of Albury, a food, wine and culture hub. Taste how seasonality and locality are expressed at The Proprietor, a former butcher shop turned cafe offering brunch treats such as fruit toast with Beechworth honey and whipped ricotta, and banana waffles with Gundowring vanilla ice-cream. Or try the all-day breakfast offering at Mr Benedict, from cheesy bacon waffle with popcorn chicken to one of its signature eggs benedicts, including one with cider-braised ham hock.
At The River Deck restaurant, local ingredients are celebrated alongside stunning river views, and dishes may include chicken Caesar salad with Milawa eggs or beef brisket braised in coffee by Albury roaster The Brothers Cup. At tiny and elegant Bistro Selle, complement warm Gooramadda olives with a buttery Australian chardonnay and fresh market fish. Yardbird offers a bold-flavoured menu featuring dishes like scorched Albacore tuna, along with meats grilled in a Spanish woodfired oven.
In between meals, stroll along the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk and take in the contemporary artworks by Aboriginal artists that line the Wagirra Trail. Meander through the Murray Art Museum Albury’s contemporary photographic collection, Aboriginal art and works by renowned Australian artist Sir Russell Drysdale. Afterwards, order lunch or dinner at the museum’s excellent Canvas Eatery – try the saltbush lamb rump or one of their Neapolitan-style pizzas.
The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota Credit: Destination NSW
Couple taste tasting mead at The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota Credit: Destination NSW
Couple taste tasting mead at The Old School Winery & Meadery, Womboota
Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available from Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available from Morrison's Riverview Winery and Restaurant, Moama.
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, Corowa Credit: Destination NSW
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate located in a 1920âs old flour mill in Corowa.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate, Corowa Credit: Destination NSW
Corowa Whisky & Chocolate located in a 1920âs old flour mill in Corowa.
Canvas Eatery, Albury Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available at Canvas Eatery in Albury.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Canvas Eatery, Albury Credit: Destination NSW
Food and wine available at Canvas Eatery in Albury.