The Royal Croquet Club (RCC) is a pop up festival comprising food, beverages, a bit of sport and music. What’s croquet again? You know that game the queen of hearts plays in Alice in wonderland with the live flamingos as mallets and cute little hedgehogs as balls. Well it’s that game but less imaginative, it’s a nice casual summer sport. But is RCC really all about croquet? Not to my hungry tums it wasn’t, it was all about delicious food and summer beverages.
There were jugs of Pimms everywhere. Pimms with dry and fresh fruit is my fave. The Pimms was flowing and the sun was shining and that is what summer is all about. There are benches and seats around to sit or you can find a spot on the lawn.
Our first stop was Mr Claws. We had the chunky spicy lobster roll, which was a toasted brioche bun (oh so buttery) with cold chunky bits of lobster mixed in sriracha chilli mayo with spring onions to garnish. Loved it! You could probably eat it in three bites, or even two depending on your bite size, but each bite was delightful. I wanted to go back and get one of each flavour, they also had miso wasabi and the classic buttermilk roll available.
Second we tried Miss Chu’s crispy vegetarian Hanoi spring rolls. The outside of the spring roll looked like a wispy net of pastry, which was crispy and crumbly. It was nice and the spring rolls absorbed the nouc cham dipping sauce really well. I usually like my Hanoi spring rolls with meat but these were nice too.
After that no meat special we ordered some lamb skewers with sea salt from D.O.C . They were simple and delicious. It was small pieces of lamb on a skewer, which were cooked to perfection. They were juicy and tender and completely delish. I liked that they were mini pieces along the skewer, it made it easy to eat.
I saw people with the lamb chops on potato salad from Meatmother, which looked amazing. I had total food envy but had to decline because I was already feeling too full. I hate when that happens. That’s okay I’ll just have to make another visit. They also had a St. Ali caravan serving coffees and stuff.
Gelato Messina had an international soup kitchen, a very creative concept. The gelato was served in little soup tins. So adorable! And not to mention delicious!
We tried the black forrest bisque, which was chocolate fondant gelato, cherry jam, kirsch (brandy) cream and kirsch soaked sponge. The chocolate was rich and indulgent. I don’t usually eat soup in summer, but this is the exception. Frozen soup is a really cool idea.
My first thought when I heard there was pho gelato I mistakenly thought that it was gelato that tastes like pho (beef broth soup) and that would be pretty rank. But I had it all wrong. The gelato was soup inspired. For example, the faux pho (love the name) had Asian inspired flavours. It had salted coconut sorbet, kaffir lime marshmallow, lychee coconut cream and a chilli cashew crunch. They were exciting little pots of deliciousness. Ahh it all makes sense. It was amazing!
RCC is a great concept combining sport, music, drinks and food. All the things you want to be doing with your friends during summer in one place. It’s a fun place to hang after work or on the weekend this summer. It’s open up until the end of Jan so grab your mates and pop by.
I heart the Royal Croquet Club!
Olives x
Royal Croquet Club Melbourne
Address: Birrarung Marr (behind Fed square)
Facebook: http://www.grandtrailerpark.com.au
Event Dates: Friday 16th January 2015 - Sunday 1st February 2015
Trading Hours: Mon-Thu: 4pm-11pm, Fri: 4pm-1am, Sat: 12pm-1am, Sun: 12pm-11pm
Extended Trading hours for the Australia day Long Weekend & Closing Weekend:
Sunday 25th: 12pm - 12am
Monday 26th: 12pm - 12am
Closing Night Sunday 1st Feb: 12pm - 12am
