Royal Croquet Club Melbourne (RCC)

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – Birrarung Marr

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.

Royal Croquet Club – Melbourne

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.

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – Mr Claws’ spicy lobster roll

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.

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – Miss Chu’s vegetarian hanoi spring rolls

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.

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – D.O.C’s lamb skewers w sea salt

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.

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – Gelato Messina’s Black Forrest Bisque

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!

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – Black Forrest Bisque – Spoonful of delish

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.

Royal Croquet Club Melbourne – Gelato Messina’s Faux Pho

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

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Belle’s Hot Chicken

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Fitzroy

Belle’s hot chicken is a diner in Fitzroy, which serves American southern style fried chicken.The chicken is delicious! The chickens crunchy exterior and juicy interior can be hot or not, the choice is yours. This finger lickin’ fried chicken is definitely something worth talking about.

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Venue

There are booths and stools around or you can sit at the bar, true diner style. They also have some tables out front if you want some sunshine.

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Hot Wings

You choose your meat then you choose your heat. Easy done. I had ordered within two minutes flat (which never happens). The indecisive in me always delays the ordering process, but not this time. Actually after that, you also choose a sauce, a side and a drink to go with, but the point I was making was that the menu is incredibly simple which made it easy to choose. Hmm do I want chicken, chicken or… chicken. I chose the hot chicken wings.

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Hot Wings w mac & cheese

The meat options are chicken tenders, chicken wings (my fave) and dark meat (a thigh and drummy). They also have fish and mushrooms for those not that into chicken. Then you choose your heat. The heat of chilli ascends from southern, mild to really f**kin’ hot. I decided not to assassinate my tastebuds over lunch and settled for hot. The hot chicken is a good flavour to heat ratio for me.

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Chicken and chips

All of the orders of meat come with a side. You can opt for the classic combo of chicken and chips or you can order a side of beans, coleslaw or broccoli and almond salad. The first time we visited Belle’s we had the mac and cheese, which was mushy and really cheesy. But second time round I got the broccoli and almond salad, which is one salad you do make friends with. It was yum. Also the chicken comes with pickles, and lots of them. Delish!

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Chicken tenders, chips & ranch sauce

They had dipping sauces too. The ranch was creamy, the blue cheese was cheesy but didn’t have a strong blue cheese flavour and the mississippi comeback sauce was sort of like a thousand island sauce. There is a piece of bread under the chicken to soak up the oil and keep the chicken crispy. My bf utilises this otherwise disregarded piece of bread and makes a chip buddy out of it.

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Hot chicken & cold beverages

They have a range of alcoholic beverages on the menu, which make this diner even better. A bottle of wine with my fried chicken? Yes please! Why didn’t KFC think of that? Hot chicken, cold bevvies, match made in heaven.

Belle’s Hot Chicken – Chicken and chips

They have cutlery on hand but especially with wings you can’t be shy you just have to get right in and get your hands dirty. The chicken and side combo is very filling but if you can squeeze in a cheeky dessert, they have soft serves available, which can be a good cooling agent after some really f**kin’ hot chicken.

I heart Belle’s Hot Chicken!

Olives x

Belle’s Hot Chicken
Address: 150 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Website: http://www.belleshotchicken.com
Phone: 03 9077 0788
Trading Hours: Mon:12pm-10pm, Wed-Sat: 12pm-11pm, Sun: 11am-5pm