Ahh, for the love of all things good food we’re back at it to bring you another round of Monday Munchies. If you’re new here, welcome to Man of Many’s semi-regular – sometimes very irregular – food news where we talk about everything that’s happening in Australia food-wise. In this edition, we have a very special collaboration from two of the country’s best burger and pizza joints, while the legends at Impossible Foods have dropped an all-new meat alternative (hint, hint, it tastes like meat). Let’s get it started.
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Image: Milky Lane x Crust
Crust and Milky Lane Collab Launches in Australia
Prepare your tastebuds, because one of our favourite pizza players Crust Pizza has teamed up with burger chain Milky Lane to combine two of the world’s most crave-worthy foods. Dropping in both restaurants from Tuesday, 30 August, Aussies can get their hands and taste buds on the products from Crust and Milky Lane stores nationwide.
Saving Aussies the agony of food envy and indecision, Milky Lane has created two beyond-belief burgers inspired by famous Crust pizza classics, while Crust has cooked up two indulgent pizzas paying homage to Milky Lane’s iconic menu of Instagrammable burgers.
- Notorious P.I.G ($22) – Inspired by Crust’s crowd-favourite Hawaiian pizza, this burger has a double smashed beef pattie on a cheese, bacon and pineapple milk bun topped with mozzarella cheese, melted cheese, streaky bacon, shaved leg ham, Mexican shredded cheese and deep fried pineapple.
- Peri J Blige ($24) – The delicious love child of Crust’s Peri Peri Chicken Pizza and Milky Lane’s Chicken Burger, consisting of southern fried chicken on a Peri Peri milk bun with Peri Peri Sauce, red capsicum strips, mozzarella cheese, Napoli sauce, mixed Italian herbs and to top it off, a deep-fried mozzarella pattie!
- The Big P ($25) – Inspired by Milky Lane’s top-selling and most decadent beef burger, this creation is made up of slow-cooked pulled pork, ground beef, caramelised onions and mozzarella on a BBQ base and topped with dill pickles, maple bacon bits, Mexi-cheese mix and finished with Milky Lane’s signature burger sauce. To elevate this even further, The Big P has a first-of-its-kind, drool-worthy onion-ring crust!
- Chic-Kanye ($25) – An ode to Milky Lane’s most loved chicken burger, this spicy (but not too spicy) gal comes with fried chicken tenders coated in Milky Lane’s signature southern seasoning, bacon, caramelised pineapple, roasted potato and mozzarella on a BBQ base, finished with delicious maple bacon bits, Mexi-cheese mix and Sriracha aioli.
“We’re always looking to push the boundaries with what we bring to our Milky fans, and we couldn’t think of a better way than whipping up a dream collab with an iconic brand like Crust,” said Milky Lane, Founder Christian Avant.
Image: Seagrass Group
Qantas Frequent Flyers Can Dine Out on New Partnership
Qantas Frequent Flyers can now earn and use points on some of Australia’s best dining experiences as part of a new partnership with the Seagrass Boutique Hospitality Group. Qantas Points will be on the menu at more than 40 dining venues across Australia including 6HEAD, Ribs & Burgers, Italian Street Kitchen, Hunter & Barrel and The Meat & Wine Co. restaurants.
Members can earn;
- 3 points per dollar spent at premium venues including 6HEAD, Hunter & Barrel and Meat & Wine Co.
- 2 points per dollar spent at Ribs & Burgers and Italian Street Kitchen
Frequent flyers can also use points to pay the bill in full, or for a portion of the bill, using Points Plus Pay at all venues.
Qantas Loyalty’s new integrated pin-pad experience will be used in venues at the point of sale to deliver a seamless experience for members looking to earn or use points on their meals. The Qantas Reward Code technology was developed to allow members to easily use Qantas Points on the ground by securely scanning their digital Frequent Flyer Card and then entering their unique Reward Code.
A list of locations can be found at the link below.
Image: Butter x Impossible Pork Ramen
Impossible Pork Lands at Some of Australia’s Favourite Restaurants
California-based Impossible Foods is launching Impossible Pork at a number of iconic local restaurants and cafes across Australia. Local foodies can now enjoy a wide range of classic pork dishes made with Impossible Pork at restaurants including the acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant Red Lantern in Sydney, the iconic plant-based eatery Smith & Daughters in Melbourne, and at any location of the cult dining institution Butter.
A blind taste test in Hong Kong revealed over half of the consumers surveyed prefer Impossible Pork over ground pork from pigs, with Impossible Pork scoring higher in every category tested, including flavour liking, texture liking, and purchase intent.
“Australia is one of the heaviest meat-consuming markets per capita in the world and pork plays a central role in some of the nations’ favourite cuisines, so launching Impossible Pork there felt like the natural next step for our expansion,” said Jordan Sadowsky, Director of International at Impossible Foods. “We’re working with some of the most exciting chefs in Australia to showcase the culinary versatility of this product, and we think people are really going to love it.”
Look for our personal taste test in the weeks to come!
Image: Crown
Crown Melbourne Brings One of Asia’s Most Iconic Restaurants Downunder
Venturing to Melbourne for the first time, the month-long pop-up at Crown will reflect Chef Dharshan’s dual Japanese and Sri Lankan lineage and culture, while featuring a variety of Ministry of Crab’s most iconic dishes. Think of favourites such as the fiery pepper crab, avocado crab salad, crab liver pâté and garlic chilli prawn.
Enhancing this incredible menu will be bespoke wine parings from leading Australian labels including Penfolds, Wynns, Seppelt and Coldstream Hills. The pop-up will showcase sustainably sourced local Australian crab from Queensland and the Northern Territory, curated by one of Asia’s finest chefs, adding yet another unique dining experience to the already vibrant food scene in Melbourne.
What: Renowned Sri Lankan restaurant, Ministry of Crab, pop-up at Crown Melbourne.
Where: Crown Melbourne Evergreen dining space.
When: Friday 14 October 2022 – Saturday 12 November 2022
Bookings for this limited-time only dining experience are now available via the link below from $185.00pp or $240.00pp with wine pairings.
Image: Mooncakes from Golden Century XOPP
Sydney’s Darling Square Celebrates Moon Festival
From Thursday 25 August until Sunday 11 September, Darling Square will transform into a world of colour in celebration of the annual Darling Square Moon Festival. Traditionally observed in Chinese culture, the festival will see the Darling Square precinct come to life with hundreds of bright lanterns lighting up the night, an exclusive mooncake pop-up stall from Gong Grocer, DJ sets and an immersive projection experience.
Darling Square is home to over 27 different cultures and together they unite to celebrate the wonderful meaning of the Moon Festival. Food retailers across the precinct will be creating Moon Festival-themed menu items including Auvers’ Once in a Blue Moon mooncake, Wingboy’s Moonboy Fried Ice Cream and Tsukiyo’s Taiyaki with lotus bean paste.
Mooncakes are traditional Chinese desserts made specially during the Mid-Autumn Festival and are considered a delicacy to be enjoyed with loved ones. Haymarket’s iconic Gong Grocer will be in the precinct from 1-10 September showcasing its new premium brand, Gong Grocer. The pop-up stall will be selling a huge range of delicious international and locally branded mooncakes such as Golden Century/XOPP’s famous lava mooncakes, Wing Wah, Meixin, and many more.
There will also be a DJ on Friday 9 September (5-9pm) and roving Chinese Ribbon Dancers on Saturday 10 September (5-8pm).
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