The ultimate Ballarat foodie bucket list

Eats and treats you need to get in your mouth, ASAP.

Hands up if you’ve been to Ballarat?

The cold, old gold mining city earns its keep off freakishly fresh temps and rich mining history— and if you’re from Melbourne in Victoria, there’s a high chance you’ve experienced this on a school excursion while panning for gold and gobbling raspberry drops at Sovereign Hill.

I’d say in the past decade, the ‘Rat has earned serious cred for its food scene.

This year I was asked back to host the cooking demos at Ballarat Heritage Harvest Festival at Sovereign Hill, which is part of the city’s annual Heritage Weekend.

The Sovereign Hill gig is a two-day celebration of sensational eating and drinking, with local chefs celebrating bygone kitchen tricks such as fermenting and foraging, and pickling and preserving.

This year I asked the chefs to share some eats they have been loving around town, to compile the ultimate foodie bucket list for the locals and visitors.

So, here it is, including one dish I cannot get out of my head.

1) Gambas Al Pil Pil at Meigas, Kara Monssen

The second time I ate this dish was almost a decade after the first. Back in 2015, I was sent out to film a video for my ‘Bite-Sized Ballarat’ about a new Spanish restaurant that had just opened in the Bridge Mall.

Jose Fernandez, the owner and chef, was zipping around the tiny kitchen showing me on camera how it’s done.

Take a solid glug of olive oil, a twinkle of crimson Spanish paprika (slightly sweet, that you can only find at a good European grocery), heaps of garlic and fresh fat prawns.

Whack ‘em in a skillet, over high flame, until the cauldron of seasoned luscious lava is bubbling away. Once cooled, then we indulge with a stale baguette for dunking pleasure.

Last year, while hosting Heritage Harvest weekend, I went out with fellow foodies; Great Australian Bake Off host Darren Purchese and his chef-partner Cath Claringbold, and it was just as delicious as the first time around.

33 Armstrong St N, Ballarat

2) Beef brisket, jalapeno and cheese pie at Shop 29, Tim Bone; Tim's Toasties

Found in an unassuming backstreet of Wendouree, Shop 29 is winning hearts (and awards) for what it’s whacking between shortcrust. The beef brisket, jalapeno and cheese pie is a special, not around often, but iyknk.

29 Harold St, Wendouree

3) Coffee at Cobb or Johnny Alloo, Jigs Liwanag; Hotel Canberra

Full disclosure- owner Brendan Wrigley is a fellow Courier alumni. We never worked together but have shared a bev over the years. He's swapped the daily news grind for another kind of stimulant, fuelling bleary-eyed Ballarat folk since 2020. Rumble Coffee is on a La Marzocco.

While Johnny Alloo is the second venue for Matthew Freeman. I remember the day he opened Fika, on Doveton St, which fast became a regular haunt. JA is much larger, brunchier with that same great coffee.

Cobb’s Coffee, 2 Lydiard St S, Ballarat

Johnny Alloo, 32 Drummond St N, Ballarat

5) Pho at Saigon Allee, Gilava Pour; Exotic Bazaar

In case you need reminding, Ballarat gets bloody cold, especially at this time of the year! Warm up and channel a South East Asian holiday with glistening bowl of pho bo bo (beef). It’s embarrassing to admit, but I haven’t yet tried this dish, though if Gilava’s Persian Noodle Soup (made on stage at HHW) is anything to go by, she knows what she’s talking about.

30 Armstrong St N, Ballarat

6) Pancetta and potato pizza at The Forge, Tim Bone; Tim's Toasties

When I first moved to Ballarat, someone told me to try the Shearers or Potato pizza at The Forge. The first is a love letter to local produce- slow-cooked tresses of Western Victorian lamb and Meredith goat cheese, bubbling among tears of mozzarella, red onions and pine nuts.

The second, which is a take on their famed Sliced Potato number, adds pancetta for a salty bite.

14 Armstrong St Nth, Ballarat

7) Everything at Mr Jones, Jigs Liwanag; Hotel Canberra

Local chef Damien Jones is best known for bringing Thai food to Ballarat with his iconic restaurant, Catfish, in 2001. After a remarkable 17 year innings, Mr Jones Dining now lives in its place, taking a modern look at South East Asian and Thai cuisine. I interviewed Jones last year for the Herald Sun, where he told me he’s growing Asian herbs and vegetables out the back of the restaurant in a self-made greenhouse. An impressive feat in itself.

42-44 Main Rd, Bakery Hill