Darwin certainly is becoming a hub for foodie culture with the opening of many new restaurants and bars, and of course our famous markets; Mindil Beach markets and Parap Village markets. This is all being celebrated this weekend (16-17th April 2016) in Darwin at the inaugural Territory Taste Festival.
We have many guests inhouse this weekend who have chosen to stay at Ramada Suites Zen Quarter for our close proximity to the Darwin Waterfront and Darwin Convention Centre where the festival is being held.
Attendees will be in for a treat with cooking demonstrations and the opportunity to try local produce. And if the local produce includes One Mile Brewery Beer or many of the wines on offer in the beer garden or cocktail lounge they can simply walk from the Darwin Convention Centre back to Zen as it is only a 5 minute walk.
At our onsite Darwin Restaurant we also offer local produce and Darwin seafood on our menu including locally caught NT wild Barramundi which is panfried to perfection and served with mash and vegetables. Other dishes we are famous for include gluten free Calamari, which we marinate in milk to tenderise and then dust with lentil and cornflour.
Every weekend we head down to the Parap Village Markets (or Rapid Creek markets) to buy local pawpaw (papaya), and dragonfruit which we use in our fruit salads on our breakfast buffet. Also purchased is okra for our vegan chickpea and okra curry, and kankong, which is a Chinese style water spinach which we also serve braised on our breakfast buffet.
It’s great to see so many businesses using local produce on their Darwin restaurant menus, and if you haven’t already planned to you should go down to the Territory Taste Festival this weekend, open from 10am to 10pm today and until 7pm on Sunday.