Festival Village 2015, Hyde Park

Once again, Hyde Park is a buzz with activity as it houses the Festival Village, part of the Sydney Festival. An oasis of arts, eating, music and attractions. This year restaurants include Bar Pho, Harvest Trader & Co, Puntino Trattoria, Bite Size Delights, Bar Coco Milk Bar, Jafe Jaffles, the Village cheese shop Cheesesmith, and Porteno & Gelato Messina have joined forces to create The Double Down Diner.

The Double Down Diner

The Royale with Cheese $10

Messina’s answer to the burger craze hitting Sydney – milk chocolate gelato pattie layered with white chocolate cheese, passionfruit ‘mustard’ and raspberry ‘ketchup’, served in a warm broche bun.

To tell you the truth, while this did look totally awesome, the burger itself tasted exactly what you would imagine it to taste like, chocolate ice cream in a burger bun.

Creamy Spider $6 – House-made creaming soda with Tahitian vanilla bean gelato

Now this was a treat for me. This home made creaming soda (thanks SodaStream) with a generous scoop of vanilla bean gelato sent me into a spiral of nostalgia as I reminisced back to my youth when there was no greater fun than making a refreshing spider on a hot day.

To see our other reviews on Gelato Messina click here

Porteno Menu

Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles $15 – Spicy fried chicken with coleslaw, bacon and maple syrup on a Belgian waffle

Can you believe I had never tried Chicken & Waffles before? Neither could I. So when I saw it on the menu it was a no brainer. One bite in and the Porteno epiphany hit me. Where has this been all my life? How have I lived 24 years without knowing this? Is this real or have I been out in the sun too long? The chicken has a super crisp sweet savoury crust encasing tender meat. It’s generously scattered on top of the fluffy waffles and drizzled with maple syrup. If that isn’t enough its also crowned with a devilishly crispy piece of maple glazed bacon.

Stand out of the night was The Cheesesmith stand. A small specialised company dedicated to bringing the finest cheeses to all types of occasions, they have a wide range of cheese boards and toasties to satisfy the hungry crowds

For $3 extra you can have the option of having melted Raclette added to your toastie. Obviously we opted for this option #ShutUpAndTakeMyMoney

Le Mountain on Sourdough $7 – French Comte, Swiss Emmental, Swiss Gruyere plus Rosemary Relish. Extra $3 for Melted Raclette

Cheeeeeeeeeeese! Oh how I love cheese. Seriously, my stomach heart skipped a beat when I saw this thing of beauty. And oh my did it taste heavenly. The 4 cheeses melded so well together each sharing their own distinct flavours which was complemented by the strong flavours of the rosemary relish.

Sherri & Candy’s Milk Bar is a new pop-up milk bar project by the team at Bar Coco. Built from a shipping container and decked out in true retro milk bar style, Sherry & Candy’s Milk Bar serves all your favourite milk bar treats including milkshakes, slushies, gelato, waffles, icecream sundaes and coffee

Bar Pho lets diners experience authentic Vietnamese street food. Their concept is simple and stems from their passion to serve a cuisine that is fresh, light, full of flavour and healthy all in one.

This Sydney Food Truck serves traditional hand made Pastizzi, Beef Chilli Pita pockets & Chicken & Lamb Shawarma.

Puntino Tratoria has been serving traditional Italian food to Sydneysiders for over a decade in their Woolloomooloo restaurant. So in the spirit of the festival they have brought their delicious food to the streets. With menu items like roast pork belly rolls and meatballs its no wonder why the line was so long here.