Our visit to the Mallee Fowl Restaurant in Riverland, South Australia

Ever since my husband and I relocated to Barmera, Riverland in South Australia, our new-found friends spoke very fondly about the Mallee Fowl Restaurant in Riverland, South Australia to us. According to them, the food served at the Mallee Fowl Restaurant is exceptionally good and it brings out the true essence of authentic Australian cuisine.

Although we had always wanted to dine at the Mallee Fowl Restaurant since we moved to Riverland, we held back from going there because the food there was above our budget.

When my sister came down to visit us in Riverland, South Australia, my husband and I finally had the opportunity to dine there as my sister offered to treat us for dinner at the restaurant as she did not want to miss out on the opportunity to dine at one of Riverland’s most iconic restaurants.

We had a very pleasant experience dining at the Mallee Fowl Restaurant. Firstly, the restaurant is set upon a beautiful garden surrounding that reflected a unique Australiana theme. The interior of the restaurant represented an old fashioned Australian pub. I was fascinated with the antique ornaments that were displayed at the restaurant and sturdy wooden tables, chairs and bar top that played a part in creating that Australian pub effect.

The food served at the restaurant was absolutely fantastic. In my opinion, the food tasted like home cooked food with a bit of a gourmet twist.

We had the Mallee Jackaroo, which is pork medallions with quince and pear sauce and crispy prosciutto and the Jolly Jumper, which is a dry marinated kangaroo fillet with mushroom and port wine sauce for our main meals. We also ordered a Greek-styled chargrilled quail for our entrée. All three dishes came with a salad each.

As we wanted to try as many dishes as possible, my sister, husband and I decided to share all the three dishes we ordered so we can taste a bit of each dish. 

Our favourite dish among the three dishes was the kangaroo fillet dish.We especially adored the port wine sauce served with the kangaroo. It tasted really unique and scrumptious. 

Cucumber, carrot, lettuce and sprouts salad

Carrot, broccoli, cauliflower and corn salad

The Mallee Jackaroo - pork medallions with quince and pear sauce and crispy prosciutto

Greek-styled chargrilled quail

The Jolly Jumper - a dry marinated kangaroo fillet with mushroom and port wine sauce

If I was given the opportunity to dine at the Mallee Fowl Restaurant again, I would definitely go there again. I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to try gourmet home cooked Australian cuisine at its best.

Cheers,

Caroline Poh

Minion Happy Meal

What makes customers turn into a frenzy in Malaysia? Minion Happy Meal sets!

Not too long ago, my sister contacted me through Facebook and requested me to help her to get the Minion toys that came with the McDonald’s Minion Happy Meal sold worldwide. According to her, the Minion Happy Meal was a complete hit in Malaysia and that people waited for hours just to get those Happy Meals. She told me that she had tried to get the Minion Happy Meal several times but failed miserably as she was told that the Happy Meals were sold out when she finally reached the counter.

The Minions are the main characters for a movie called Despicable Me 2 that was screening in cinemas across the world.

When I went to McDonald’s in Renmark, South Australia to help my sister to get the Minion toys, I was expecting a long queue to get the Happy Meals – like in Malaysia. But to my surprise, there wasn’t even a long queue there. What’s more – we could even choose which Minion toys we wanted as they had plenty of them left.

After buying our Minion Happy Meals, my husband and I received several stares from other customers as we sat down. They must have been wondering why two adults would want to buy Happy Meal sets that were meant for children.

It’s just so amazing how a similar marketing strategy can get such an overwhelming response from customers from a particular country while customers from another country do not react to it at all.

The Minion Happy Meals were of good value. Each Happy Meal only cost about $4.00 – so that’s a total of $8 for a complete lunch set of burger, fries and softdrink for two people – and not forgetting the prominent and prized Minion toys. We got two different Minion toys out of the two Happy Meals we got. I guess that would keep my sister happy for awhile…probably until she craves for another Happy Meal toy. I hope she will like her new toys!

Our Minion Happy Meal sets

The laid back customers at Renmark, South Australia McDonald’s…live goes on as usual.

Customers banging down the doors of a McDonald's outlet in Penang, Malaysia 
(photo taken by China Press)

Customers waiting outside McDonald’s in Penang, Malaysia 
(photo taken by China Press)

So the question is - what made the whole nation of Malaysia go crazy over those Minion Happy Meals? Seriously, I’m still trying to figure that out! So amusing...

Cheers,

Caroline Poh