March Into Merivale

Nicki Alchin
23rd Mar 2017

In Sydney, there are few who can pull off the kind of large scale in house events that Merivale does. Tonight’s one night only, five experiences March into Merivale shindig, was no exception. The ivy became a four level adult’s playground of food and drink adventures. For the $60 fee, we were treated to a generous night of as much food we could eat and a sampling of three drinks that included beers, wines and cocktails.

First up, punters emerged from Angel Place into a very different Ash Street. Under the exacting eye of Dan Hong it was transformed into a bustling Asian Laneway – a market full of a variety of hawkers serving tasty delicacies side by side the ubiquitous line of laundry and red lanterns.

Everything you could imagine was on offer. BBQ meats, sizzling seafood, bao (in amongst the ebb and flow of the traffic, I paused to taste some succulent pork belly bao), dim sum, dumplings, wok and sushi stations (I was charmingly offered a salmon and avocado roll served with a plump piece of juicy ginger). I also saw platters of oysters with jalapeno and ginger nuoc cham sweeping across the lane on the arms of efficient friendly waiters.

In search of a less busy space out of a sudden torrential downpour I stepped into an elevator to be taken to the world of Heavenly High Tea. I was lured by the trays of sweet treat being carried across the floor, towers of meringue, flanked by fairy floss and ice cream stations. While traipsing around moving to the delightful sounds of the groovy harpist slash singer and taking in the decadent desserts, I tasted a tiny square coconut marshmallow followed by a mini caramel doughnut before realising that I needed more savoury bites.

Off I went towards the Australia vs Mexico area. I spied on the mezzanine floor, bar staff mixing margaritas next to a makeshift assembly area. This was where two whole lambs turned on spits behind a squad of chefs putting together lamb tacos. A line of hungry folk snaked in front of the taco station, all of us eager to take on these pocket-sized snacks brimming with a yoghurt sauce, tomato and chunks of lamb carved straight off the spit. I downed a couple of these with a margarita in hand and surveyed the scene from up high on level two of building one of the Ivy complex.

The human traffic continued to manoeuvre their way to the various bars and food sources, dancing to the beats of a charismatic swarthy Mexican guitarist doing a lively medley of all songs south of the border before doing a rollicking Nirvana cover. It was fun and feisty. We also witnessed some body slamming courtesy of the Australia vs Mexico wrestling match that was going on. A ring had been roped off to provide an entertaining round of guys in masks physically exerting themselves. Of course, I matched this laddish diversion with a couple of ultimate cheese burgers before bouncing back down to Ash Street for another bite of Asia. The crowds were still thronging in the lane way and so I grabbed a colourful whiskey sour slushie (they reminded me of Asian bubble tea) to accompany a couple of spicy cumin flavoured lamb skewers.

It was then time for another go at dessert. I found some decadent passionfruit truffles wafting past and thought they might go well with my whiskey sour slushie. Of course it did. On a roll, I had a yoghurt with berry softserve cup and a piece of opera cake. By this stage I was as full as a goog, had drunk all my drink tokens, and found myself reaching the conclusion it was as good a time to leave as any. It was close to the 8pm finish time so I felt I had made good use of my time at the event. Maybe if I’d had a partner in crime with me I would have ventured off to discover “The Garden” in the Ivy Ballroom and stayed around for the after party at The Pool Club.

All in all, it was another successful fun night of partying from the House of Merivale. Some may feel it was slightly pulled back compared to previously more decadent events but still, it had the Merivale trademarks of a welcoming, fun and entertaining spectacular brimming with crowd pleasing, quality cuisine and beverages. Well done Merivale for continuing on with the March into Merivale spirit with this one night only of five unique experiences that had something for everyone.