As the frigid walls of winter close in, it's time to start planning (or daydreaming) your escape to somewhere a little warmer.
It's a sound bet that the Top End's capital city Darwin is an ideal landing place to frolic the winter blues away.Ahead of her performance next weekend at Blues On Broadbeach (Gold Coast, 20-23 May), Australian singer-songwriter, ARIA Award winner and Darwin native, Caiti Baker shares five places to find a feed in her home town.
"Darwin is a multidimensional place," begins Caiti. "Everything is a little different here.
"On Larrakia land, there is a close tie between nature and metropolis. It's reflected in our city and suburbs, our coastal industries and the food.
"We are a melting pot of culture and we are lucky to share in the rich northern climate produce. Here are my top five places to find a feed in Darwin."
1: The Rapid Creek Markets
Held Saturday and Sunday mornings, you can find local vendors selling fresh farm produce, Asian greens and food stalls galore. I will spend up with Wana who doesn't sleep Saturday night in order to prepare her Thai deserts. Lotus waffle, Mungbean donuts (made with onion and pepper), red bean balls, coconut, pandan and kefir sticky rice cakes.I'll grab a couple of spicy vegetable samosas from the Indian food stall, pork crackling and pawpaw salad from another Thai stall, a coconut and lime juice from the Filipino juice stall. I'll get some beef popiah and a pork stick and maybe a laksa before heading home via the Nightcliff markets so I can get my favourite wontons and Bahn mi from Wayne's Vietnamese food truck.
2: Darwin Waterfront Precinct
This place has a bunch of different spots to eat at and I'm down there at least once a week. At least. Bannsang Korean Restaurant has the best Korean fried chicken and pickled radishes; Mad Cow (Turkish and Greek) is my favourite place to eat lamb, salad and skordalia and Hot Tamales serve up great Mexican (fish tacos are amazing) and they have a huge selection of tequila.3: The city
It's no secret how much I love Taiwanese food, so I'm so grateful that Nona's dumplings and bobar bubble tea are within a 30 second walk of each other. For my favourite Indonesian spot I'll head to Sari Rasa; Sapphire bar and grill do a very good American bbq menu; Jimmy Shu's Hanuman is a Darwin institution and should be visited at least once a month for the meen moilee (barramundi curry); Roberto's cafe next to the post office does my favourite Filipino dry chicken, rice and pickles bowl.Roast and Noodles 328 is the place to go for crispy duck and noodles; Zhen's corner take away has my favourite beef Char Kwan Teow (Smokey Chinese noodles) and I can't leave out the iconic Uncle Sam's. Uncle Sam's is open 24/7 so it's not uncommon to find me there at 2am after a gig.
4: Cullen Bay
After beginning work in Cullen Bay earlier this year, I have fallen in love with the marina and it's selection of places to eat. My favourite being Ebb and Flow – a vegan restaurant with gorgeous decor and boat marina views. The vegetable dishes are full of flavour and texture, and it's my favourite place to get a berry coconut smoothie.For all-round great cafe food and coffee, the Boat Shed provides an amazing big brekky served in a frying pan and their fish and chips are so good. After eating, I'll often walk down to the boardwalk and feed the fishes.
5: The suburbs
A two-minute walk from my unit in Stuart Park is Bamboo Lounge – an Asian fusion restaurant with my favourite green chicken and bamboo curry, nasi goreng and pork belly with kang Kung. The Chook Shed next to it does amazing chicken, chips, veggies and salad and Frying Nemos (fish and chips) is a great and tasty place with heaps of GF options and quite the selection of craft beers.Heading to the northern suburbs, I love the coconut sambal and eggplant curry from the Sri Lankan restaurant Spice Garden; Panda Food Centre in Karama hands down has the best lemon chicken; Vangie's Kitchen in Milner sells delicious Filipino deserts and I'm always happy to see my Taiwanese friends' pop up store in the Casuarina Shopping Centre who make 'meow waffles' – delicious cake waffles filled with different fillings; may favourite being bobar.
I've left quite a few notable places to dine out of this list so go watch Jimmy Shu's Taste of the Territory on SBS On Demand to get your fix. Or come visit the NT. It's good to eat in the Territory.
