The Food Truck Park - Sweet Lane Festival Review - Harbour Town Melbourne

Kate and her little foodies checked out the latest Food Truck Park Sweet Lane Festival at Harbour Town Melbourne yesterday and I'm hungry! Thanks for the awesome review and pics - we are drooling over here! The Sweet Lane Festival is on all this long weekend so don't miss out. Checkout Kate's tips before you head out. Follow her adventures over on Instagram, via @kateflatman

When the food truck movement first made its way to Australia many people assumed they would be a passing craze, but in recent years these mobile restaurants have firmly parked themselves in the Melbourne food scene.

The Food Truck Park™ brings together your favourite food trucks in unique event spaces across Australia and this Labour Day weekend (March 9th-13th) they are revving their engines into Harbour Town Melbourne to celebrate the 2017 Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix with Sweet Lane Festival; a celebration of all things sugary, fast and fun!    

Here are some of our highlights and tips for visiting the festival with little ones:

• Entry is FREE and most trucks accept both cash or card.
• Get there early for lunch when it opens at 12pm Friday to Monday or an early dinner around 5pm before it gets too busy and to secure somewhere to sit.
• Some of the trucks and seating areas are not undercover so come prepared for all weather conditions.
• Pack snacks and drinks to keep little ones occupied while you line up or wait for food to be prepared.
• Check out the website before you arrive to familiarise yourself with the food truck line up on the day you are visiting. Different food trucks will be on offer each day throughout the festival.

• We started with savoury dishes to ensure the poppets had something substantial before diving into the sweet treats!  There are several trucks offering a fantastic variety of savoury items. 
   
• The succulent, BBQ lamb skewers from Flamin’ Lamb Spit were a great option; super juicy and tender with subtle spices. 

• Bites On Wheels is the first Polish food truck in Australia serving yummy zapiekankies (an open face sandwich made from half of a long roll with different kind of toppings, baked in an oven and served hot). It was easy to see why these are Poland’s number one street food, our chicken zapiekanka was delicious! 

• The festival standout must be Nuts About Tella’s renowned Nutella burger and Nutella donuts.  The burger consists of two donut buns, grilled, stacked and filled with oozing Nutella. The result? A crispy shell, warm delicious Nutella and a soft doughnut interior. Pure heaven.  I hear the Nutella pizzas are scrumptious too.

• Be sure to visit Dex2Rose for one of their incredible liquid nitrogen gelati. The Salty Camel with salted caramel gelato, topped with caramel popcorn, nut clusters and sugar shards then drizzled with small batch salted caramel sauce was seriously one of the best gelato creations I have ever had.  Look out for Dex2Rose’s cooking demonstrations by former Masterchef Australia contestants Zoe Konikkos and Emelia Jackson on each afternoon too

• Burn off some extra calories by hitting the dance floor and busting a move with the live DJ’s.
   
• Check out the F1 #AusGP Fan Zone, where a real, life size F1 car and V8 Super Car’s will be on display. Rev heads also have the chance to stand on the #AusGP winners block and get snap happy in the F1 GIF booth. 

• The Mattel Hot Wheels Immersive Zone will be open on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the festival, jam packed full of activities to keep little ones entertained.
   
• Harbour Town Melbourne is very family friendly with designated baby-change and feeding areas located adjacent to the festival (near the Pearl River Road/Studio Lane entry)

More info, head to the Food Truck Park website.