Ayers Rock Resort
Climbing Uluru is on the way out, but travellers can now savour its more savoury (and sweet) experiences
“Quandong? Delicious. Even better than a rhubarb pie. Quandong pie with custard — awesome.”
It’s hard to keep your mouth from watering as Leroy Lester describes his favourite dish that his mum used to make — even if, like myself, you’re not really familiar with the native fruit he’s describing.
Luckily, we’re at Ayers Rock Resort — Australia’s bush tucker capital — so I get several opportunities to try quandong as part of restaurant meals over the next few days. Lester, one of the most prominent public faces of the local Aboriginal community at Ayers Rock Resort, is at the forefront of a new era of tourism at Uluru. With only a dwindling number of visitors still choosing to go against the wishes of traditional owners, the Uluru climb will finally close for good next year. So Ayers Rock Resort has a new plan to attract visitors to the Red Centre. Instead of scaling Uluru, visitors can take on a different kind of uniquely Australian challenge — conquering the pinnacle of Outback dining.
While a food odyssey may seem less of a stretch than getting to the top of a rock, it still takes a dash of daring when it comes to ingredients like wallaby, kangaroo, crocodile and green ants, along with herbs and fruit sporting unfamiliar names.
The resort has enlisted one of the pioneers of the Aussie bush food movement, chef and TV presenter Mark Olive — aka The Black Olive — to lead weekend foodie events and leading the push to make bush flavours accessible to everyday diners.
“Attica’s great, Noma’s great but you don’t have to go and pay $120 for 100g of meat (to enjoy native ingredients),” he says.
“This is the destination to come and experience it with the family.
“We have got to start embracing what we have in this country. We are so lucky.”
As I tuck into his electric green desert lime petit gateaux — complete with poached quandong — while watching the colours of sunset at Uluru, I can’t help but agree.
Here are seven memorable ways to eat your way around Uluru.
Tali Wiru
At $345 a head, it’s billed as a once-in-alifetime experience — and standing on a sand dune overlooking Uluru as the sun sets, welcomed by the didgeridoo, it’s impossible to argue with that claim. Sure, there may be the odd fly that can’t help crashing the party when the canapés come out, but this is desert dining after all, and with nibblies like blue cheese gougere with apple balsamic to go with the welcome bubbles, who can blame them? And it wouldn’t be the Outback without a drop toilet — but this one is decked out with an oil painting, decorative candles and cloth hand towels. Don’t expect a five-star experience, but thousands of stars (you’ll check some of them out with an astronomy talk that’s part of the program). From Wagyu beef to toothfish, the food’s as special as the location, but when you take a peek inside the on-site kitchen — a simple barbecue shelter with no running water, solar powered lighting that can pack it in on a cloudy day, and a gas-powered fridge that can cut out in wind, it’s utterly mind-blowing.
Tip: If Tali Wiru (or its newly launched summer-season equivalent, Mayu Wiru) is a little too extravagant, but you’re still keen to dine under the stars at Uluru, consider Sounds
of Silence. A buffet-style bush tucker inspired meal, it’s a more social affair than the intimate Tali Wiru. Adults pay $199 a head.
A Night at Field of Light
This is one “light” meal where you won’t go away hungry. At an outdoor dining site overlooking the extraordinary Field of Light art installation in front of Uluru, the experience includes a three-course bush tucker themed menu, and a chance to enjoy the spectacular colours of sunset before the “field” gradually lights up with 50,000 coloured bulbs. Field of Light is the work of artist Bruce Munro, who came up with the concept on a visit to Uluru 25 years ago, eventually returning to realise his dream. Get in quick — after a two-year run, Field of Light is scheduled to wind up in March 2018. Tip: To experience the night sky at its starry best, plan to dine on a date that’s not too close to a full moon. And although you’ll be tempted to try to capture the stunning scene on camera, it’s hard to do it justice. The advice from the artist himself: turn off your phone and just experience it.
Uluru Feastival
“We’ve all got a Chinese five-spice (in the pantry), we’ve all got a curry, why not a lemon myrtle?” says Mark Olive as he whips up a barramundi fillet feast for a room of curious onlookers. If you love the idea of native Australian ingredients but it seems too hard to try at home, a masterclass with the expert is a great way to gain some inspiration — and taste a whole bunch of native ingredients. The masterclass event is followed by an open-air dinner event featuring more of Mark Olive’s creations as part of the Uluru Feastival, a weekend event that is held quarterly at Ayers Rock Resort (next on March 9-10).
Tip: Even if you can’t make it to one of the Feastival weekends, you’ll find an array of bush tucker ingredients you can take home and try yourself in the resort supermarket.
Desert Awakenings tour
The food isn’t exactly fancy on this tour, but a humble bacon and egg roll tastes a lot more exotic when it’s served along with a spectacular sunrise over Uluru. After marvelling as the changing colours light up the sky, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, over a warming cuppa, it’s into the national park for a short guided walk to get up close with the rock and visit the fascinating cultural centre. If you’ve only got limited time, this tour’s a good way to get an overview of Uluru, both from a distance and up close.
Tip: Layer up. The desert can get cold at night and the temperature actually drops as the sun comes up. Worth bringing a warm jacket, scarf, beanie and gloves — you can’t afford for your fingers to be too frozen to take pics!
Bush food experience
Uluru can be an expensive destination so it’s refreshing to discover Ayers Rock Resort has a whole program of free activities. As of this year, that includes a daily bush tucker talk and cooking demo. Perhaps it’s the entertaining show that Leroy Lester and his colleagues put on, or perhaps it’s the tasty wattle seed shortbread, but the session has been gathering a crowd each day. Tip: Check the resort schedule so you can fit in as many of the free cultural activities as possible during your stay. There are also garden walks, museum talks and “bush yarn” sessions.
Resort restaurants
Native flavours are incorporated into all 10 resort dining options, including the newly launched Arnguli and Mangata at the newly refurbished Desert Gardens Hotel. At Sails in the Desert, even the brekky buffet gets a taste of the treatment, with Outback omelettes made to order. Delish. Tip: Holiday cocktails are a must. Sails of the Desert and the Desert Gardens Hotel each have their own bush tucker inspired cocktail menus. Think ingredients like green ant gin and native plum liqueur, and names like Desert Sparkle. You’ll likely want to test a few ... but go easy if you have a sunrise tour planned the next morning.
Kulata Academy Cafe
One word: Cake. But if you need more convincing, here’s a decent justification for your indulgence: your coffee break at this cafe provides real-world experience for trainees of the National indigenous Training Academy. Currently about 37 per cent of resort Ayers Rock Resort staff are indigenous, with plans to up this number to 50 per cent in the coming years. If you need another reason to pop by, you’ll also find bush flavours incorporated in some menu items — like the rosella, almond and fruit tart. Recommended.
Tip: If you don’t get a chance to stop by during your stay at the resort, the cafe has a branch at the Ayers Rock Airport too.