Stumps Tavern, Melbourne Cricket Club members, MCG.

New Year’s Day at the MCG – and as a guest of very good CTS pal Justin, who is a Melbourne Cricket Club member.

We’re in the house for the Big Bash Melbourne derby, but we’ve plenty of time, so Juz gives me the tour.

There’s no doubt some of the bars and food outlets, and the likes of the  library, are more well appointed than what is found around the rest of this very famous venue.

And as Juz points out with zeal, you can drink full-strength beer that has been poured into real glass.

 

 

But by and large, there’s not much difference!

Juz hasn’t been a member for that long, but plenty long enough to have fully scoped out the eating options – and it’s on that basis that he leads us straight to Stumps Tavern.

During the Boxing Day Test, he’d enjoyed the cheese plate here.

 

 

Tonight, we head for the more substantial dishes on the menu (see below).

We take up the three-for-$34 deal and do very well.

 

 

Plump, juicy lamb koftas are real fine, with a dollop of cucumber tzatziki on the side.

 

 

The pork mince concoction in the sum choy bow, hidden here under the bean sprouts and their veg compatriots, is actually more like a bolognese than the usual dry jumble that is the mainstay of this dish.

No matter – it tastes good and the extra dampness makes it easy to pile the goodies on the supplied lettuce leaves, of which there aren’t quite enough.

 

 

Potato, pea and coriander samosas are another winner, though the coriander is – I’m guessing – constituted solely by the garnish.

The pastry casings are flaccid rather crunchy, though the mango chutney is beaut.

This is – by a very considerable margin – the best meal I’ve ever enjoyed at a sports venue.

And the game was pretty good, too.