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A cooking class that teaches a new technique, a wine tour through somewhere new, or a long lunch that turns into the whole afternoon. Food and drink experiences cover every way of eating and drinking properly. RedBalloon food and drink experiences suit birthdays, date nights or a gift for someone who always knows the best place to eat. Book something for yourself, or gift someone their next favourite meal.
RedBalloon food and drinks range covers a lot of ground, from a two hour high tea to a full weekend in wine country. Here's what's on offer, city by city and course by course.
A high tea means a tiered stand, finger sandwiches, warm scones and enough tea to make an afternoon of it. The full high tea range runs across every major city.
In Melbourne, book a traditional two hour high tea in the city, or browse the wider high tea Melbourne range.
In Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, a chocolate fondue high tea with sparkling wine is one of the more playful picks, alongside the full high tea Brisbane range.
Perth's version runs at Esplanade Hotel Fremantle, with a sparkling high tea for two looking out over the water.
In the Adelaide Hills, the high tea at Mount Lofty Estate pairs the spread with valley views, part of the broader high tea Adelaide selection.
Sydney's own scene runs from harbourside terraces to art deco tea rooms in the CBD. Browse the full high tea Sydney range to find the right one.
A high tea voucher is also one of the easier gifts to get right: buy any amount and let the recipient choose the venue and date from the gift vouchers page.
Wine tasting and winery tours are their own kind of afternoon out, part tasting, part scenery.
Close to Sydney, the Blue Mountains do double duty as a wine tasting and cheese tasting stop, an hour that stretches into a proper visit.
The Hunter Valley is the classic weekend option out of Sydney, with a two night winery getaway built around cellar doors and long lunches. Explore the wider Hunter Valley range for shorter options too.
Out of Melbourne, the Yarra Valley covers the same ground. A wine tasting and 2 course lunch at Rochford Wines sits right in the middle of the valley, with the full Yarra Valley range covering everything from a quick tasting to a full day tour.
Western Australia's answer is Margaret River, one of the country's best known wine regions. Browse the Margaret River range for tastings, tours and cellar door lunches.
For a broader look at wine tasting and winery tours nationally, including South Australia's Barossa Valley, the full wine tasting and winery tours range covers every state.
Cooking classes are a hands-on way to spend a few hours together, and one of the more useful gifts going since the skill outlasts the day.
In Sydney, a pasta and wine class in Rosebery covers dinner and the wine to go with it. Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth all have their own strong lineups too, from dumpling folding to knife skills. Browse the full cooking classes range to find one near you.
Bottomless brunch has become the default way to mark a birthday or catch up with a group, and Sydney's Darling Harbour version covers wine, beer and cocktails alongside a shared menu for two hours.
A long lunch is the quieter cousin, less about the drinks list and more about the fact that nobody is checking the time. Winery lunches fit the same brief; the winery lunches range runs long table lunches at cellar doors around the country, a proper dining experience without the formality of a set menu.
A lunch or dinner cruise puts the view to work. Sydney Harbour and the Yarra River both do this particularly well, gliding past the skyline while a set menu comes out course by course. The lunch and dinner cruises range covers both cities and a handful of others besides.
For something more deliberate, a degustation menu takes a single kitchen and lets it show off over several courses. It's a format built for people who already know what they like and want someone else to decide the details. The degustation dining range has options in every state.
Beyond wine, there's a whole other category of tasting experiences. Gin tasting and whisky tasting both run as guided flights at distilleries around the country, usually with a tour of the stills thrown in. The whiskey, gin tasting and distillery tours range covers both, plus dedicated distillery tours for anyone who wants the process explained properly.
Beer tasting and brewery tours suit a similar afternoon, working through a tasting paddle before or after a walk through the brewhouse. Browse the beer tasting and brewery tours range for options nationally.
A cocktail making class is one of the better group activities going, more hands-on than a bar crawl and more useful afterwards. Chocolate making classes and chocolate tasting cover the sweeter end of the same idea, and a food tour is the option for anyone who'd rather walk between venues than sit at one. The chocolate making and food tasting and tours ranges round out the rest.
A dining voucher or restaurant gift voucher solves the gift for someone who's impossible to shop for. Buy any denomination through gift vouchers and let the recipient choose the restaurant, the high tea or the cooking class that suits them.
Food and drink experiences also make up a good share of our date night ideas, from a wine tasting for two to a dinner cruise, for anyone gifting for a couple rather than an individual.
Beyond the range above, RedBalloon food and drink experiences stretch into dining out by cuisine and course. If seafood is the drawcard, the seafood restaurants range covers platters and set menus by the water. Steak lovers can head to the steakhouses range, while Italian and Asian restaurant experiences cover the rest of the table. Still deciding? The full food and drinks range brings everything together in one place.
Most high teas run for around two hours and arrive as a three tiered stand: savoury bites like finger sandwiches and quiches on the bottom, scones with jam and cream in the middle, and sweets like petit fours or macarons on top. Tea is usually unlimited, with a sparkling wine or champagne upgrade available at most venues.
A degustation is a set sequence of small courses, usually six to nine, chosen by the chef rather than the diner. It runs longer than a regular dinner and is built around variety rather than one large main. It suits people who want to try more of what a kitchen can do rather than order a single dish.
Bottomless brunch, cocktail making classes and grazing style picnics all scale well for groups. A cocktail making class with matched food works particularly well for hens' parties, birthdays and work catch ups, since everyone gets a hands-on turn rather than just watching.
Yes. A gift voucher lets the recipient choose the venue and date themselves, which suits anything with limited availability, like a popular high tea or wine tour. A picnic hamper is another easy option that doesn't lock in a date, a hamper like the French inspired spread from Bitton Rose Bay is simply picked up whenever suits.
Yes, in Australia the two terms are used interchangeably. Both describe the same tiered stand of sandwiches, scones and sweets served with tea, usually over about two hours.