Tag Archives: western suburbs

Great $5 pizzas – worth the drive to Tullamarine

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Pasta Al Dente, 18 Assembly Drive, Tullamarine. Phone: 9335 1944

Eiffel Tower, 12 Assembly Drive, Tullamarine. Phone: 9330 2588

Comments are one of the truly great things about blogs – something that sets them apart from regular websites, unless they have active forums incorporated into them, and in most cases regular media, including newspapers and their online versions.

It’s great to get such feedback – and sometimes that feedback is immediate. It’s immensely gratifying to know what you’ve written means something to someone somewhere!

It’s also often fascinating to see how the comments on any particular blog post evolve, the twists and turns they take.

And – this is the really cool part – the comments often come in the form of reader tips.

We love that and often follow up on them.

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So it was when CTS regular Lou commented on the post I knocked out about finding lunch at my new Airport West work venue.

Lou asked: “If you’re in Tulla for a while, a write up on all the wholesale food places near assembly drive would be great. I hear there is a fine deli, a pasta outlet, and cake shop at least, but have never made my (short) way down the ring road to check them out!”

It’s only as I navigate myself towards Assembly Drive, with a few missed turns along the way, that I realise I have been this way before.

But that was long ago – when Bennie was just a baby.

I wear Consider The Sauce goggles these days, so places and people can look quite different.

What I find at Assembly Drive is some really good stuff.

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Pasta Al Dente is somewhat inaccurately named. Oh sure, there’s stacks of dried and frozen stuffed pasta all over the joint, but there’s also regular grocery lines and good deli and bakery sections.

But anytime around lunchtime, as I immediately discover upon entering, Pasta Al Dente is all about pizza.

Lots and lots of pizzas, freshly baked and served at $5 a pop to a neverending stream of customers.

There’s some pretty good-looking rolls/sandwiches, arancini and suchlike, but I don’t observe anyone having anything other pizza.

Some of the pies go straight out the front doors, others stay to be consumed at the single high, long table.

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My wonderfully irregularly shaped pizza (second top photo) is real fine, chosen from a list of about 11.

It’s not heavy on rampant flavours – nor should it be, with the toppings amounting to the basic cheese and tomato joined by mildly flavoured ricotta and spinach – but it’s as fresh as can be, emitting steam when the cardboard box is opened.

Oh dear – those cardboard boxes.

I understand the physical restrictions that probably make these containers an unavoidable business decision on the part of the place’s management, but still … one cardbaord box for every $5 pizza sold; that’s a lot of cardboard boxes!

Finally, the price tag makes me wonder anew why there is such a vast price differences between most classy Italian thin-crust pizzas and, on the other hand, Lebanese pizzas. I know we’re talking different kinds of businesses with different kinds of overheads and pricing.

But still … $20 and $5 – that’s a BIG difference.

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After my terrific pizza, it’s time for some shopping. Nothing heavy duty; just green olives, some biscotti, a few cans of tomatoes – and I’m keen to see how this house brand lasagne shapes up on the plate, given I am way too lazy to make it myself.

When I wander a few doors down the road to an even more inaccurately named house of pure Italian-ness, I realise I should’ve saved my biscotti money.

Eiffel Tower sells pizza and good-looking focaccia, too, but as the intensely pleasurable yeasty, vanilla-laden perfume tells my nostrils as I enter, this is a serious baking house.

They’ve got all the bases covered, too, from epic wedding cakes and lollies to heaps of high-quality biscotti and cream-filled goodies such as canoli.

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Cheap?

Oh yes!

I’m all filled up, so am disinclined to pursue the matter, but I’m told a slice of the cheesecake in the top right of this photo costs $2.50.

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I do, however, pay $2.50 for a fine cafe latte and 50 cents each for two biscotti mouthfuls of joy, one of them an intensely chocolatey semi-gooey flavour bomb.

So what else is there on Assembly Drive?

All within walking distance of the two businesses discussed above are discount liquor and clearance outlets, an OK fruit and vegetable place and a cheese factory and shop. There may be other food-related places in adjacent streets.

But Pasta Al Dente and Eiffel Tower alone guarantee we’ll be back this way soon.

Besides, Consider The Sauce gets a real kick out of finding food on industrial estates!

Pasta Al Dente on Urbanspoon

Eiffel Tower on Urbanspoon

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Cairnlea pie shop does excellent Vietnamese

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Vic Pies Cafe, Shop 6, 100 Furlong Rd, Cairnlea. Phone: 9361 2188

Vic Pies, situated in Cairnlea Town Centre, sells pies – and, of course, other likeminded pie shop savouries and sweeties.

But there’s something else going on here … I see one outside table adorned with really good-looking rice paper rolls as a staff member whizzes by me bearing a plate of pork chop and broken rice crowned by a glistening fried egg.

Yes, no matter what Vic Pies Cafe’s original focus, it has gradually become also and as well a purveyor of Vietnamese and Asian goodies, as the photos arrayed on the walls attest.

I’m meeting CTS pal Jacqui, Cairnlea resident and perpetrator of the lovely blog Urban Ma, in which she covers food (including westie haunts), fashion and more with style.

Our plan to eat elsewhere is thwarted by the place in question being unopen, but it all turns out for the best, as our Vic’s repast is swell.

And how cool, how Melbourne is it to be able to order bo kho in a pie shop?

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The beef stew ($12) is simply wonderful.

It seems like a relatively new batch of stew – the carrots are intact yet still tender, while the onions are quite crunchy.

There appears to be two kinds of beef – big fat-free chunks and smaller pieces with some fat. Both are good.

The broth is nicely spicy and quite viscous.

The baguette that accompanies is wonderfully fresh, and bigger and crustier than I’m used to being provided in Footscray, Sunshine or St Albans.

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Jac’s beef claypot (also $12) is good, too, and seems like a pretty healthy option as well.

There’s lots of crunchy vegetables along with the beef, all flecked with chilli bits and sitting on top of a rice bed.

Both our meals are too spicy for Baby D.

So he gets what babies get.

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Sorry, bub – maybe next time.

Or, more likely, not for a good few years!

The Vietnamese alternative at Vic Pies Cafe strikes us as a real winner in a shopping centre and neighbourhood not overly burdened with ace eating options.

Vicpies Café on Urbanspoon

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Sudanese for Sunshine, French bakery for Footscray

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We’ve been a little puzzled in the past year or so that Footscray should be so richly endowed with African eateries yet Sunshine and st Albans with so few.

Well happily that situation will improve, in Sunshine at least, when Home Town at 231 Hampshire Road opens.

Even better, from a diversity point of view, the food will be Sudanese rather than Ethiopian.

Well, nominally Sudanese that is.

As proprietor Shafie tells me as we examine the walled menu, there is food from “all over” in a typically North African smorgasbord.

There’s African staples galore, such as foul and malokhai, but there’s also an Italian vibe through pasta such as lasagna, along with falafel, mixed grill, kofta and spiced prawns.

Going by the posted pricing and the warmth and friendliness with which Shafie greets my inquiries, I’m eagerly awaiting the opening.

And who does the cooking – Shafie or his missus?

“My wife – she’s very good!” Shafie tells me with a smile.

Opening day is a few weeks away.

(See menu pics below …)

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Meanwhile, a reader tip on the Facebook page of Footscray Food Blog has me scoping out the corner property opposite Footscray post office.

Wow – how about that?

I have a strong hunch the French part of this equation will be of the “France via Vietnam” variety.

I wonder what they’ll be doing – banh mi on steroids, coffee, bubble tea and other Asian drinks?

Peering through one of the papered-over windows, what I see of the fit-out looks big and classy.

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Laying hands on a great feed at … Westifield Airport West Shopping Centre

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Back at work again. There’s precious little of it and Lord knows how long it will last – but it’s a fine thing nonetheless.

Perhaps best of all, it’s at Airport West.

As I discovered in my first week, the office location is a sweet 15-minutes, courtesy of the ring road, from Bennie’s school.

That’s a far cry from the white-knuckle madness of Geelong commuting or even the train/car combo of the CBD and South Melbourne.

Quarter of an hour?

I almost wept with the sheer relief of it the first time I did it.

If I’m careless enough to forget to make/take my own lunch, getting fed at my new place of employ is tricky.

The office is just a few minutes’ walk from Westifield Airport West Shopping Centre.

Oh dear …

It’s full of your nice, everyday ordinary people, but the centre itself is dreary and uninspiring.

It’s basically one long zigzagging snake that looks pretty much exactly the same no matter where you are in it.

Worse, there are only a series of dull lookalike cafes and a single lacklustre food court

No Grill’d or Guzman y Gomez here.

And, generally speaking, our growing appreciation of the spaciousness and style of the new food hall and retail segments at Highpoint is only going to be enhanced by spending time at this Airport West mall.

Kebab, chicken curry, plastic enshrined sushi/sashimi … all tried, all edible, if you get my drift.

What to do?

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Looking closer at the offering of the Chub kebab stand, I find the answer – stuffed vine leaves and Turkish pide.

The pies are made on the premises, come in all the usual flavours, are hefty, flavoursome and a supremely cheap $4.50.

This particular lunch’s salami and cheese number is rich and hearty.

As one of the blokes is throwing together my serve of stuffed vine leaves (three for $4), I ask if they’re made by his mum.

They sure look like they have been.

“By my aunty, actually!” he says.

Good enough!

They’re mighty – fat and full of lemony and tomatoey rice. They’re filling, though, so I could’ve lived without the fourth I’ve been provided on account of the interest I have shown.

What do you reckon?

Is it is possible that there’s something really worth eating at every shopping centre in Australia, no matter how grim the prospects may initially seem?

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No.1 and No.135

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Westar, 82C Ashley St, West Footscray. Phone: 9689 8182

There’s at least a couple of Chinese places that do home delivery that are closer to our Yarraville pad than Westar.

But they’re significantly more expensive.

There’s other sorts of food can be likewise had, but it’s either equally pricey or pizza – and we reckon pizza travels no better than fish and chips.

Accordingly, the popularity of home-delivered pizza remains a mystery to us.

Westar, by comparison, has a minimum order of $12 and a delivery fee of $2.

Bargain!

And it means it’s viable exercise for a meal-for-one when the mood strikes.

The CTS ethos essentially dictates food should be eaten where it is cooked, and that takeaway or home delivery should be avoided.

So this is rare indulgence.

Of course, we don’t dig the plastic containers – but these will be washed and used for soup ‘n’ stews bound for the freezer.

Westar food is nothing special, but it is reliable and the delivery guys are always smiling and have the right change.

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My spring rolls ($2 for two) are hot enough, but even after taking the travel time into account, they’re disappointingly chewy, though quite tasty.

Next time I’ll stick to No.3 – fried won tons.

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Home-delivered or takeaway noodle dishes tend to mold themselves into the shape of their plastic receptacles – and that’s certainly the case with my beef “hot fun” ($8.50).

But once I’ve stirred and loosened things up with my chopsticks, this is fine and just right for the night.

Inevitably, the vegetables have lost that wokky crispness during their journey from West Footscray to Yarraville – but there’s heaps of them: onion, carrot, zucchini, broccoli, bok choy.

But there seems to be even more beef than all the vegies combined – it’s tender if a bit tasteless.

MSG?

Oodles of it.

We’ve only stepped inside Wessar once – on one hot afternoon in order to pick a new menu.

The staff seemed as surprised to see us as we were by the single-table gloom of the place.

I’m guessing 99.99 per cent of their business is takeaway or home delivery.

Westar Chinese Take Away on Urbanspoon

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We love a new Indian joint

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Saga, 34-36 Irving St, Footscray. Phone: 9689 6089

Can we embrace a new Indian restaurant in the neighbourhood?

Heck yes, especially when it’s in Footscray central, where Indian establishments are vastly outnumbered by those of other genres.

Saga replaces the short-lived Dosa N Biryani, at which I had but a single and barely OK thali meal.

The new place looks like it’s in for a much more serious effort at longevity, sporting as it does a completely new fit-out.

The canteen ambiance of the shiny new furniture and white tiles is ameliorated by bamboo matting on the walls and a village hut-style servery for the bain marie.

We’re told the entire menu – see below – will be available in a few days. So we’ll be back for sure to take the chole bhature, dosas and the like for a test run.

In the meantime, we heartily enjoy our choices from what is available.

This early in the place’s life, there are only a couple of other tables occupied, one of them by a couple of council workers with whom I discuss the undesirability of being served biryani without an accompanying pot of gravy.

The staff member serving us takes our comments to heart, making sure we are taken care of – in my case, with a tub of very nice gravy from the chicken curry in the bain marie.

I’d prefer the gravy/sauce made specially for biryanis we get here, but this works fine.

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It helps that my goat biryani ($10.95) is otherwise lovely.

There are only three pieces of goat meat, but they are bigger and more meaty and tender than is often the case.

The rice is terrific, though the spice levels are quite mild by West Footscray standards.

The raita is cool, with no bitterness from the white onion pices floating in the yogurt.

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Bennie’s non vegetarian thali ($10.95), with his choices from the bain marie all a rather uniform brown, tastes a whole lot better than it looks.

Smooth, quite salty dal made with aduki beans, an oily eggplant brew with fabbo eggplant flavour, chicken curry on-the-bone – it all tastes good to me, as do the segments of the fresh wholmeal roti that comes with this meal deal that I manage to nick.

So … welcome to the new kid on the block.

I reckon it’ll do good.

Saga Authentic Indian Delight on Urbanspoon

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The Consider The Sauce Paella Party

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Consider The Sauce is throwing a beaut Paella Party – and you’re invited!

After nibbles there’ll be paella with seafood, chorizo and chicken, and a vegetarian version as well – both gluten free.

Soft drinks will be provided, while beer and wine will be available for purchase.

There’ll be raffles and fun galore.

The numbers are limited to 100 and the cost is $20 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under.

Best of all, and thanks to some generous friends, every cent raised is going to a great cause – the POWer Plants Community Nursery in Braybrook.

We’re real excited about the prospect of having so many of our followers and pals in the one place at the same time – and we hope you will be, too!

Payment by cash only on the night.

Register your attendance and reserve your seat here.

And for updates, RSVP on the event Facebook page.

One of the night’s prizes will be donated by Sproutwell Greenhouses.

Event: Consider The Sauce Paella Party.

Venue: 138 Cowper St, Footscray.

Date: Wednesday, July 10.

Time: 6.30 pm for 7pm until about 10pm.

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Unwrapping parcels, so exciting!

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Spicy Hut, Shop 6/35 Aspen Street, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9375 2191

Many times on our various visits to Puckle St, we’ve wandered down the cul de sac that is Aspen St, adjacent a huge, unsealed parking lot, to scope out Spicy Hut only to walk away unfed and disappointed.

Each time there seemed little by way of any activity, so we didn’t even venture inside.

This obviously speaks to a lack of boldness on our part, because Consider The Sauce pal Nat continued to maintain he had been enjoying swell, cheap and delicious Sri Lankan food there quite a while.

So I am delighted to join him there for lunch, knowing for certainty his assertions will be well founded and we will eat very well.

They are and we do.

The tiny cafe space is rather spartan but offset by the charming welcome of the couple who run the joint.

The menu includes various options of the snack/street food variety such as rotis, samosas, hoppers and dosas.

As well, on three days of the week there are specials, with today’s being lamprais – so that’s what we have.

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According to the Wikipedia entry on Sri Lankan food, this dish is of Dutch derivation.

In Spicy Hut’s case, they are described as: “Rice cooked in chicken stock & served with eggplant, pickle, fish cutlet, boiled egg, choice of chicken or beef curry (all wrapped in banana leaf).”

With Nat going for the beef and me the chicken, our meals ($11) are delivered wrapped in foil and with papadams sitting atop.

Unwrapping the foil reveals mounds of steaming rice cocooned by banana leaves. The rice is moist but fluffy and quite nicely spicy.

My single chicken drumstick is tender and tasty, but really it’s the combination of all the bits and pieces that make this a splendidly enjoyable meal.

The fish cutlets (balls), made with mackerel, onion, potato, ginger and garlic, are delicate yet robustly fishy.

I enjoy my hard-boiled egg just as much as I do when they are served with biryani.

The “seeni sambal” sitting on top of my chicken adds a bitter element through the use of curry and pandan leaves, lemongrass and garlic.

And the dry jumble of eggplant, capsicum and onion on the other side of the rice has brilliant eggplant flavour.

Thanks, Nat, for revealing this lovely place to Consider The Sauce – I’m keen to return.

Spicy Hut is closed on Tuesdays.

Spicy Hut - Authentic Sri Lankan Cuisine on Urbanspoon

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Westies abroad …

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We live in the west and we eat in the west – and we love doing so.

There’s more than 500 stories on this website, and overwhelmingly they’re concerned with the food we’ve discovered in the western suburbs of Melbourne and the wonderful people who produce it.

But we sometimes step out into other parts of Melbourne.

Private vehicles, public transport, Racecourse Rd, Dynon Rd, Footscray Rd, the West Gate Bridge – these are some of the ways westies get to other parts of Melbourne.

So far, passports and visas are not required.

Just sayin’ …

Feeling the love in Hoppers Crossing

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Glory We Cafe, 3/76 Old Geelong Rd, Hoppers Crossing. Phone: 9394 8845

While we enjoyed our first visit to Glory We Cafe, the chances of return visits seemed slim at best, especially given the options we have in the greater western suburbs for the sort of food it serves.

But since that visit, a few things have happened – with the upshot being the Glory We crew have earned our return custom through their goodwill, sincerity and dedication in engaging with their customers.

For one thing, they have made the switch from plastic, disposable implements and receptacles to those of a more re-usuable variety.

We don’t know or care if Consider The Sauce had anything to do with them making that change – we are simply happy that they have.

For another, we couldn’t help but notice the regular updates on their Facebook page in which they have been introducing new, alluring and seemingly authentic dishes of a Singaporean and Malaysian nature.

So off we go for Sunday lunch!

That Glory We remains a rather charmless, utilitarian space is well and truly compensated for by depth of the warm and caring service that is bestowed upon us on our return visit, service way above that we commonly expect from such places.

Combined with reliably good and sometimes very good food and the lack of alternatives in this general neighbourhood, we reckon Glory We fully deserves whatever good reputation it is earning as a westie hotspot.

The same photos that have appeared on the joint’s Facebook page grace the walls of the restaurant, so we take only a few minutes to make our selections.

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Mee goreng ($9.50) looks nothing special – like what might get served in any old shopping centre food court, in fact.

But this wet version tastes a whole lot better than that.

A wonderfully gooey fried egg sits atop lovely al dente egg noodles, with calamari, prawns, egg and tofu complemented by crunchy onion slivers and some greenery.

It’s simple, homely and fine.

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Our second dish is the subject of today’s Glory We Facebook post: “XO Sauce Fried Carrot Cake – Introducing our NEW weekend delicacy which is a common dish in Singapore which Singaporeans eat throughout the day whether at breakfast, lunch, dinner or even supper. This dish consist of stir-fried cubes of raddish cake. You can order it fried with or without sweet black sauce. To order one fried with sweet black sauce, you have to tell our friendly staff you want it ‘black’.”

This is a new one on us, so we had sought advice from Ms Baklover, who spent a week or so eating her away around the island state a while back and so whom we consider an oracle of all things Singaporean.

She told us it’s a delicious dish “when made right”, but to be cautious when it comes to the “black” version as she finds it a bit on the cloying side herself.

So we order and don’t ask for dark – and end up with the dark variety ($9.50) anyway.

It’s OK and Bennie likes it but, truthfully, I do find it too rich and oily.

Our bemusement over what we’ve been provided sparks some charming back-and-forth dialogue with the staff, with the chef explaining that the dark version is a Singaporean preference and light a Malaysian one.

“That’s OK – we’re Malaysian,” I proclaim.

(Cue much laughter all ’round …)

So we’re served a plate of the lighter variety of the Glory We Cafe XO Sauce Fried Carrot Cake at no charge.

(It’s important to acknowledge that this generosity and level of customer care would have been afforded us no matter who we were or that the staff members eventually twigged that we were food bloggers or some other sort of busybodies.)

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Ahhh, this is more like it – and much more to both our liking.

There’s a lighter touch going on here and much more textural variety, with the raddish cake pieces having nicely tanned and crisped exteriors.

At this stage of our meal, though, it’s more than we can consume so what’s left goes home with us.

If this dish, no matter how good, is unlikely to become a firm CTS favourite, we’ve had such a fine time at Glory We that this place already is.

Check out the Glory We Cafe Facebook page here.

Glory We Cafe on Urbanspoon

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Momo a-go-go in WeFo

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Magic Momo Kafe, 588 Barkly St, West Footscray. Phone: 9972 2616

“Looks like a work in progress.”

Bennie may be on the unfair side there, but Magic Momo Kafe does have an undeniable vibe of being newly minted and very recently opened.

The double doors are wide open to the world on a cold day and the three staff members in attendance are pumped with nervous energy and eager to pleaseness.

Writing about such a place at such a time in its life almost seems on the cruel side.

But what the hey – we’re only after an after-school snack.

As we’d been promised when we called in while the place was still under construction, there is a lovely looking range of luridly colured Indian sweets, along with some cakes and slices of the brought-in variety.

We know the momos are produced in-house, however, on account of the big tub of ace-looking seasoned pork mince that is being used to fill pastry casings.

OK, so a post-school serve of fried chicken momo (10 for $7.95) it is for us.

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The fried is pan rather deep, with the bottoms nicely tanned and the tops chewy in just the right way.

The innards are peppery, maybe there’s some ginger in there somewhere as well, and have crunch from onion and colouring from coriander.

They go great with the medium-spicy chilli concoction served on the side.

We’re both halfway through our first momo when we immediately acknowledge the pressing need to also order a 10-piece serve of the vegetable dumplings.

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If anything these are even better. Bennie certainly thinks so.

They’re the same price and appear a little bigger, even though I’m sure the same dough cutter has been used for both varieties. As well, the dough used in this batch is a bit darker.

I’ve been expecting a filling packed with crunch and slither from cabbage, mushrooms and the like.

Instead, we get a filling that seems to be potato and carrot-based and that, as my unusually-astute-on-this-day offsider instantly observes, makes these dumplings seem a bit like soft samosas.

Mind you, there is some crunch and texture from onion and cabbage, while – like their chooky colleagues – these are also peppery and scrumptious.

Explorations of the burger, kebab, BLT, French toast, lemon pepper calamari and tomato soup variety at this intriguingly multi-focussed eatery will have to wait for another day and a more suitable occasion.

In the meantime, and based on our two fine serves of momo, we can attest that there is indeed magic in the air here.

Magic Momo Kafe on Urbanspoon

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Getting serious at the Plough

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Plough Hotel, 333 Barkly St, Footscray. Phone: 9687 2878

We attended the opening night party, and we’ve read reviews and comments – including those at Footscray Food Blog.

Now it’s time for us try a meal proper at the new-look Plough Hotel for ourselves.

It’s an early Sunday evening dinner for us, so it’s something of a departure from our usual routine of settling in for the end of weekend night.

At the time we arrive, the landmark pub seems to be about a quarter full, yet it’s already quite noisy. The chatter and hubbub are such that they render the music little more than more background rumbling.

I can imagine that when this place is really packed and jumping, that it may be a matter of shouting instead of conversing.

Still, it’s a cheerful scene and we’re looking forward to some ace food.

There’s never been any doubt that on this particular adventure that I’d lose out to Bennie in the “I’m having the hamburger” stakes.

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His “150g veal pattie served w. caramelised onions in seeded mustard, fresh tomato, lettuce, bacon, cheddar cheese & roasted garlic aioli, served w. beer battered chips” ($21) is pretty good.

For all the fancy words, it is just a burger – and he’s more than happy with that. He rates it an 8 1/2 or 9 out of 10.

I try a few hearty mouthfuls of the meat, finding it has great texture and bite but lacks somewhat in the robust flavour department.

The chips are, truth to tell, a little disappointing … in that they’re merely good rather than being the outstanding we feel entitled to expect from this sort of place selling this sort of food.

And in my case, I have to rescue my chips from underneath the chicken parmagiana ($25) that is squatting atop them.

I’m not the first person to raise this issue, and I’ll not be the last.

One question: Why?

Another question: Would a restaurant serve a steak on top of the accompanying chips?

One solution: Ask the customer their preference.

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My parma itself is very good and very big.

The chicken is beaut – flavoursome, well cooked and juicy.

The cheese layer on top, too, is wonderful, and there’s quite a bit of basil doing good things amid a sauce made with real tomatoes. The gypsy ham doesn’t seem to add any extra flavour.

The salad of capsicum strands, radish and various greens is OK, but Bennie eats most of it.

But here’s an interesting thing about my otherwise lovely parma – it’s crunchy.

Yes, crunchy!

I lift up the cheese topping to discover from whence does the crunch come – only to discover that the cause is raw onion.

Quite a lot of raw onion, actually.

Red onion, mind you, so the flavour does not overpower enjoyment of my meal, especially once I scrape most of it to the side of my plate.

But still, it seems quite odd.

An inquiry made to a staff member elicits the information that the kitchen is aiming for a twist on the typical parma tomato sauce by concocting more of a salsa vibe.

OK, I quite like the sound of that.

But the actual fact of the matter is that there’s nothing salsa-like about my sauce.

What it seems like is fairly typical Napolitana parma sauce studded with quite big chunks of raw onion.

What it seems like is a mistake.

While our meal hasn’t really rocked our world, we like the new Plough heaps and will be back.

Plough Hotel on Urbanspoon

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Providorable – all sorts of nice things in Willy

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Providorable, 46 Ferguson St, Williamstown. Phone: 9399 9355

Consider The Sauce had been aware of Providorable, but it took Miss Biscuit, Julia, to actually get us to check out the Williamstown shop.

Before getting around to an actual visit, I found myself becoming more and more impressed with the regular updates Providorable proprietor Kelly posts on her shop’s Facebook page – they’re full of passion for the goodies she stocks.

A visit to the Ferguson St emporium confirms the sincerity of those updates, with Kelly pointing out some of the high-quality products and their suppliers for which she is most enthusiastic and which you may struggle to source elsewhere in Melbourne (or our side of it anyway).

Products such as …

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… McGrath dressings from Albury and …

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… Arthurs Creek oils and condiments and …

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… she-tea from Daylesford (the tea is imported but the packaging and gorgeous artwork are done in Victoria) and …

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… lovely fruit-studded nougat from The Sweet Boutique in Brighton.

Mind you, Kelly is also has some delightful imported goodies as well, such as …

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… Harney & Sons tea from New York and …

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… fabulous Mazet chocolate in various flavours from France.

Providorable maybe isn’t the kind of place you’ll go to “stock up”, but for just that particular product or luxury item you seek or deserve, it’s a treat.

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Aangan’s lunch menu

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Aangan Indian Restaurant, 559 Barkly St, West Footscray. Phone: 9689 4175

Aangan’s food has come our way several times – all of them well before Consider The Sauce was launched.

In its earliest days, Aangan was a very makeshift affair with a small but ridiculously cheap range of food.

Just our kind of place in other words!

We visited again a few times when it went more formal and ritzy.

Since then, it has lost out in our affections to the plethora of places doing hit-and-run thalis, dosas, biryanis and other super cheapo Indian tucker in this part of West Footscray and elsewhere not too far away in the inner west.

I recall being told by a pal that Aangan was introducing a lunch menu more of the street food, cheap eats orientation in order to meet the challenge posed by its neighbouring competitors.

That information lay dormant until I happened to be passing and saw a mid-week table occupied.

OK, let’s give it a go!

The lunch menu advice I had received is correct – I am delighted to find quite a long list of goodies at very affordable prices.

They include gol guppe, cholley bhuturey, Punjabi parantha, some Indo-Chinese dishes and the expected idlis, vadas and dosas.

(I have used their spellings as on the Aangan lunch menu – see below.)

But what’s with the thalis, be they meat or vegetarian?

They are listed as including one chaat dish, entree, three curries, raita, salad, rice, roti and dessert.

Blimey – I am seriously intrigued.

But at $20, they’ll keep for a more special occasion.

Besides, they sound like they may be a sharing proposition.

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So a modest masala dosa ($9.50) it is for me.

It’s very good.

Though the pancake itself is among the smallest I have ever encountered.

But the filling of turmeric-tinged potatoes, mustard seeds, curry leaves and onions providing textural diversity is very fine indeed.

I am served two coconut-based chutneys, though struggle to perceive any difference between them.

The third, red and usually more spicy accompaniment is rather mild but good.

The nice-and-salty sambar is also mild, but I gleefully slurp up the whole lot.

It’s great to know there’s another very affordable Indian lunch option available in this neighbourhood.

Aangan on Urbanspoon

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New Kingsville coffee spot, WeFo momo update …

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What was once Petitou at 206 Somerville Rd is now Project 206.

The place looks a treat, the coffee is good and they have a buy-five-get-one-free loyalty card and wifi.

Food runs, at present, to breakfast regulars, such as eggs and pancakes, and light lunch fare, such as a soup special, frittata and lasagna.

The kids/toy space at the back has given way to more regular seating and a liquor licence is in the works.

Owner Natalie tells me there are plans afoot to see the abandoned servo across the road become a four-level apartment block.

Whatever our collective ambivalence about rampant apartment development, that will surely be an improvement on the current eyesore!

Project 206 is open 10am-3pm Mondays, 9.30am-4.30pm Tuesdays to Fridays and 9am-430pm at weekends. Phone: 90044563.

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Meanwhile, over in Barkly St, Magic Momo Kafe proprietor Ravi tells me his baby is still at least a week away from opening its doors for the first time.

He’s taken a realistic approach to competing with the varied Indian options in the area, so is excited about a menu that covers a number of bases.

He promises a lively cafe vibe with great coffee and a spectacular range of Indian sweeties.

High points at Highpoint

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Fish Pier, Highpoint Shopping Centre. Phone: 9318 8277

Cupcake Central. Highpoint Shopping Centre. Phone: 9077 4542

Despite the fact we found the array of outlets and services available in Highpoint’s new food court a bit of a mixed bag, we have been enjoying our visits there.

The more recently opened fashion precinct adds a touch of undeniable class, even if the many shops therein are unlikely to ever see any of our money.

In the food section itself, we’ve bought meat and boreks from the rather classy butcher.

And if other chores and purposes take us to Highpoint, we’re more than happy to do our dinner shopping – and even a stock-up shop – at the very well stocked fresh produce store.

My one serious reservation about the new food area has been the lack of interesting places to eat.

There’s now an Italian-style panini/focaccia/sandwich place that looks like it may be worth checking out, although the salads on display look rather shopping-centre dreary.

In this setting, Fish Pier is also well stocked with fresh seafood.

It’s a pity, perhaps, that the place’s eat-in assortment is tucked around on the side, as on the basis of my lunch it’s well worth considering.

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At $10 or thereabouts, my fish and chips would be a perfectly OK lunch; at the special promotional price of $5 it’s an outright bargain.

The chips are fresh and hot but only average.

The flathead fillet is much better – a winner!

The panko-crumbed calamari rings ($1 each) are not freshly fried for me and are thus a bit tired on it, a bit soggy and chewy.

I could do without the salad bits and pieces.

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Like Fish Pier, Cupcake Central is part of a chain.

But forget about that; forget, too, the shopping centre location.

This is a stylish cafe space I’d be happy to spend time in just about anywhere.

Especially as my $3.30 cafe latte is outstanding.

My salted caramel cupcake ($4) is about 30 seconds of sticky decadence, although I do end up scraping off about half of the creamy, cloying topping.

All sorts of other sweeties, especially of the Italian variety, are always going to have bigger place in my heart than cupcakes, but this is a top spot.

See earlier stories about Highpoint here and here.

Cupcake Central on Urbanspoon

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The art of biscuit making in Yarraville

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Miss Biscuit, Yarraville.

Miss Biscuit is Julia.

And Julia is Miss Biscuit.

But the Yarraville baker is a whole lot more – her day gig is as a speech pathologist and she’s mum, along with her husband, to kids aged 13 and nine.

Yet there’s no doubt she’s loving the “other” role she is forging for herself as creator of beautiful, intricately decorated biscuits.

What started as a hobby became a business in November last year.

“As I gave them to people, they started asking, ‘Can I buy some?’ – and I’ve just been taking it from there,” she says.

The timelines between family life, making batches of dough and the icing of biscuits tend to be on the cramped side, but Julia is enjoying every challenge her new gig is throwing her way – even if the business if far from being, as yet, a prolific money generator.

“I love it,” she proclaims with enthusiasm. “I love making and icing the biscuits, dealing with customers – all of it.”

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On the day Consider The Sauce visits, Julia is not icing any of her creations, but you can see plenty more of her incredible handiwork at the Miss Biscuit website or Facebook page.

In the local area, her biscuits are stocked by Cup & Bean on Wembley Avenue and Providorable in Williamstown.

The football jumper biscuits will be on sale at Flemington market on Sunday, May 26.

There’s little profit, Julia says, in wholesale, so that’s mainly a matter of exposure. Most of her sales come from online.

Unsurprisingly, much of those are sales are generated by kids’ activities or parties, but she has also supplied goodies for anniversaries and weddings.

The biscuit bases are created from a simple dough of butter, flour, vanilla, eggs and baking powder.

The dough aspect of her 200 or so biscuits a week is cheap and quick – it’s the icing process that’s more pricey and time-consuming.

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She uses standard food colourings in her icing, having found the more “natural” products simply don’t have the vividness required.

She says it’s not an issue for almost all of her customers.

Incredibly, given the intricacy of her biscuit designs and aside from some skill as a gardener, Julia makes no great claims to being the “creative sort”.

“I can’t draw a circle!” she says with a laugh.

She does use a projector to help with some of her designs.

Meanwhile, you can bet Bennie and I will be springing some cash to try Julia’s forthcoming Jake and Finn Adventure Time biscuits!

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Don’t judge a book by its noodle box cover …

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Footscray Noodles In A Box Cafe, 83 Nicholson St, Footscray. Phone: 9687 8882

What?

I reckon that would’ve been a common reaction when many citizens realised Footscray mall was to become home to a noodle box establishment.

In a neighbourhood teeming with outstanding noodle options, it did seem like a food faux pas indicating unimagination running wild.

So now that it’s been up and running for a while, what’s the story?

Is it more than the signage might suggest?

The answer is an unequivocal, “Yes!”

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Sure, there are noodle box stalwarts such as wonton noodle soup and “chew kawi teow”.

And doubtless, it’s possible to order them in a box.

(I hate them, by the way – food killers!)

But this Sunday lunch time, when the cafe is one of the very few mall businesses actually open, the place is busy with customers, several of them hungry types of the Asian persuasion tucking in to big bowls of soup ‘n’ noodles.

As well, there’s other stuff going on here – affogato, chips, breakfast. And I bet they do a killer coffee.

I’m partially hankering for laksa, but spying the hand-written specials list at the serving counter, I have no hesitation in ordering pho.

What better way to see if these folks can rise above the baggage that goes with noodle box associations of mediocrity?

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My one-size-fits-all, $10.50 beef pho is fabulous.

Joining the lean sliced beef are slices of a fattier cut, beef ball discs and even some brisket.

The broth is a deepish brown with heaps of flavour.

Black pepper from the beef balls combines with red chilli slices to really give this soup bowl a hefty spice kick. I subsequently discover the chillis used are a shorter, hotter variety than is normally the case.

Given the quantity of meat, it’s a serve far larger than I can complete – if they sold small, medium and large, I’d order small.

Still, it’s been a killer lunch, with smiling, friendly service a bonus.

Footscray Noodles In A Box on Urbanspoon

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Sun Mei – still mostly a takeaway joint …

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Sun Mei, 83 Charles St, Seddon. Phone: 9687 0680

Despite our many years in the neighbourhood, Sun Mei has never tempted us.

On the rare occasions we indulge in the Chinese delivered route, we go with a more distant but significantly cheaper outlet.

Eating out?

We keep on motoring to Footscray central or further afield.

Or if we stop in Seddon, there are other more alluring options – especially in more recent times.

But about a year, Sun Mei got a new look, some paint and quite a different vibe, with white-coated cooks energetically presiding over the woks in theatrical style every time we pass by at night-time.

So it is that I finally succumb to curiosity.

And discover, in the process, that Sun Mei remains fundamentally a take-away joint, despite the makeover.

But I agree with Consider The Sauce buddy James’ comment that with a little effort it could be so much more, as the food is “above-average” for its kind.

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It’s very busy, even this early in the week. Locals are popping in with regularity, while the in-house delivery drivers comes and goes several times while I am in the house.

Eat-in facilities are minimal – a long wall shelf with stools opposite the wonderfully open kitchen and servery, and a small table in the window, at which I perch.

Two dim sims ($2.80 on the takeaway menu) are rather unglamourosuly served to me in a plastic takeaway container.

Who cares?

They’re mighty – tender, big, juicy, slightly peppery, all-round delicious and hearty on a chilly night.

Forget the legendary and over-rated South Melbourne Market dimmies – these here are the biz!

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As could be expected, my kueh teow ($13) is significantly different from what would be served in a Malaysian restaurant.

The rather finely chopped pork and tiny shrimp come almost certainly from the same ingredient containers that are used in producing Sun Mei’s fried rice.

There’s no fish cake, egg, fat prawns, Chinese sausage or fresh chilli, with dried chilli flakes used instead.

But, golly, it’s crackingly good – notably unoily for this dish yet still evincing plenty of “wok hei” flavour.

Sun Mei on Urbanspoon

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Sang’s Takeaway Food Restaurant

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Sang’s Takeaway Food Restaurant, 136 Mitchell St, Maidstone. Phone: 9318 8188

Sang’s is situated on the Mitchell St strip that houses Los Latinos and in a premises that once accommodated an Asian eatery of an entirely different kind.

The space has undergone a cheerful transformation to become a pretty nifty Vietnamese joint with a cleverly constructed menu and chefs-in-white all a-bustle.

Open just a few weeks, Sang’s is celebrating its arrival by running a hefty 20 per cent discount until May 25.

That’s code for, “Get your skates on!”

Sang’s has six kinds of rice paper rolls at $4 for a pair; there’s seven kinds of beef pho, all for $10.

A similar number of rice and broken rice meals cost the same.

I love Vietnamese chicken curry – especially the one I score in St Albans, though we sometimes grab takeaway when the dish is available at Minh Hy.

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So scanning the Sang’s list of bun/vermicelli, my attention is grabbed by the chook curry variety – also $10. This is a twist on a dish usually served with rice or – even better – a crusty bread roll.

In this case, the usually runny curry gravy/soup is subsumed by the softish mound of vermicelli, which in no way diminishes my enjoyment.

Nor does the fact the chicken pieces are small and on the bony side.

The chilli heat is quite high for Vietnamese chicken curry and the tender spud and carrot bits are happily joined by a plentiful amount of basil and coriander. I love it when coriander becomes more than a mere garnish!

Anther non-standard dish that leaps out at me from the menu is Vietnamese pancake, while I’m betting the Singapore noodle and pad Thai will be worthy of exploration, too.

Sang’s seems ideally positioned to be successful – I reckon the locals in the immediate neighbourhood must be delighted.

If eating in, I suggest grabbing one of tables to the rear to avoid the nasty gusts that gallop through the wide gap between door and floor at the front.

Sang's Takeaway Food Restaurant on Urbanspoon

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