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?
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?
consider the sauce 
Our local shopping mall at Northcote has a takeaway eatery offering barbecue pork Vietnamese rolls that are great. There’s also a cafe, Thyme for Tea, that has an old fashioned Chinese and western double menu, but everything is always fresh, tasty and served with proper crockery and cutlery…and a smile!
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Ah, yes, the smiles! I enjoy the meet people I meet doing Consider The Sauce every bit as much as the food – maybe even more! And what’s not to love about a “Chinese and weestern double menu”?
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It’s a great menu. You can get bangers & mash, wonton noodle soup, stir-fried vegetables, spag carbonara, toasted sandwiches, often a Greek, Turkish or Thai special.
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Tullamarine kebab shop… Just saying!
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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!
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Thanks for the tip, Lou!
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I live across the road from Airport West Shopping Centre & couldn’t agree more with your comments! The food court definitely needs a shake up but I can’t see that happening too soon. The only chance of that is if centre management gets the brilliant owner of Deb’s cafe to do a complete facelift of the food court. It only took her about 4-6 weeks of closing for refurbishment to open a completely new & exciting store (sarcasm definitely intended!).
I think she needed a holiday!
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