Monthly Archives: May 2019

Sweetness!

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Theo’s Greek Cakes, 11 Fosters Road, Keilor Park. Phone: 0434 099 450

We are delighted to herald the arrival of new Greek baking emporium on the smallish shopping strip on Fosters Road in Keilor Park.

Theo’s has all your sweet Greek dreams covered at great prices.

Parking is no problem.

And it’s simply a cool place to be.

 

 

We suspect most customers treat it as a shop, taking their goodies home.

But for eating-in purposes, the place is set up in simple cafe style.

 

 

Theo’s is very much about the sweeter side of life, but there are limited savoury options available.

We love our slices of spanakopita ($6).

Rich and flavoursome in a home-style way, they eat bigger than they look.

And at a place in which we would’ve been unsurprised about being presented with plastic plates and implements, we are very happy to have our lunch accompanied by real-deal unplastic gear, along with water.

 

 

For dessert, Bennie opts for this profiterol creation ($5).

He enjoys it, but perhaps not as much as he’d been hoping – likely because the chocolate is not the dark, more bitter kind he likes these days.

He plainly envies my politiko ($5, top photo).

And in that he’s right on the money – as this is superb.

It’s bit like a heftier Greek version of tiramisu, the base of syrupy semolina cake topped by a layer of cream and plenty of powdered coffee.

It is wonderful – and so healthy, too!

Our $4 cafe lattes are a fine foil for all this sweet heaven.

As an added bonus, a delicious trek to Theo’s can become a one-stop outing that includes, a few doors away, Frank’s Supermarket, a happy business a bit like a scaled-down version of Altona Fresh or Mediterranean Wholesalers in Brunswick.

Though, sadly, it is closed during our Sunday visit.

Theo’s joins the D’s Souvlaki is building a whole new food vibe at Keilor Park.

Long may they both prosper and the trend continue.

 

Yarraville cafe scene does a new block

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Boma Coffee, 127 Stephen Street, Yarraville.

The long-standing old fish and chip shop, opposite the vet where we take Boris, is no more.

In its place has arisen a swish-yet-welcoming cafe.

Boma Coffee, a sister outfit for Kodama Coffee in Williamstown, has quickly made itself right at home – just as a heap of happy customers are doing likewise in their new local.

 

 

The interior is compact and comfortable; and there are outside tables, too.

The menu (see below) is succinct – breakfast various ways plus a handful of heftier brunch/lunch items.

The latter all clock in at about $18.

I know that will be a beef with some people.

But we are by now used to paying that sort of money for this sort of food – at Bruger in Barkly Street, for example.

And, as I happily discover, the Boma Coffee food is excellent and worth every cent; and the serves are generous.

The beef burger ($18, top photo) looks like an austere outing given all the multi-layer architecture-inspired versions going around.

But simple is good – and this burger is very good.

Its has an Angus beef patty of chewy, tasty delight, along with cheese, tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mustard.

Importantly, the dill pickle atop is crunchy and sour.

The waffle fries are OK.

But.

Honestly, waffle fries appear to be a new gimmick.

I just wish people would stop.

Give me spuds – or something closely approximating them – every time.

Still, this a fine burger that delivers deep pleasure through simplicity and great ingredients.

 

 

Super foods?

Well, we can’t really get with that concept, either.

To us, super food is something that tastes bloody fantastic.

But the Boma Coffee superfood salad ($18) wins me over with similar elan.

I might expect Bennie “Salad Boy” Weir to be a fan of this.

Except it has kale.

Indeed, my salad does sport a vibe that is perilously close to ernest.

I keep on glancing at my feet, expecting to find myself wearing sandals. With socks.

As well, the salad’s ingredient are all finely chopped, finding themselves just a few degrees short of being a smoothie.

But the kale (yes!), quinoa, roasted corn, black turtle beans, tomato, avocado, toasted almonds and salted ricotta, all with a tangy japapeno and lime dressing, go down an absolute lip-smacking treat.

My bowl is empty and shiny when I finish the lot.

 

 

As you’d expect at a cafe that has the word “coffee” in its name, my cafe latte ($4) is terrific and has me gaily chirruping like a spink in spring.

Boma Coffee is on a for-sure winner in terms of location.

Suitably removed from the congestion of Ballarat and Anderson streets, and with a good distance to Woven (in one direction) and Fig and Walnut (in the other).

 

Food life looks up at Keilor Park?

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The D’s Souvlaki @ Fury & Son Brewing Company, 46 Concorde Drive, Keilor Park. Phone: 0404 818 137

Could it be?

That the parched desert that is eating in Keilor Park – and surrounding the Star Weekly office, in particular – is giving way to new blooms?

Yes – it is so.

In coming weeks, CTS will chronicle a sooper dooper Greek bakery/cake shop that has opened up in Keilor Park – and walking distance from my office.

In the meantime, The D’s Souvlaki has taken up residence in our resident brewery.

We’ve been meaning to try The D’s souvlakis for a while, as they’re apparently highly regarded.

But its long-time location on Matthews Avenue over in Airport West proved tricky for us Yarraville boys – no lunch service and a night-time drive too long when similar options abound closer to home.

But the D’s crew is now on the same block as Star Weekly, lunch and dinner is being served on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays – and the the joint has hit the ground running.

Indeed, it seems this classy souvlaki operation is an even better fit for the area and its brewery than the previous tenants, the Houston’s barbecue team.

The D’s Souvlaki is tapping into the plethora of Keilor Park and environs workers, presumably as tired as I of the tawdry fare of the many local tradies cafes.

As well, the D’s move to a new location has pulled regular night-time customers right along.

The menu (see below) is a simple, compact list absent such accessories as chips.

That’s fine by us – and no doubt helps with turnaround times.

 

 

However, my first visit, on the second day at the new location, does prove to be something of a trial.

It’s hosing down with rain, I arrive at an unusually (for me) late, post-noon hour and the crowds are building.

 

 

But all becomes good and fine when contemplating and eating my medium lamb souvlaki ($12).

This is excellent stuff – good, ungristly meat, all the usual souvlaki bits in good order.

 

 

I return the following Friday and enjoy a much earlier and sunnier outcome.

 

 

This time I go the medium chicken – also priced at $12.

Now, chicken souvlaki – or doner or shish – is not normally my style, but journalistic duty requires variance from the previous week.

But I’m happy as this, too, is a winner.

If, in both cases, I have wished for more flame-induced salty crustiness, I understand that souvlaki is a dice roll of luck and timing.

In any case, continued visits to The D’s Souvlaki for this lad’s Friday lunch are a safe bet.

 

Winter Warrmer Fundraiser

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Katerina says: “Roll up, roll up!”

Winter Warmer Fundraiser, Fig & Walnut, 11 Bellairs Avenue, Seddon.

TO BOOK FOR THIS EVENT, GO HERE.

Great food, lovely people and a splendid good cause.

Yes, Consider The Sauce is happy to throw its lot in with another westie fundraiser.

And once again, the recipient of all these good vibes will be Climate for Change.

In some ways, this is a reprise of a similar event organised by Vera Xanthis of Fig & Walnut and CTS a little under a year ago.

That event – you can see the wrap here if you’re interested – was a winner.

But the flash new Winter Warmer Fundraiser promises to be even more fun.

And delicious.

In this case, Vera and Katerina are doing the heavy lifting.

Me? All I have to do is hoist up a blog post and help drum up some publicity and ticket sales for a party being billed as “a night of climate-friendly food, mulled wined and community building”.

Even better, Vera will be providing the food and its preparation at no charge.

And the cool crew at Fig & Walnut will be donating their time on the night.

That means every cent raised will go to Climate for Change to help it continue its important work – you know, stuff like saving the planet.

Here’s what Vera and the Fig & Walnut team will be serving up:

  • Grazing table on arrival
  • Choice of two soups
  • Spanish paella (sustainable seafood or vegan)
  • Choice of two desserts
  • Complementary Glass mulled wine

The night’s speakers will be Colleen Hartland and Climate for Change founder and CEO Katerina Gaita.

Tickets cost $55 plus service fee.

See you there?

TO BOOK FOR THIS EVENT, GO HERE.

To find the event Facebook page, go here.

For more information about Climate for Change, go here.

If you can’t make it to the fundraiser, but you’d like to support the good folk at Climate for Change who are working hard to make sure we get the action we need from government on climate change, them please support their annual crowdfunder. They need to raise $180k by June 7. Every bit counts. Go here to donate.