Tag Archives: cheap eats

Vic Market deli underwhelms

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Pickett’s Deli & Rotisserie, 507 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. Phone: 9328 3213

We’ve checked out a North Melbourne pub long on our radar with a view to Sunday roast lunches.

But we’ve found the place barely open and looking and feeling rather morose.

And there’s no Sunday roast – so scratch that idea!

So we move on, ending up at Vic Market and deciding to give the corner deli/rotisserie a go.

It’s replaced a bakery/cafe that had been in place for as long as I can remember.

 

 

Pickett’s is done out in cool cafe style with lots of dark wood. It’s a lovely room with a cosmopolitan vibe.

I go for the half Bannockburn chicken with chips and gravy (top photograph).

The good stuff:

The bird meat is ALL delicious.

And ALL tender in a way rarely attained by most charcoal chicken shops.

The not so good:

My chicken is barely lukewarm and closing in on cold.

The good, thin gravy is even cooler.

Likewise with chips that are limp, tired and way over-salted – and that comes from someone who generally likes some chips with his salt.

Based solely on the bird quality, the price tag of $21 – well above that asked by your local chicken shop – seems reasonable.

But given the overall lack of heat, it becomes less so.

And surely for that sort of price, cracking hot chips are to expected.

 

 

Bennie’s sandwich of barbecue lamb ribs on ciabatta with herb and celery salad, rosemary crumb ($16) works well – it’s a refreshing combination of flavours.

Though he doesn’t get the expected smoky tang of American-style barbecue he is expecting.

It’s almost seems like the meat has been cooked in the Chinese barbecue fashion.

 

 

We share a small serve of one of the salads.

Marinated cucumbers, mint pesto, puffed barley and house made milk curd is fine and zesty and the serve is generous for $7.

Given its superb location, Pickett’s will doubtless continue to do well.

But we’re hardly going to change our Vic Market routine from borek and bratwurst.

 

Vego buffet wins

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Pandu’s, 351 Barkly Street, Footscray. Phone: 8307 0789

Just recently, the Lost Footscray FB page sported a photograph of the Middle Footscray portion of Buckley Street – taken before the houses there were demolished.

And there it was – the original Pandu’s.

When I showed the pic to Bennie, he proclaimed: “That place was cool!”

Pandu’s, since then, has moved on to swisher, more roomy premises on Barkly Street – and we remain sporadic customers.

Truth is, though, the spicy buzz we used to get from Indo-Chinese food has faded.

Instead of the dry, crunchy, zingy stuff we firstly loved, our experiences of recent years seem to have been more of sodden and gloop.

But the expanded Pandu’s spreads its menu far wider – there’s biryanis, dosas and much, much more.

Including a bargain-priced weekend breakfast/brunch vegetarian buffet we are keen to try.

It’s beaut – and at $10.99 a super deal.

And it’s a hit, too, with the Indian community – closing in on 1pm on the Saturday we visit, Pandu’s is doing brisk trade.

 

 

The food is arrayed in a row of cookers and other containers.

There is – this is a buffet, after all – heaps and heaps of it.

Some of it is familiar, some not so.

The staff are working hard so the run-through explanation we are given passes in a bit of a blur and I struggle to take it all in.

Certainly, the three of us go nowhere near trying all that is on offer.

 

 

Partly that is because we’re old and wise enough to discard the ever-present buffet temptation of going hog wild and loading up our plates, though we all make second visits to the line-up.

Being a huge fan of both pooris and papads, I revel in a bottomless supply of both.

And the smooth, pale yellow vegetable curry that teams with the pooris is a treasure.

 

 

Plain, unstuffed dosas are part of the Pandu’s buffet set-up, but they are brought around separately by the staff – thus avoiding sogginess!

 

Ripper pasta place

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Pentolina, 2/377 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. Phone: 9606 0642

The place, the space, the back story, the food and the company …

Consider The Sauce’s supremely enjoyable visit to Pentolina evokes many memories.

For starters, so to speak, I recall imbibing a bowl of pasta at the same address many years ago – about 20, I think.

That, too, was a specialist pasta house.

These days, under the guidance of husband-and-wife team Matt and Julia Picone, old-school pasta is still very much the go, though the place certainly looks very different.

 

 

It’s classy and stylish, without being overbearingly so.

Matt was a barista at Pellegrini’s for the best part of two decades, and it is that sort spirit and vibe they are trying to foster at Pentolina.

And succeeding.

Justin is my CTS companion for this adventure.

We figure out rough timelines that strongly suggest that not only had we both enjoyed several – and maybe many – coffees made by Matt, but that we were also quite possibly sitting side by side while doing so on occasion.

Are we happy to be here as guests?

Yes.

(Full disclosure below.)

 

 

Taking up pews at the window bench – good for watching the passing parade outside and for the taking of photographs – we are happy, too, to leave our leisurely lunch in the hands of the staff in the form of the $60 a head “feed me” menu.

 

 

We start with cured swordfish, fennel, grapefruit and pomegranate ($21) and …

 

 

… beef carpaccio with truffle cream and parmesan ($19).

There’s little for me to say about these – except that they are wonderful, simple, fresh and prepared with superb ingredients.

And they’re just the sort of thing we feel like.

 

 

We discover that we both have  something of an aversion to the oft-leaden arancini.

So we love these smaller cousins – Alessandra’s suppli (rice croquettes) with saffron and grana padano ($9).

They’re light and fluffy and beautifully fried.

 

 

Then it’s on to the pasta – all house-made.

Squid ink spaghetti with vongole ($28) is lovely, though the simple sauce of white wine and garlic (I think) is quite dry.

 

 

Matt’s spaghetti bolognese (ragu with beef, eggplant, zucchini, vermouth, $21) is good, too, though I think – nostalgic for the lusty gusto of the Pelligrini’s version – we both find it muted in both texture and flavour.

 

 

In that regard, the simple, righteous rigatoni amatriciana ($23) of pancetta, napoli, fresh chili and olives is a dead-set bullseye – and the pasta hit of the day.

The pasta, however, is just a tad too al dente for my tastes.

But let’s not quibble – this is ace.

 

 

Cannoli with ricotta, citrus and raisin ($3 each) are light and champions of their kind, with quite an unusual flavour and very crusty casings.

 

 

Justin confesses to not being much of a fan of panna cotta.

But even he is impressed by the Pentolina version with fresh berries ($13).

I love it to bits – so delicious.

I’ll use Justin’s pithy message to me later in the day as a summation: “Ripper lunch and ripper company!”

To which I’ll add: “Ripper place!”

(Consider The Sauce dined at Pentolina as guests of the management and we did not pay for our meals. We enjoyed a range of dishes chosen by the staff as part of the $60pp “Feed Me” deal. Pentolina management neither sought nor was granted any input, oversight or pre-publication access to his story.)

 

Excellent barbecue

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Houston’s Barbecue, 46 Concorde Drive, Keilor Park. Phone: 0434 434 303

Keilor Park, home of the Star Weekly office, is on the edge of a sprawling area of inter-connected industrial estates hugging Melbourne Airport.

Around here, there appears to be a tradies-style cafe on almost every block.

Good food?

Way more sparse.

One of our locals, for instance, has rotating bain marie offerings of beef vindaloo, satay beef, beef ragout and so on.

And they all taste the same.

In this place I have seen a beefy trucker gleefully tuck into a vast bowl of super-rich cream sauce with a pasta garnish – all gracefully topped (covered) by a hefty chicken schnitizel.

Such grotesqueries are not uncommon around here.

But each to his own.

And business is business.

As previously noted here at CTS, no matter how much such operations may wish it to be otherwise, in most cases they simply must do the potato cake and dimmie routine.

That’s why myself and a handful of colleagues continue our weekly curry run to get wonderful Sri Lankan goodies from Spicy Corner in slightly further afield residential Tullamarine.

And that’s why I and most of my Star Weekly colleagues pack lunches – in my case, especially earlier in the week.

And that is also why the opening of a bona fide barbecue joint just around the corner from our office – a two-minute walk, no need to get in the car – seemed so surreal.

Still does.

 

 

Houston’s Barbecue is located in the premises of Fury and Son Brewing Company.

And it’s open only on Fridays.

Of course, I was VERY interested in checking it out – for both CTS purposes and as a break in the Keilor Park eats routine.

However, initial visits – several months ago now – left very mixed impressions.

For example, brisket burgers and beef hot dogs that were OK – but not really nailing it.

I can sympathise.

This is a new operation – a very unique one, operating in an unusual (to say the least) location.

There had to have been doubts about whether it would even draw sufficient numbers, especially at Friday lunch-time, and about what would or would not work.

Some fine-tuning, tweaking and settling-in time has definitely been in order.

I returned a couple of weeks ago – and was mightily impressed.

The menu has been constantly revised.

For the in-a-hurry, keep-it-cheap lunch crowd, there are still burgers and punters can still customise meals by ordering 100-gram meat portions and sides.

But the introduction of substantial – and, yes, pricier – platters has seen Houston’s Barbecue reach new heights.

Heights that deserve to make it a destination for a wider audience than merely those who work nearby.

 

 

This platter was superb.

Two hunka-chunka slices of wonderful spicy-crusted brisket.

An excellent cheesy, greasy smoked sausage.

Just the right amount of good coleslaw and pickles.

And – oh, yes! – none of that brioche nonsense; instead, two slices of perfect white, sliced bread in true barbecue joint fashion.

Entirely delicious – and worth every cent of the $18 I paid.

 

 

Returning a week later, I have an even better time.

The menu has changed again (see latest incarnation below).

For CTS purposes, I am happy to splash out in a way I hope doesn’t become too much of a weekly habit!

This beef short rib conglomeration costs $25 and it’s a doozy!

The chips are just OK – maybe less crisp and hot than I would like on account of me being the day’s first customer.

Slaw and pickles as previously enjoyed.

And I would’ve appreciated that white, sliced bread again – and as seen on new photos on the Houston’s Barbecue Facebook page with this platter.

But forget all that – what about the meat?

My single, hefty rib is amazingly good.

Less fatty than many barbecue beef ribs I have eaten, it’s meat is tender, plentiful and heavenly.

The spicy crust might be too salty for some tastes, but I love that as well.

As for doubts about the commercial viability of the singular location and one-day-a-week opening hours, I couldn’t be happier to observe that Houston’s Barbecue is a hit.

In industrial Keilor Park.

How about that?

Houston’s Barbecue is open on Friday from noon until 10pm – or until sold out!

Check out their website here.

 

Westie eats goss 06/09/18

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With several apartment blocks in the throes of construction, Footscray-on-Marybyrnong will undergo a population boom in coming years.

Truth is, though, the area has had apartment dwellers in their hundreds in residence for many years, so it’s perhaps a little surprising that more businesses haven’t been stepped up to service them.

Maybe some kind of tipping point has been reached?

One outfit looking to take care of these folks is Harry and Larry’s General Store at 4 Yewers Street.

Ambling up for a look-see, cynical me was ruminating along the lines of: “Yeah, yeah – organic cola and not the regular kind; and lots of over-priced ‘gourmet’ products!”

I was wrong.

Some real smart thinking has gone into stocking Harry and Larry’s.

In a modestly sized yet appealing and light-filled space, they’ve stocked an amazingly comprehensive line-up of stuff.

Products run from the everyday to, yes, your more gourmet and specialty lines.

But the general impression I gain is that the prices are very competitive.

For instance, the likes of regular-line tinned tomatoes and cannellini beans seem only a little pricier than barn prices – and less expensive than in some supermarkets I can think of.

 

 

Harry and Larry’s is being run by Victoria Lukacs (left) and Jo Harvey, who plays a role at the adjacent Slice Girls West and Back Alley Sally’s.

 

 

Goodies in-house include fine cheese such as Marlo organic brie and camembert …

 

 

… to myriad hot sauces and condiments.

 

 

There’s a nice mix of cheaper and classier pasta.

 

 

Loo paper and …

 

 

… fur-baby necessities?

Of course!

 

 

Vegan-friendly condoms?

I don’t even know what that means!

 

 

There’s a kitchen shared with Slice Girls West, so the grocery store serves up a range of sandwiches.

 

 

And there’s a nice spot set aside should you wish to consume your sanger on the spot.

 

 

There’s enough fresh fruit and vegetables on hand to meet most needs.

If we lived locally, we’d be shopping here at least a couple of times a week.

As it is, I suspect it’ll become something of a regular shopping haunt anyway …

 

 

In Williamstown, a new place named Porters – on the corner of Nelson Place and and Ann Street – is being fitted out as we speak.

It’s part of the new Waterline Place apartment set-up and you can keep tabs on progress at the joint’s Facebook page.

 

 

Now this is exciting!

On the location of the former fruit/veg/organic deli on Vernon Street in South Kingsville is coming a Middle Eastern restaurant called Dukkah.

 

 

Operating with aplomb at the site of the old Fisher cricket bat “factory” in Kingsville is the appropriately named Willow Wine Cafe (126 Williamstown Road).

 

 

It’s run by the lovely Ellen, who will be a familiar face to many based on her long stint at the Plough Hotel.

 

 

The main dining space cleverly harnesses the old building’s verandah to create a wonderful summery feel.

 

 

At the moment it’s operating until 7pm Tuesday-Sunday, but later closing hours are being negotiated with local residents.

 

 

Is there any tougher strip than Gordon Street in Footscray?

Sadly, Indonesian restaurant Spice Klub has already closed.

Taking its place is Karlaylisi Restaurant, which is serving up Uyghur cuisine.

The menu is very long and features many, many pastry/dumpling dishes, cumin lamb skewers, tongues, house-made noodles, chillis and much more.

We’ll be taking it for a run very soon!

 

Westie eats goss 29/08/18

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The transformation of Sims in West Foostrcay is proceeding with gusto.

This photo shows the area of the former deli and home of refrigerated and frozen products already being drastically revamped.

I’m told the store upgrade will take place over about seven stages with a completion date of early next year.

 

 

Plans and “artist impressions” of the new look are on display in the store.

 

 

They include an in-house coffee bar.

 

 

It seems, though, that the iconic meaty mural on Barkly Street will be a victim of the revamp.

 

 

Going up in Werribee – in the location of longstanding but now closed Mondells Cafe & Patisserie on Watton Street – is District 3030.

This Vietnamese shot in the arm for Wyndham is an expansion project of the successful and popular District 3429 eatery in Sunbury.

 

 

What was once Cheaper By Miles in the Nicholson Street mall in Footscray is being turned into a fried chicken establishment – another one!

The fitout is well underway, so this photo has become of historical significance!

Check the Wing Wing Chicken + Beer FB page for progress reports.

 

 

 

On Nicholson Street proper, Karibu Cafe has been operating since about the start of the year – and has escaped CTS attention for that long.

Under the broad banner of East African food, this place serves injera-based feeds.

But it also – oh yes! – serves Somali rice-style dishes.

We are keen to try!

 

 

Also on Nicholson Street, a talkative local tells me the long saga of Cafe D’Afrique has been caused by a “cracked wall”, but that we should see some visible action there in the coming months.

 

 

After being up and running for what seems like just a few months, Elementary 15 on Leeds Street in Footscray is already “closed for renovations”, according to the sign in the window.

They may like to effect some remedial work on the signage while they’re about it.

 

 

Inspired Cafe on Anderson Street in Yarraville has closed and is being transformed into a burger shop – another one!

This Hardings Burger Joint will presumably be a sibling for the one in Brunswick West and another in Coburg that was destroyed by fire in July last year.

 

 

Dee Dee Thai Cuisine has opened 10 Pratt Street, Moonee Ponds, just off Puckle and home to several eateries of the Asian persuasion over the years.

 

Meal of the week No.44: Smokehouse 101

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As it’s always in a state of constant prowl, food-wise, CTS doesn’t drop into Smokehouse 101 (101 Rosamond Road, Maidstone) as often as we’d like.

Because we like it lots that the place keeps on going about its happy neighbourhood joint business away from the often fickle, hipsterish glare that attends other establishments that specialise in barbecue across Melbourne.

But we are in the house this Thursday to check out one Smokehouse 101’s regular specials – the Thursday night $5 burgers.

Bennie had taken them for a run the previous week with a pal and has been most adamant that CTS pays an official visit.

Oh, well … OK, if you insist.

 

 

So what’s the deal?

And is it any good?

The answer: Yes.

The Thursday burgers are available in beef, southern fried chicken, pulled pork and brisket.

Extra patties are available for the first two named for $3 a pop.

But we go a different route, ordering one each of the burgers on offer.

All are dressed the same – with coleslaw and good, sliced, crunchy pickled cucumbers.

I make that point because in the same week CTS bought a jar of pickled cucumbers – as recommended by the salesperson at the deli in which I was shopping – and they turned out to be soggy and tasteless.

Straight into the rubbish bin they went.

The little things count!

 

 

Likewise, two thumbs heartily hoisted for the most excellent house-made and toasted buns served by Smokehouse 101.

The meat in our four burgers?

Just fine in all cases.

Though Bennie and I agree that the straight-up beef burger is the best of the bunch.

It is, of course, possible to buy burgers elsewhere for $5 or less if you want to go mega-franchise.

But those aren’t burgers like these are real burgers.

Though here it will pay to keep things in perspective and real – these ARE $5 burgers, so you won’t be getting a two-fisted hunka chunka meal, or not by ordering a single burger anyway.

Early on our Thursday, there are only a couple of other tables taking advantage of the $5 burger deal.

But we’re told it can get busy later on in the night, with queues out the door not uncommon.

 

So good

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Fusion Ceylon, 27 Watton Street, Werribee. Phone: 0433 696 726

Meet Isuru Madusanka and Chiran Hemadasa – heroes of Melbourne food and restaurants.

Not just the western suburbs.

And not only in the cheap eats field.

Though they are both of those, too.

No – what they are doing at their fine establishment, Fusion Ceylon, warrants acclamation beyond any geographical or price restrictions.

CTS has been a fan of the place since its doors opened a few years back.

But there’s no doubt – based on the visits being used to compile this story – that the Fusion Ceylon crew has lifted its game; a lot.

The food is cooked with flair and imagination, and presented beautifully, all the while fully retaining its funky Sr Lankan/Asian soul.

The place is looking more restaurant-y these days.

And as the as the use of the word “fusion” in its title hints, there’s a lot of wok cooking going on here.

That means wait times will rarely stretch beyond 15 minutes.

Prices are ridiculously low.

Much – but by no means all – of the fun and games is to be found on the regularly changing specials list.

 

 

Item: Singaporean chilli crab devilled with egg fried rice and vegetable chop suey is a dream.

The superb rice is fab, fluffy and freshly prepared.

The simple vegetables on the side are very good.

The shellfish component consists of three blue swimmer crabs.

Even with that number, the amount of your actual crab meat to be had is modest – and getting at it is messy, sticky fun.

But, hey, it IS all about fresh crab, the mess goes with the territory, the mild sauce has good flavour and the price is $16.50.

 

 

Speaking of finger-lickin’ …

Item: Spicy Kentucky-style fried chicken with biryani dazzles.

I’m told my three pieces are coated in a mix that contains cumin, cayenne and cardamom.

The taste, though, is rather muted – if anything I’d like to see this fried chicken really turbocharged with spices.

The chook chunks are still excellent, though – as good as any of your hipster or food truck fried chicken offerings, and a whole lot better than some.

There’s a tangy tamarind-based sauce to go with the poultry.

And another gravy to go with the top-shelfe biryani rice.

Atop that rice – in righteous biryani style – are two halves of hard-boiled egg anointed with a tiny dice of onion and tomato.

On the side is a sticky eggplant pickle.

This dish, too, costs an amazing $16.50.

 

 

Item: Colombo mixed rice ($13.50) comes from the regular menu (see below).

It comes with three meats (pork, chicken, beef), shrimp and a fried egg, with a plump skewer of chicken slathered with house-made tomato sauce on the side.

Any tendency towards fried-rice blandness is fixed up good by yet another tangy sauce and the subtle fragrance of several fresh dill sprigs.

This is A Great Melbourne Restaurant.

See earlier stories here and here.

 

Still fab

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Mama’s Cuisine, 331 Racecourse Road, Flemington. Phone: 0399 947 229

One of our old faves has undergone a revamp and been bestowed with a new name – what was Afro Deli is now Mama’s Cuisine, and looking rather spiffy with new furniture and fittings.

We figure it’s time for a re-visit – and, heck, it’s been a month or so we’ve had a good Somalian feed.

The menu (see below) features our expected favourites – and a few intriguing items for us to try on another visit.

A breakfast dish of shakshouka eggs, for instance – made in a tomato sauce.

Or mandazi – Somalian doughnuts.

The lamb broth soup (above) is superb.

 

 

Unfortunately, the mighty sounding “Mama’s Special” of fried goat shoulder with herbs and served with vegetables and rice ($17) is not quite ready for us …

So I go for my trusty lamb on the bone, federation style with rice and pasta ($15).

All is delicious, and there’s plenty of charred/fried onion, capsicum and carrot to go with the tender meat.

 

 

Bennie, too, sticks to routine by getting pasta only. He likes it, but does prefer the more tomato-ey versions to be had elsewhere.

For him, and for the same price, the carnivore aspect is covered by on-the-bone camel meat – and it, too, is tender and beaut.

All that and we’re served complementary mango smoothies as well.

Mama’s Cuisine is right up there with the other great Somalian joints on this strip.

Will CTS ever stop banging on about the Somalian establishments of Flemington?

No.

 

 

Grand Italian

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Ciao Mamma, 3-5 Union Street, Brunswick. Phone: 8528 7091

CTS still gets the occasional non-plussed online comment about our random coverage of non-western suburbs eateries.

You know, as if we should stay forever and only in our self-appointed place!

But, no, we ramble, too.

And as regular readers will know, when we ramble it is often to Brunswick and Coburg we head.

This has not gone unnoticed by Tina and Nic Persano of Ciao Mamma.

So much so – and liking the CTS style and stories a lot – they invite us over for a feed (see full disclosure below).

This is a grand thing, as given the restaurant’s location just off Sydney Road, we are unlikely to have discovered it on our own.

It takes several weeks for Nic and I to arrange a suitable night, and for me to rope in some eating partners.

While all that is going on, I have a good look at the photos and comments on the Ciao Mamma FB page and scope out the menu and more at the joint’s website.

In doing so I become as certain as can be we are in for a super swell time.

And, yes, that’s how our evening goes.

The dining areas here surround the central kitchen, with the vibe in general being chic, comfortable, welcoming and cheerful.

There’s a pride and determination to provide great Italian food here.

Yet there is no veal, seafood, steaks and the like.

Ciao Mamma is mostly a pasta place.

The fervent aim of Nica and Tina is to make guests feel like they’ve had an old-school family meal, nonna-style.

We reckon they do just that.

We start with focaccia ($9).

Fresh out of the oven and so good it could be a meal all on its own.

The salumi and friends offering ($24) is the best of its kind I’ve ever enjoyed.

It’s not that there’s so much of it or so many different ingredients – it’s just that it’s all so wonderful, tasty and beautifully matched.

Prosciutto from Parma and hot salami from Mondo soro in Western Australia – both thinly sliced, fresh and yum.

Roasted red capsicum.

Superb cheeses from Azzuri in Bolinda – pecorino cheese in thin wedges; and burratina, shredded fresh mozzarella and cream encased in fresh mozzarella served with Maldon salt flakes, cracked pepper and virgin olive oil.

Olives – Sicilian green olives and Ligurian small black, both baked in-house with garlic, chilli and herbs.

Then it’s pasta time!

The drill here is that guests choose their variety of fresh house-made pasta and match it with a sauce, with extra customising options available.

This photo of Josh’s rigatoni with ragu ($24) is something of a lie, as there’s a heap of meaty slow-cooked beef in there and it’s an excellent selection.

Eliza’s spaghetti with amatriciana ($20) is just as sexy, with heaps of pancetta.

My own tagliatelle with the ortolana sauce of tomato and roast vegetables ($19) is good, though I find it a bit in the realms of plain and worthy – and rather end up envying my friends’ choices.

Desserts?

Oh, yes – this particular configuration of Team CTS was always going to explore the sweet options with gusto!

Pana cotta ($10), topped with a Ciao swirl of salted caramel, is unlike any we’ve before tried.

Less of the wobble and more of the buttery firmness – but still excellent.

By contrast, the “Tina-mi-su” ($12) is a light and fluffy fantasia with just a delectable whiff of booze.

Finally comes the choc-blast that is flourless torta caprese with chocolate and almond ($12).

Decadent and rich, it’s good thing this – and the other desserts – are shared between three of us.

Ciao Mamma was recently announced as the first Italian eatery to obtain Coeliac Australia accreditation for its gluten-free options.

(Consider The Sauce dined at Ciao Mamma as guests of the management and we did not pay for our meals. We ordered from the menu. Ciao mamma management neither sought nor was granted any input, oversight or pre-publication access to his story.)

Meal of the week No.43: Dumpling Story

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CTS has never been much impressed by the food offerings at Pacific Werribee.

As well, one of the few outlets that may be expected to arouse our interest, if not our enthusiasm, is Dumpling Story – and I’ve long carried some baggage in that regard because of an unfortunate meal endured by someone near and dear to us.

So what am I doing here?

Well, it’s parent-teacher night.

I’ve departed Yarraville in plenty of time to allow for whatever the freeway and weather may come my way … so much so that I’ve arrived with heaps of time to grab some dinner before the business part of the evening unfolds.

That’s a lot happier prospect than trying to find something to eat between Werribee and Yarraville about 9pm on a cold Monday night.

Still, as you’d expect, my expectations are pretty much rock bottom.

I order and wait.

A bit less than 10 minutes later, I am presented with my combination laksa ($11.80).

And am duly knocked out.

I’m not about to proclaim this laksa as a champion of its kind, and maybe my happiness is coloured by my low hopes.

But this is really very good.

Commercial laksa gravy?

Maybe – there are no curry leaves that sometimes are a tip-off that the soup part has been tweaked in-house.

But no matter – this tastes fine.

It’s a big serve.

There’s a hefty amount of good, if somewhat bland, chicken.

Better, there are several delectable slivers of excellent eggplant.

And four plump, tasty and peeled prawns.

And more …

I’ll be much more open-minded about this place – and its extensive and interesting menu – when I’m down this way again.

 

House of yum

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House of Injera, 227 Barkly Street, Footscray. Phone: 9687 8644

Lucy Dinknesh is dead; long live Lucy Dinknesh.

The much-loved Ethiopian stalwart of the Footscray eats scene has closed its doors.

Doubtless that will leave a hole impossible to fill for its many fans.

But House of Injera – at the same address – is giving it a good shake.

Based on the mostly excellent food we eat during a mid-week visit – and the happy tables around us – House of Injera is destined to be a hit.

Even with otherwise inconsolable Lucy fans.

But this is a rather different enterprise.

It’s the first restaurant adventure for the team of Wes and Brod Jackson and Messe Berhe, with the latter (mum of Wes) doing all the cooking.

 

 

The dining room is a rather chic delight, with low-fi lighting (but still bright enough to see our food), plain yet fetching wooden tables, cushions scattered around and Ethiopian art work adorning the walls.

The pungent tang of incense and funky Ethiopian sounds – some even familiar to Bennie and I from my slim collection of Ethio music – are comfort-inducing in a swell way.

And a reminder to self to never, ever take for granted the happy miracle of the presence in our midst of the Ethiopian community – nor the presence of any other community.

What a wonderful world!

The House Of Injera menu (see below) is a simple, well-written list featuring many dishes with which we are familiar.

Though there are a few wrinkles along the way.

One is the inclusion of kikel seg, the meat and vegetable soup we adore, but see available at very few Ethiopian eateries.

We think of it as the Ethiopian take on pho or Jewish penicillin/chicken soup.

Another wrinkle is lamb ribs.

My choice is soup, but I let Carnivore Boy Bennie bully me into ordering the ribs.

We’re told lamb ribs are eaten in Ethiopia, but not when marinated as here.

 

 

Our lamb ribs ($15) look the part and constitute a generous serve compared to others we’ve had of the same meat cut elsewhere in the past few years.

There are five good-sized ribs involved.

Unfortunately, we find them to be extremely fatty – indeed, a couple seem sans meat and made up of fat and bone only.

It could be argued this all goes with lamb ribs territory, but buyer beware.

Much better are the tibbs-style lamb cubes, onion, carrot and their juices on which the ribs are presented.

Entirely delicious!

 

 

There are three combo deals to be had at House of Injera – the all-veg beyaynetu at $16 per person; the mistro, a mix of five meat and vegetable dishes, at $20 per person; and anbessa, the all-in line-up for $25 per person.

We order the mistro – and are knocked-out happy to find it includes a small bowl each of aforementioned kikel seg soup.

It is excellent – and there’s a heap of on-the-bone meat submerged in our bowls.

 

 

The rest of our mistro line-up includes wonderful renditions of khay wat, gomen sega and the familiar, always-welcome Ethio mix of beetroot and spuds.

The meat in the beef stew that is khay wat is cooked down and easy to eat.

The greens of gomen sega come with another wrinkle – more tender on-the-bone meat, which makes me recall the stew-meat greens that are staples of much cooking of the southern parts of the US.

We’re far from complaining, as there’s more food served to us than we can eat, but instead of five dishes as part of our mistro combo, we have been served four.

No problem at all – and our bill is adjusted accordingly.

Mentioning that – and the fatty ribs – is par for the CTS course and nothing less than our readers expect.

But in this case, it grieves me a little, as we really do love this place and we love our meal.

House of Injera is warmly CTS recommended.

 

 

Besides, it’s impossible to dislike a place that takes on board the hands-on nature of its food by providing facilities that include a basin into which hot water runs IMMEDIATELY and in which paper towels are on hand.

Check our the House Of Injera website here.

 

Very vego Vietnamese

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Vinh Nguyen Bakehouse, 35 Perth Avenue, Albion. Phone: 0404 854 663

Perth Avenue is a lovely, cheerful local shopping strip that is these days quite the food destination …

Sadie Black – yet to be visited by CTS – has won many friends down one end; at the other is super Polish shopping establishment Mitko Deli.

Right in the middle is Vinh Nguyen Bakehouse, which specialises in vegetarian Vietnamese food.

You can get imbibe of your actual pho here – but most of the soup/noodle dishes seem to be of other, different styles.

 

 

Not being a fan of mock meat, I plump for this nevertheless very nice concoction of egg noodles, vegetable stock, mushrooms and two kinds of tofu.

It’s plain – in a good way! – that is lifted just right by a scattering of fresh chilli and lemon juice.

 

 

But a part of me rather wishes I’d gone in the direction of the bun bo hue advertised on the door!

 

 

My dining companions – Virginia, Dinh and Annie – go for more complex arrangements on the same sort of theme, with mock meat fully present.

 

 

And even what seems to be a vegetarian rendition of bo kho stew.

 

 

Vinh Nguyen Bakehouse specialises in pia cakes, which come in four flavours – taro, mung bean, coconut and red bean.

These are really good – not too sweet, quite delicate, would go real fine with Vietnamese iced coffee.

This joint is doing what I bet are excellent banh mi at the weekends.

Recent Facebook posts have revved me up for a return, with a revolving line-up of specials that have included stir fried noodles, vegetarian bun bi vermicelli salad, spicy lemongrass noodle soup and mock duck/tofu rice paper rolls.

 

One word – cannoli

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Cannoli Bar, 23 Riviera Road, Avondale Heights.

Down an otherwise unremarkable Avondale Heights residential street a wonderful surprise awaits.

A once-was-a-corner shop has been turned into a chic, cheerful – and already very popular – cafe of the Italian variety.

 

 

Savoury offerings appear to be down to these good-looking pizza slices.

 

 

There are a plethora of sweet treats on hand – all, we are informed, baked and/or assembled on the premises.

But the place’s focus is a bit more singular than even that – as its name attests.

 

 

Yes, cannoli – fresh-filled after being ordered.

We try two at $4.50 each – one each of nutella and pistacchio.

I reckon they are beyond awesome.

Though Bennie is less impressed.

The fillings are creamy and a way less solid than, for instance, the cannoli offered at T. Cavallaro & Sons in Footscray.

I love the whole experience – including the fact that they are fragile and more or less explode upon being handled.

Who cares?

Goes with the territory!

Our cafe lattes are every bit as good, with just the right amount of bitterness.

Canoli Bar is open Wednesday to Friday 8am-3pm and Saturday and Sunday 8am-4pm.

 

 

Iraqi feast = peak CTS experience

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Bakhdida Cafe and Restaurant, 42 Knight Avenue, Sunshine North. Phone: 0403 440 174

Prowling the back streets of Sunshine North after dark is a weird feeling – creepy even.

No one around, the panelbeaters and all the other businesses hereabouts closed, little by way of street lighting.

But as we arrive at the block on which Bakhdida lives, parking is at a premium.

Entering the restaurant – the main room is really more of a hall – we discover the reason for that: A couple of dozen guests happily playing cards and the like.

Yes, this is an eatery-cum-social club of the kind found all over the west in a dizzying array of cultural affiliations.

But don’t let that put you off.

Actually, let me re-phrase that: DEFINITELY don’t let that put you off, because you REALLY, REALLY do want to visit and enjoy Bakhdida.

Here you’ll be served wonderful Iraqi food.

Much of the long and extremely affordable menu is familiar in the Middle Eastern way, though there are a few points of difference along the journey.

Proprietor Abraham Pitros and his crew are really on the ball, with our many dishes arriving looking gorgeous and after what seemed like hardly any time at all.

The restaurant is named after the northern Iraqi town from whence Abraham originated.

Pickles are served with several of our other dishes as garnishes, but it’s a good thing we order a dedicated serve of them ($5) with olives – because we love them a lot and eat of them heartily.

Cabbage, celery, some carrot and – best of all – many cauliflower florets have a turmeric hue, are delicious and are made with love by Abraham’s mum.

A good whack of turmeric is also at play in the dipping concoction that comes with our falafel ($15).

The falafel – in the shape of small donuts and looking a bit like vada – are golden outside and in, very plain in the seasoning department and very good.

Mixed dips ($10) – eggplant, gagic, hommus – are every bit as excellent as you’d expect and accompanied by a sort-of ratatouille and cabbage salad.

We enjoy them with good house-made Iraqi bread – hollow in the middle like the Lebanese variation with which we’re familiar, but a bit thicker.

Under the roof of pita chips is a top-notch rendition of fatoosh ($5).

Sliced beetroot ($5) is OK, but is so plain it gets a bit lost amid all the other zingy flavours we are loving.

Just like all the other guests this night, we get to try (at no charge) this un-named kitchen trial dish.

It’s made of large yellow cucumber slices and come across as a cross between a pickle and a salad.

It, too, is great.

Lamb shawerma ($16) is chewy, a little crispy and quite salty – just as we like it!

Mixed skewers ($16) are succulent, awesome – and seemingly unseasoned in any way.

But that’s fine, actually, as there’s plenty of hyped-up flavour action going on elsewhere on our table.

Saving the best until last?

Pretty much!

In meat tashreeb ($16), the cooking juices soak into the bread, upon which resides a generous serving of lamb shank meat – gamey, tender, superb and plentiful enough for all five of us to have a good taste.

Will we return to Bakhdida?

Yes.

Again and again and again …

It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Thanks to Julian, Nat, Christine and Bennie for making up the evening’s Team CTS.

Golden Mile burgers

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Burgies, 226 Old Geelong Road, Hoppers Crossing. Phone: 8742 2792

Burgies in Hopper Crossing is a sibling to one in Campbellfield.

The photos we’ve seen suggest an outdoor and rather rustic operation, so we’re not at all sure how we’re going to go on a sunny Sunday that is also windy and chilly.

 

 

After scoping the place out, we relax … having discovered that while orders are indeed processed outside, right next door is a big, warm and rather inviting dining room, its fittings seemingly niftily constructed from packing pallets.

Cool!

And whatever the meteorological challenges of ordering and dining amid the glorious tack of the Golden Mile, the place is doing very, very brisk business.

This is a popular joint.

The happy staff members are cheerful, chatty and efficient; the wait times about what you’d expect.

We order, pay and settle in for what we hope will be a good burger repast.

The menu and its lowish prices suggest solid and satisfying – and that’s pretty much how it goes for us.

 

 

The chips ($4.50) are orthodox, hot and good.

 

 

My Kefta Burger is definitely the big winner of our meal.

It has lamb patty, cos lettuce, caramelised onions, pickles and “humus sauce” – and it’s beaut, especially given the $9.50 price tag.

 

 

Bennie is less enamoured with his Flaming Burgie ($11) of beef, cheese, cos lettuce, tomato, jalapeno, tomato sauce and chilli salsa.

The parts are of sufficient quality, but he finds the sum to be just average.

He even utters the dread phrase “frozen patty”.

Now, I hasten to add he has no factual detail at hand to back up such a slur, but it does convey something of the meh moments he has with his burger.

 

 

So for him, the highlight of our Burgies sojourn is his caramel biscotti gelato thickshake.

When/if we return, we may well order from the chicken burger list, as a poultry pair we observe being consumed at the next table look pretty darn good and better than either of ours.

Bowled over

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Coracle Cafe Restaurant, 63-65 Anderson Street, Yarraville. Phone: 9315 1411

Yarraville village’s long-standing Chinese restaurant has gone.

Truth is, it went some time ago and Coracle has taken a while to arise at the same location.

The place is beautifully fitted out, mostly in blacks and whites and pale wood, with the big windows letting the light pour in.

In the months leading up to its unveiling, the name alone conveyed little information about what would be the nature of the new place … so the outcome is a bit of a surprise.

Let’s call it, definitely for want of a better phrase, Asian fusion.

Sure, as you’d expect, there’s a nice, tight list of breakfast items on the menu; and there’s brunchy things such as Vietnamese-style poached salad and “Super Green Gyoza”.

There’s banh mi, too.

Yes, $10 is a whack more than you’ll pay for banh mi in Footzcray or St Albans.

But the ones we see being inhaled around us look fabulous.

The more substantial heart of the menu, though, is the line-up of seven Coracle Bowls.

Yes, these are by way of the poke bowl trend – but Coracle’s efforts transcend just about all else we’ve tried.

On the one hand, the Coracle kitchen crew appear to with work the same basic toppings for each bowl offering, with individual tweaks as advertised.

On the other, there are super smarts at work here that kick our meals – three bowls over two visits – up and into the realms of magic.

The bento bowl ($17) is brilliant in every way.

The foundational success of every Coracle bowl very much appears to the prosaic nuttiness of the brown rice bases.

(Though Bennie’s mileage in this regard is not so extensive as that of his father …)

But here, the excellent toppings complete the job by sheer dint of quality and – equally important – by their deft apportioning.

Dressed salmon cubes, kale in sesame oil, two kinds of pickle, tobiko, broad beans, seaweed salad and more – all taste as mighty fine as they look.

Bennie enjoys his Korean bowl ($16.50), with excellent bulgogi beef.

Though he opines that more by way of starker flavour and texture contrast would’ve made him even happier.

The vegan bowl ($16.50) is very good, too, though what are listed as “tempura seasonal vegetables” are quite a long way from crunchy battered.

We are having such a fine Saturday lunch time we go the whole hog with the Coracle brownies ($6).

These don’t look anything special, especially as the melted marshmallows atop are rather unsightly and add nothing at all.

But the eating of what is both moist and chewy is of immense, top-quality choc pleasure.

The brownies are sluiced down with very good cafe lattes ($4).

It’s early days yet, but I strongly suspect Coracle will become one of our regular local haunts.

Colombian food? Dive right in!

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El Toucan Cafe, Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre, 1 Aquatic Drive, Maribyrnong. Phone: 0400 924 608

You won’t want to go swimming for a few hours after eating bandeja paisa at El Toucan Cafe.

But should you so desire, the facilities couldn’t be closer at hand – El Toucan is located right in Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre, its seating gazing out upon the various swimming pools.

Yes, really.

I could opine that this is western weirdness personified, but really how unusual is it when CTS and its friends not only keep an open mind about where we may find great food, but also do so regularly in quirky locations?

But this is most definitely the kind of adventure that sets the hearts of myself and CTS pal Nat Stockley into a cheerful gallop.

 

 

El Toucan boss Frank Torres keeps the likes of chicken nuggets and burgers on his menu.

As he says, this IS a swimming pool operation and he DOES want to stay in business.

But he’s very proud to be offering a range of true-blue Colombian dishes.

It’s to these we are drawn, as are the tables surrounding us inhabited by Colombian families.

Frank is a Melbourne eatery veteran, having in years past run the likes of El Dorado Grill in the CBD.

Bandeja paisa is something of an informal Colombia national dish.

Frank tells us its roots lie in its evolution as a hearty lunch for early-starting, hard-working coffee growers – which makes it the equivalent of your typical, full-bore Aussie/Kiwi shearers’ spread.

 

 

Nat goes the full bandeja paisa – a huge meal and something of a bargain at $20.

 

 

I opt for the half serve – it’s not listed anywhere, but is available on request.

Even it is a substantial meal and also a bargain at $12.

Everything about this is mighty …

Avocado and chubby tortilla.

Expertly fried egg and rice.

Superbly creamy beans and fried ripe plantain.

And meat – pork belly, chorizo and pulled beef that would match it with any barbecue joint.

The pork belly, as we’ve come to know of South American food, is well cooked, but as delicious as everything else on our plates.

 

 

Empanadas con yuca ($9) are also outstanding.

The three empanadas are made with corn meal, the casings stuffed with beef mince and deep fried.

They are joined by cassava chips that are fluffy and lovely.

On the side is a bowl of aji – a salsa-like dipping concoction.

This dish could constitute a cool and very cheap light meal for those not up to El Toucan’s more full-on offerings.

 

 

On an earlier, reconnaissance visit, I enjoyed sobrebarriga ($22) of slow-cooked beef skirt served with rice, avocado, cassava and sofrito.

This, too, is a hefty and excellent meal.

Though, in contrast to our other selections, in this case the meat is very tender and the cassava – playing the roast potato role – dryish and a little too starchy for my tastes.

El Toucan has specials …

On the day we visit there’s a liver dish on, while a few folks around us are enjoying what look like very good pork ribs – even if, as Frank maintains, they are less specifically Colombian than the likes of bandeja paisa.

Other dishes mentioned on the cafe’s Facebook page include patacón con carne o pollo (fried plantain fritter with shredded chicken), fried snapper, lamb skewers with kale slaw and pulled beef quesadilla.

Important note: For those wanting to try the El Toucan cooking without making use of the centre’s other facilities, there is no admission charge.

Winter hours for El Toucan Cafe are Monday-Friday 9am-8.30pm and Saturday-Sunday 9am-6pm.

Thanks to Nat “Punster” Stockley for the intro!

 

Roast with the most

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Fitzroy Town Hall Hotel, 166 Johnston Street, Fitzroy. Phone: 9416 5055

It’s been a while between drinks in the Sunday roast lunch department for CTS, so I am delighted to step out – and outside the Melbourne’s west – to meet Nat at the Fitzroy Town Hall Hotel.

It’s a lovely place on Johnston Street.

It’s done up nicely, though I suspect it’s life and times stretch way back.

Oddly, I have no recall of it from my early-days-in-Melbourne – my first three abodes here were in Fitzroy.

But then, food was pretty much – but not entirely – mere fuel for me then; I was busy with other things.

Going by the menu and the various blackboards around, this pub is a serious foodie destination.

But we’re definitely here for the roast.

Nat has a strong hunch I’ll be delighted.

He’s dead right.

Most of the Sunday roasts written about in the CTS archives are of the cheap ‘n’ cheerful variety that lob in somewhere in the $10 to $15 range.

But we are only too happy to pay more for real class.

Fitzroy Town Hall delivers.

 

 

Our plates of Diamantina topside wagyu with winter vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy are a dream and worth every cent of the $25 we pay.

All is good; all is – actually – perfect.

Even the water cress fits right, rather than being a mere garnish.

The celeriac remoulade on the left is pungent enough for me to ignore the proffered selection of mustards.

The beef is rare, juicy, stupendously good.

At first glance, I start wondering how much an extra slab of meat would cost.

But it turns out to be very sufficient, especially as …

 

 

… the bowl of sooper dooper spuds we share is so generous.

With them come a handful of Yorkshire puds.

And even these are winners.

So often, in my experience, they are akin to fossilised turds.

Here, though, they are light and a boss part of our meals rather than a nod to stodgy tradition.

 

Wow.

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Small Graces, 57 Byron Street, Footscray. Phone: 9912 6429

The burned-out shell of Little Saigon Market casts rather a glum metaphorical shadow across Footscray central, so we love it that Small Graces and some of its neighbours are mounting a fightback by bringing life and sunshine to Byron Street and surrounds.

We enjoyed our debut meal there last year and have returned several times since – mainly for salad hits.

So we definitely pay attention when informed a dinner service is being launched.

Not only that – we are invited to try it out (see full disclosure below).

Thus it is with keen anticipation and high expectations that Bennie and I front up for dinner.

Here is the brutal CTS call: Our expectations are not met.

Instead, they are exceeded in grand and delicious style.

Really.

Just about everything we try from a brilliantly chosen selection from the deep dinner menu (see below) is a righteous hit, with a few provisos noted below.

A salad of beets, grapefruit, radicchio, hazelnuts and goats cheese (top photo, $14) is enjoyed by us both, but especially by Salad Boy Bennie.

La Hoguera jamon serrano and garlic-fennel salami are wonderful and served with pickles.

They come with …

… luscious warmed olives and …

… inhalable chargrilled bread.

Carrots, salsa of carrot tops, pecorino pepato and seeds ($13) are a sublime veg offering.

Squid ink croquette with gralic aiolo and sorrel/pea croquette with preserved lemon aioli ($4 each) are, for us, duds.

We have no problem with their striking ugiless.

But they are too salty – even for us, two lads who had expressed to Small Graces’ Bec our fondness, upon arrival, for salty restaurant food!

Also somewhat visually unappealing is this dish of cauliflower, currants, fermented grapes and macadamia nuts ($15).

But in this case the result is an intriguing winner.

This pile of lentils photographs as dull.

It’s not.

It’s one of the night’s high sensations.

Lentils, quince and mints ($12) are moist, succulent, rather sweet and a tremendous pulse dish the likes of which we’ve never before encountered.

And we’ve eaten a LOT of pulses.

And the vegetables keep coming.

Brussel sprouts, jerusalem artichokes and Manjimup truffle ($15) are al dente and a big hit with Kenny; Bennie, no so much.

Our evening’s sole outright meat hit comes from hanger steak, burnt onions and bearnaise ($20).

We adore that juicy meat and its onion foil.

The sauce is good, too – but we consider its richness a bit jarring and unnecessary.

There’s a handy list of desserts on the go for dinner here – including fabulous-sounding ricotta gnocchi.

Sadly, they will have to wait another night as the Socceroos and their date with destiny await, so we head for the door.

The inner west is blessed to have Small Graces doing its dinner thing.

It joins the likes of Jack B. Nimble and Cheeky Chewies Cafe in serving up flash food without vertiginous price tags or stuffiness.

And there’s a heap of dinner-time scope in which vegetarians can frolic.

There’s booze on hand at Small Graces, which is now open for dinner Thursdays-Saturdays.

CTS thanks Bec, Diego and their crew for taking care of us.

(Consider The Sauce dined at Small Graces as guests of the management and we did not pay for our meals. We were served a broad range of dishes from the joint’s new dinner menu. Small Graces management neither sought nor was granted any input, oversight or pre-publication access to his story.)