45-49 The Circle, Altona East. Phone: 9399 1026

We are relatively well serviced in the heart of Yarraville, but gosh I’d love to have an establishment like this right in our back yard.

Like Fresh On Young in Moonee Ponds is a supercharged green grocer and much more of a one-stop shop than your normal fruit and veg joint.

Unlike Fresh On Young, they don’t do meat, but have many other bases covered.

There’s a heap of dry goods – nuts and fruit and pulses and so on.

The pasta section alone looks like it could well challenge the famous aisle of pasta at Mediterranean Wholesalers in Sydney Rd.

The range of fruit and vegetables is fine, the herb section looking specially spiffy.

I bought fat, juicy white raisins and roasted almonds for our porridge/muesli, several packs of Opera Prima pasta for $1.30 each and makings for a big pot of pasta sauce.

The Circle rocks with Lebanese personality.

I also nabbed some fantastic Lebanese pies from the bakery a few doors up – spinach, spinach and cheese, and a particularly toothsome chicken and tomato.

In the other direction, the Lebanese butcher had a variety of snags, with the dark red Lebanese numbers certain to be the target of future exploration.

Far as I could see, though, there’s only one ATM – and it’s a $2.50 job!

On the way in from Blackshaws Rd, I passed Victoria Sweets and wondered, not for the first time, when the place’ll be open when I pass.

Thanks to Ms Baklover at Footscray Food Blog for reminding me about this very cool precinct!