Deli 4 You, Maribyrnong

Edgewater?  Edge of the earth, as far as I'm concerned.  I think I got lost there pushing a pram once and have never been back.  So when a hot tip arrived for a brilliant Polish deli tucked away in the estate, I approached it with both trepidation and delight.

There was no-one in there when I arrived, which allowed me to go completely photo crazy, unfettered by shopkeepers' raised eyebrows or curious glances.

You know, I really love that show "American Pickers" where two blokes roam the backroads of small-town USA, rummaging through hoarders' collections for antiques or other hidden treasures.  I got the same feeling at Deli 4 You.  Here we have an enormous tray of goodies from Erik's Polish bakery in Braybook, including freshly baked plum jam-filled donuts!

Also from Erik's, all manner of babkas and kugelhopfs in all their unpronounceable glory...

...real European-style rye bread from "Baker in the Rye" in Elsternwick...

...and link upon meaty link of every conceivable type of Polish sausage.

Completely prepared to forget that chorizo is as Polish as pina coladas, given how good this stuff looks.

In the fridge, there are those dips they have at Sims, plus kefir (a fermented milk drink), quark and other Polish-style soft cheeses.

Plus a great selection of pierogi dumplings, which I would have raided the entire freezer of, if not held back by their quite high prices ($9 for about 10, and more for the Ola's brand on the top shelf).

There are also all the usual pickles, UHT borscht and Polish teas, but also a small range of spices from Gewurzhaus in Carlton and other nice Christmas hamper-worthy things.

Eventually the owner arrived to ring up my goodies.  I went with a pineapple kugelhopf which if I remember correctly was about $7.  Ridiculous!  All birthday cakes shall henceforth come exclusively from Deli 4 U.

Both it and the plum jam donut were completely off the hook - so moist and tasty!

I have a bad habit of buying things like pickles and relishes at farmers' markets which then proceed to moulder untouched at the back of the fridge.  The owner was so nice and let me try this pickled carrot which was awesome not just for its spicy, vinegary flavour, but for the fact it is made by "Russians in Bentleigh" (according to the owner).  This stuff was crack.  It was all gone in about three days.  It's not cheap but I highly, highly recommend it!

Not pictured are the very delicious Krysia's brand pierogi, made in Sunbury, Vic, which were all consumed with gusto by Mr Baklover.  I tried to hide them under the fish fingers but his Central European instincts sniffed them out like a truffle hound.

I guess the only thing I'm slightly hesitant to buy is the meats, as I just can't understand how somewhere so well-concealed can have significant turnover.  But I am ready to be proven delightfully wrong on that point!

Thank you Monique for the great tip!

Deli 4 You

55 Cumberland Drive, Maribyrnong

Phone: 9318 6669

Open daily 7am - 7pm (but check that as I'm not sure I'm recalling it correctly!)

Hot dogs at Costco

People are very sensitive about grocery shopping.  Allegiances can be as fiercely defended as those to football teams.  Costco seems to inspire everything from ardour to disgust to benign curiosity.  I have been a member since it first opened and truthfully was not sure if I would keep my membership at first.  As time has gone on, the management has evidently responded to Australian buying habits and the product range keeps getting better and better.  So, trolley loaded with free range chicken, organic milk and antioxidant-rich blueberries, what better for lunch than a Costco hot dog?

Yes, I know what you are thinking - how could you??  I blame nostalgia.  Hot dogs are a huge part of the American summer experience.  Just as you wander the backstreets of suburban Melbourne in summer and the unmistakable, sinfully-delicious waft of barbecuing el-cheapo breakfast sausages fills the air, the lure of an American hot dog is just as wrong and just as strong.  The meat is highly processed and the bun that cakey, aerated McDonalds bread, but they put me straight back in Wrigley Field in Chicago, organ pipes playing between the commentator's snappy calls, the ivy rustling gently in the lakeshore breeze as a baseball game plays on.

Mmmm, $2.49 worth of memories.  They are not quite the hot dogs I recall (Chicago is famous for its 100% beef hot dogs) but they are damn close.

I am ashamed to say I have partaken of other Costco food court delights.  The pizza slices are gargantuan and I found them far too oily and (in the case of the cheese pizza) somewhat bland.  The "Korean" "beef bulgogi bake" (yes, HOW CAN I CALL MYSELF A FOODIE) is far, far too rich - a kind of greasy calzone stuffed with beef, cheese and onion.

So what's in the trolley?  Costco is really about discounting premium brands rather than beating generic prices, although in some cases it does manage to do that.  This does mean that you have to buy a lot, ie, 24 muesli bars at a time, three-packs of shampoo or 1 kg frozen berries.  It works for us but if you were a smaller household, you would need to weigh up the initial outlay, the expiry date and the boredom factor to consider if it would work for you.

Costco have always sold packs of Steggles or Baiada chicken pieces, plus whole Lilydale free range chooks.  I have regularly left feedback asking them to stock free range fillets and one day received a phone call telling me that they would indeed do that.  Unreal!  Indeed, they are stocking more and more free range and organic lines which I think is reflective of the variety of people who shop at Costco - some come for the buckets of Maltesers, others for the wild Alaskan salmon.  But everyone stays for the hot dogs.

The Polish Club

"Allo!" said the voice.  Odd, I thought - surely the Polish Club would answer with some sort of "Good morning, can I help you?"  "Er, is this the Polish Club?" I enquired hesitantly.  "No, is not Polish Club.  Is a Polish man!" said the voice, full of mirth.  Inadvertent Googling had turned up the wrong number but when I cheekily asked if he had the number of the Club handy, this kindly stranger was more than happy to oblige.  Hence was my first impression of Melbourne's Polish community - helpful, irreverent and quite charming.

Tucked down a nondescript road in an industrial part of Albion (just to the west of Sunshine) is the Polish Community and Recreation Club which houses a bistro serving up old-country favourites.

To order, one visits the cashier who produces a receipt to drop into the kitchen, which we duly hand over to a team of gorgeous old Polish ladies moving surprisingly swiftly as they dish up bowls of soup and plates of cabbage rolls.

"Soup", $3

Loving this classic chicken noodle soup.  The broth was quite mild, very honest, with lots of perfect al dente noodles.  A big grandmotherly-bosomed hug for $3!

 Tripe soup, $6

Thick but not too rich tripe soup.  Grandpa seemed to like this.  I did taste a little of the broth and it was very soothing.

Borsch, $5

No, we have not skipped to coffee and cake - this was the beetroot soup!  It actually tasted like warm beetroot juice, quite thin, with a lemony tinge as well as savoury undertones.  The pate rolls it came with were like a drier-style sausage roll.  Interesting!

Cabbage roll, $5

Insanely generous cabbage rolls for just five bucks each.  Big leaves of pickled cabbage stuffed with rice and minced meat, probably pork.  The sauce was somewhat like white sauce or cream of mushroom soup.  The family loved these although I did find them quite rich.  I would say half the patrons were tucking into these so they must be a particular favourite here at the Polish Club.

Polish sausage with cabbage, $7

This was the best sausage ever!  Its skin pierced with a little pop as a smoky, meaty scent was released and juices spread across the plate.  So yummy, rich, juicy and porky.  The cabbage was really delicious, cooked perfectly, not at all soggy or bland.

Beef gulash with gnocchi, $11

Very tender beef chunks with pillowy gnocchi in a rich beef sauce.  The execution was great but there's something about the paprika in gulash that I don't really like - it's a sweet paprika that is used, I believe, and to me it has the sickly sweet smell of bandaids.  If you like gulash, I am sure you would enjoy this dish.  The meat was certainly perfectly cooked and it complemented the well-cooked carrots and delicious cabbage well.

Pierogi with meat and cabbage, $9

Go, go, go there now just to eat these pierogi dumplings!  Al dente pastry with a tasty, lean meat and cabbage filling.  They have a delicious, interesting minced meaty kind of sprinkle.  MMMMMM!  A dollop of sour cream would take them to the next level.

Herrings, $4.50

I was so surprised that I liked this.  The herring was rich, pleasantly oily, like tuna turned up full blast.  This would be so delicious thinly squashed on some great bread.

  

I loved our lunch here.  It may not be the type of food I could eat every day but it was warm, hearty and delicious.  I could quite happily eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a plate of pierogi...or two.

Polish Sport and Recreation Centre

Address:  19 Carrington Drive, Albion (map)
Phone:  9363 3941

Hours:  Mon 5-8 pm, Tues closed, Wed 4-11pm, Thurs 4-8pm, Fri 2-11pm, Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 11am-8pm - CALL AHEAD AS HOURS CAN CHANGE

Wheelchair Accessibility
Ramp to enter.

Nick's Grill

Do you trust your beautician?  Against my better judgment, I do, from the eyelash tint I never knew I needed to the hair product I never knew I wanted, which inevitably joins its cohorts stuffed up the back of the cupboard, unused.  Arguably however this trust comes from the fact I walk out of the salon with change from $30 no matter how many treatments and products I have had.  I am glad that my dear friend Ms C trusts her beautician too, as that particular lady's recommendation led us to Nick's Grill.

Kenny recently pointed out that "little shop strips that look a bit run down are gems", and by this logic, Nick's certainly is a diamond in the rough, tucked away in a strip in outer St Albans.  The family who run this little Macedonian hideaway have been much-loved caterers to the Macedonian community for years, and son Nick has become the earnest, genuine and friendly maitre d' for their new venture.

Nick's specialises in grilled meats and from our table, we could watch dad firing up the grill in an open kitchen.  They have been open for around three months.

Sopska, $8

This salad came highly recommended, and with good reason.  It was similar to a Greek salad in its ingredients - fresh tomato, cucumber, a little red onion and sheep's or goat's milk cheese.  However, here the vegetables were chopped into small pieces rather than the large chunks one associates with Greek salad and the cheese was grated on top, a la Parmesan on pasta.  It was so delicious - I could have eaten this alone with bread quite happily.  The vegetables were super fresh and the dressing light, lemony and tangy.

This soup is a soon-to-be menu item and we were lucky enough to be offered a taste.  It was simply divine - a thick, rich broth with carrot, potato and fat flakes of pink rainbow trout.  I have never had good luck with fish soups or curries as the fish needs a very careful hand or it disintegrates or goes mushy and grainy.  The fish flavour in this was superb, present but not at all overpowering.  The broth was thick, rich and unctuous, as fine as the best lobster bisque.  It is Nick's dad's special recipe, perfected through years of cooking in Germany.  I can't speak highly enough of this wonderful soup.  With a swish of its Macednonian petticoats, it has nudged pho off its pedestal as my favourite soup of all time.  Big call but justified!!!

Pleasantly coarse, crunchy Continental bread was perfect for wiping up every last drop of soup and salad.  The dip is makalo which is a hot garlic paste similar to Lebanese toum.  It was brash and almost acrid, great to spread on the bread and then dip in the soup.  First dates, beware!

Mixed grill, $26

Time for the main event.  Most of Nick's meat platters are $17 or so and come with your choice of meat, be it cevapi or skinless sausages, raznjici or skewers, various cutlets and patties.  They all come with chips and vegies.  We went for the mixed grill for a bit of everything.  The cevaps and the very similar pork pljeskavica or hamburger were great, with a pleasantly springy and even spongey consistency similar to Vietnamese 'kebab' or 'roast pork', the sausage-like, skewered tubes or balls sold at Ba Le and Nhu Lan (I don't know the Vietnamese for them - please enlighten me if you do!).  A simple piece of grilled chicken breast was perfectly cooked and delicious.  The meats went perfectly with the makalo, served here thinned with oil and I think broth, its garlic flavour tempered somewhat.

We were so full by this stage and got defeated fast, though, only managing a bite or two of the other meats before surrendering.  I am actually not that big of a carnivore and would have liked less chips and more of the wonderful grilled capsicum.  The chips were somewhat unremarkable.  The Croatian Club in Footscray has a very similar mixed grill of just cevapi and raznjici, but their vegies (capsicum, onion and mushroom) are abundant and heavenly, plus their chips are crispier and have a special spice mix on them (I acknowledge Croatian and Macedonian are different cuisines, of course!)  Next time I will choose a single platter of just one meat and share that, and hope that there will be more room for more vegies.

The standout dish was still the rainbow trout soup, coming soon to the menu and in my opinion, it can't come soon enough.  They were so kind to give us such a generous sample (and they hadn't busted me taking photos, at least not at that stage!)  Just like in the beauty shop, we got more than we came for, but unlike yet another bottle of hair product, this soup is definitely something I now cannot live without.

Nick's Grill

177a Main Road, St Albans (map)

Phone: 9310 9996

Hours:  Mon/Tues closed, Wed-Sun evenings

Fully licensed but BYO coming soon

Wheelchair Accessibility

Entry:  Level.

Layout:  Roomy-ish.

Vardar Grill

Knock knock.......

Creeeeeaaaakkkk.......

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" said my friend as we rounded the corner.  At the top of the stairs, though, the hearty albeit pleasantly surprised welcome from the owner made us feel instantly at home.  Vardar Grill is on the first floor of a quiet shopping strip in St Albans and is an extended "Dad's pool room", decked out in fishing trophies, pennants, flags and scenes of the old country.  It's a welcome refuge for the western suburbs' Macedonian community but also warmly welcomes seekers of grilled meats and quiet conversation.

I know very little about Macedonian food.  I had a Macedonian housemate once but his only acknowledgement of the food of his homeland were his mad scientist-like yoghurt experiments, which left the stovetop a perpetual shade of burnt and bubbled brown and the house infused with the alternating smells of boiled or off milk.  He was never successful.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, all he would say of Macedonian cooking was that it was "hard".

Here at Vardar, there is a small menu in Macedonian (its English transliteration, at least) above the bar.  Vardar specialises in grilled meats and we happily deferred to the owner's suggestions.  The fish was perfectly cooked, dusted in flour and fried quickly.  We also sampled cevap or skinless sausages which were super-meaty, juicy and rich.  An accompanying salad of vinegared coleslaw and just-sliced cucumber was excellent.

Look for the red sign on the balcony - entrance on the side of the building (there is a sign ;)

We sipped our beers and then an impeccable short black.  As the world outside darkened slowly, one of the guys on the balcony fetched a huge accordion-like instrument and with his friends, began to sing.  Outside the Sydenham line rushed past and the gum trees came into relief against the summer night sky.  The Macedonian presence in the west is perhaps not immediately apparent, but like a folk song carried on a Balkan breeze, if you care to listen you will be richly rewarded.

More Macedonian treats can be found at Kings Fresh Burek, 58 Kings Rd, St Albans (amazing spinach & cheese burek) and Michael's Deli, 50 Leeds St, Footscray (the best sausages - try the kolbasi)

Vardar Grill
First floor, cnr Furlong Rd and Willaton St, St Albans (map)
Phone: 9364 1440
Hours: Mon/Tues 2pm-11pm, Wed-Fri noon-midnight, Sat 2pm-2am, Sun noon-11pm

Wheelchair Accessibility
Not accessible.

Shelf Gleaning - Thai sausage from Nathan's Thai Grocery

I really dislike terms like "Asian grocer" and "Indian shop," although I do use them.  My family think I am oversensitive, but I don't like referring to the supermarket as the supermarket, the fish shop as the fish shop, while the place we buy our fish sauce and noodles from, and the other place we buy our lentils and spices from have ethnic tags, like they are somehow separate to us.  I also grate at lazy, catch-all terms like "Asian" and "Indian," but the fact is, I can't detect the difference between a Chinese grocer and a Vietnamese one like I can an Eastern European-run deli and an Italian-run deli.  *Sigh*...  As my husband often says to me, I'm probably overthinking it.

Nathan Thai Video & Grocery has made it easy for me - it's very clear that it's a specialty Thai grocer.  All your favourite spice pastes are there, plus interesting pickled ingredients like tiny pea eggplants.

It's a fun shop to poke around in, and reminds me of expat Aussie shops overseas, with lots of beauty products and junk food from the homeland.  There are interesting teas:

The freezer is full of interesting goodies, like Thai sausages.  They don't always have the brand below in stock, but do often have a homemade one in a ziplock bag, which is more of a sour style.  On Saturdays, they may have the sour sausages on the counter, ready for you to take home and leave to mature on the bench.  My sister has tried these and said they were just great, very garlicky, and that they could have easily stood in for continental sausages.

This Thai sausage is just delicious, "Thai-hot" and so flavoursome with big bursts of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf.  It's nice to have as an accompaniment to other Thai dishes with plenty of white rice, as it's very rich.

Quiz for the day: What is this?  Look closely - it's a sort of rope encased in a hard, fragrant coating, somewhat like clay or very stale biscuit perhaps.  Is it A. a chew toy for the police dog on the tea canister; B. part of some sort of brutal colonic cleansing regime; or C. something else?  Leave a guess in the comments section!

Nathan Thai Video & Grocery
9 Paisley St, Footscray (map)
Phone: 9687 8588