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!)

Dumplings in West Footscray and more tasty tidbits from around the traps

Sorry for the super long time between drinks, folks!  I have been really busy, and there are only so many things a girl can eat.  Although I did have a chuckle at this - it's pretty much my life!

Heh heh heh!

Anyway, I thought I'd make you a nice concentrated missal of all the goodies I've been chowing down on in the last couple of months.  Firstly, a shoutout to Tien, proprietor of Dong Que, hands down one of my all-time Footscray faves.

Dong Que do awesome coleslaws, from a prawn and pork with lotus root to this 'un, beef jerky with green papaya.

Their signature dish is bun ca thang long or turmeric-marinated fish served with lots of dill.  It's a northern Vietnamese specialty, related to bun cha Ha Noi (more on that later).  It's so popular that when you step into Dong Que, the air is redolent with gorgeous floral dill almost all the time.  To eat, you make a little DIY salad with noodles, herbs and fish.  If the supplied stinky anchovy sauce is too much, don't be shy to ask for the standard nuoc cham mam!

Dong Que were one of the stops on this year's Rickshaw Run.  I volunteered over a few sessions, as did the indomitable Kenny and Bennie from Consider the Sauce, as well as a number of FFB readers (big shoutouts to Chris, Mark, Jenny, Carolyn and Eve!)  We even had an awesome couple who had moved into Footscray barely a week before and liked what they saw so much that they signed up to volunteer too.

This is Eve who writes Conversation with Jenny who, despite her sylphic frame, managed to haul my ever-expanding person around one evening.  Thanks Eve!!  Footscray got some star power that night too with HaiHa Lee (next to me in the rickshaw), a long-time local resident and actor with many credits including Bed of Roses and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.  Her and partner Pier's go-to Footscray joint?  Not usual suspects Hao Phong or Sapa Hills - it's Tra Vinh!  Instant cred!

In other news, one day whilst roaming about, I found this little gem on the "other" side of Sunshine (near Dragon Express).

They sell gorgeous Polish cakes (I think by the slice) and plum jam donuts, plus take-home meals just like Babcia used to make.  (I had a Polish friend at school and I remember her mother pinching the skin on my forehead and saying, "STILL ROOM FOR MORE PIEROGIS!"  I think that's where my problems started.)  You can read more about Roli Poli over here at Pretty Wak by Amie Batalibasi, founder of Footscray's Colour Box Studio.

And while we're on the subject of dumplings, West Footscray's newest eatery opened just a few days ago!  It's called Magic Momo Kafe and it's the baby of Ravi (above).  Given the name, the four momo varieties are only a tiny part of the menu, which ranges from a big breakfast, to burgers or calamari and chips.  Everything is well priced, especially kids' options - from memory, pancakes with ice cream are about $4.

These chicken momos were yummy, the mince inside juicy and spiked with herbs, ginger and onion.  They can come simmered, steamed or fried, and Ravi said the steamed option is the most traditional.  We didn't get so lucky with the vegie version, which had collapsed somewhat.  Kenny and Bennie had better luck - theirs looked a bit plumper.  But surely all sins should be forgiven in the first week of opening!  (Magic Momo are at 588 Barkly St, West Footscray.)

What Magic Momo Kafe also have is a dizzying display of Indian sweets including four varieties of one of my faves, cham cham, which is almost like an eclair with a lightly-cooked gulab jamun-like exterior and a fudgy filling.  (It's the pink one above.)  They're all $2 each.

In other West Footscray news, Rino at Vari's Fruit & Veg has started offering seasonal organic fruit and veg boxes.  There are two sizes, $35 and $60, and you need to order by Wednesday for Saturday pickup.  He read me what was in both sizes and it's a very impressive amount of fresh organic produce.  You can also get eggs, and while I was there, Josh (aka, "the boss") and mum from Seven Hills Organic Farm came to drop off that week's order.  Boxes can also include Sourdough Kitchen bread (which Vari's actually sell fresh every day) and organic juice.  Call 9689 1491 for more deets.

West Footscray was pretty devvo that Andres and Shannon of Besito decided to hang up the arepa press, for family reasons.  The old site of Besito is currently under construction and is going to be the third Melbourne branch of Chawla's Indian.  According to their website, "Chawla's cream chicken was born not to die".  Yum, I think?!

Gracie's Place - Polish crepes in East Keilor

People bag the suburbs but I love them - they are so full of surprises.  Finding a "secret" bakery or food shop nestled in some run-down shopping strip in the boonies puts me on a high for the rest of the day.  So where else for gorgeous Polish crepes than in an industrial estate in East Keilor?

Gracie's Place is your classic tradie lunch stop with sandwiches, some hot food and a few intriguing Polish items on the menu.

The two Polish ladies who work here are gorgeous.  I couldn't see any pierogi on the menu so I asked if they had any.  "How many you like?" said the lady - "Oh, I don't know, maybe six?" I replied.  She came back with six bags full of frozen homemade pierogi.  "You having a party?" she laughed.

"Crepe with cream cheese filling", $4.50

We worked out I wanted six pieces, not six bags (although there's always next time ;) and pierogi safely stashed in my bag, I turned my attention to the Polish crepe.  This was soooo fantastic.  The crepe was thick yet delicate with those lovely, crispy edges that only come from being fried in butter.  It was stuffed with "cream cheese" that was quite like ricotta, scented with cloves and tangy with lemon.  With cream and icing sugar - divine.

Pierogi, $6.90 for 6

Time for main course - home to cook up these lovely homemade pierogi.  We eat a lot of these in Chicago, where the Polish community is quite big.  The supermarket sells them frozen in a huge range of flavours.  We would fry cabbage for a long time until really soft and crispy and put the pierogi on top with vinegar and sour cream.

Mr Baklover panfried them (they had defrosted a little on the way home) and served them with sausage, fried onion, sour cream and dill.  The filling was sweet, creamy mashed potato.  Delicious - but that crepe took the cake.

For more cake love, you may like to read my article for SBS Food on Adriano Zumbo and his Easter egg macarons at the recent SBS Food Journey Festival.  Thank you SBS for the opportunity!

Gracie's Place
Shop 4b, 60 Keilor Park Drive, Keilor East (map)
Phone: 9331 5119
Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-3pm

Wheelchair Access
Level entry

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.