10 of the best places to eat in Footscray
FOOTSCRAY is a feast of international proportions. Here are 10 of the best spots to seek out in this culinary jewel of the west.
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MONKS in saffron robes walk past fluoro-vested tradies, while African women go about their daily grocery shopping and Indian shopkeepers take out their wares, the scent of incense and lemongrass thick in the air.
Just 6km from the city but a world away, Footscray is a true melting pot of cultures and community.
Long famous for its authentic Vietnamese restaurants and Ethiopian buffets, Footscray has evolved into a worldly food destination, thanks to more than 135 cultural groups that call the area home.
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Gentrification and development is changing the dynamics and demographics of the suburb that’s seen its share of good times and bad, but there’s a real sense of dynamic renewal signalling an area on the rise.
Just ask Tony Cavallaro, whose family has run a pasticceria on Hopkins St for more than 60 years.
“In the early 2000s we were thinking about moving out, but not now,” he says. “It’s the most excited I’ve been about Footscray since I was a kid, there’s so much going on.
“Young couples moving in are great for the area.”
Fancy a taste? Here are 10 of the best spots to seek out in this culinary jewel of the west.
FRENCH
Raising the bar
With the smell of coq au vin and baking baguettes in the air, the sound of corks being popped on bottles of burgundy, and cheese oozing seductively on the counter, this bar packs a whole lot of France into a little space. Sick of cooking foods from elsewhere, this is owner Stefan Armentano’s first time cooking the food from his family’s home. Along with roasted camembert and escargot and charcuterie — all washed down with a lovely little list of Frenchies by the glass and bottle — the signature dish, fillet rossignol (eye fillet topped with duck parfait) is not to be missed. Tres magnifique.
Small French Bar, Shop 3, 154 Barkly St
TURKISH
Baked beauties
“People come from all over, Geelong, Dandenong, just for the bread,” Esen Avci (right) says of the daily baked Turkish loaves at the kebab shop she’s run with son Eddie for the past eight years. It’s easy to see why. Light as a pillow, gently soft with just a hint of salt, Esen says it took years to perfect her recipe for bread that’s good enough to eat on its own, even better used to swipe up the excellent house-made dips. The $4 slab-size loaves are ready to take away from 9am each day until sold out — which they always do.
Amasya Kebab, 134 Nicholson St
VIETNAMESE
Noodling along
While the fire-gutted Little Saigon Market has dimmed passing lunch trade somewhat, Tra Vinh’s customers built up over the past two decades still know this is Footscray’s — and many say Melbourne’s — go-to spot for the southern Vietnamese dish hu tieu mi, a rice noodle/egg noodle dish. The noodles are served in soup (nuoc) or dry (kho — with the soup on the side), and come plied with pork loin, quail eggs, fish balls, squid, prawns, beansprouts and carrots. A deeply aromatic chicken broth adds the liquid; fresh chopped chilli to the side adds heat.
Tra Vinh, 70 Nicholson St
ITALIAN
Crunch time
No trip to Footscray is complete without stopping in for a Cavallaro cannoli. For more than 60 years and through three generations, Tony Cavallaro and his family have been making, no question, the best cannoli in Melbourne. Handmade daily and filled (almost) to order with custard or ricotta, they are blistered tubes of creamy, crunchy heaven. With five people in the kitchen making up to 1500 cannoli a day, Cavallaro is less hidden gem, more national treasure.
T Cavallaro & Sons, 98 Hopkins St
VIETNAMESE
Oh Hue
In this humble shop nestled within the bustling market, there are two dishes that proprietor Elizabeth Vuong says stand out from the rest. But only one she wants me to try. “Even to my customers, I don’t recommend,” she says of the bun mam, a fermented fish noodle soup. It’s a spicy, sharp and tangy bowl of admittedly acquired taste, made heady with pickled/fermented anchovy. More accessible to non-Vietnamese is her bun bo hue, a deep bowl of beef and noodles that swim in a rich aromatic broth of lemongrass and onions chilli, chives and pork belly.
Huu Thanh, Footscray Market, 221-222 Irving St
AUSTRALIAN
A cut above
Come for coffee, stay for a haircut, stick around for a beer — The Creators Lounge adds some multipurpose bar, barbershop and coffee lounge style to Hopkins St. A menu of jaffles savoury (pizza) and sweet (peanut butter, banana and jam) and loaded sweet potato fries does carb-loading with class, while there’s sport on the screen, a pool table — and a podcast studio in the works.
The Creators Lounge, 116A Hopkins St
AMERICAN
Smokin’ hot
While leading the funkification of Footscray charge with their 8Bit Burger (and recently taking the flak from the “hipsters bugger off” minority), Shayne McCallum and Alan Sam have also turned their attention to beers and US-style barbecue at Up in Smoke. With a signature Texas Yoder smoker taking pride of place in the warehouse-chic space, brisket, pork shoulder, ribs and sausages are served alongside tacos and the famous doughnut ice cream sandwich — all washed down with a great range of local craft brews.
Up in Smoke, 28 Hopkins St
ETHIOPIAN
In the raw
Serving the traditional recipes from the Gurage tribe, this Ethiopian cafe run by husband-and-wife team Abdul Hussen and Rozenn Blouin specialises in kitfo, finely chopped raw beef seasoned with mitmita (a hot chilli, garlic clove and spice mix) and served with aybe (spiced cottage cheese). Along with injera made from teff, Konjo also serves traditional Gurage flatbread called kotcho made from Abyssinian banana tree flour. The lunchtime vegan and mixed buffets are always popular, while croissants and coffee are offered in the mornings.
Konjo, 89 Irving St
ITALIAN
Foxy brews
Run by the owners of specialty pasta makers Millgrove, Fox in the Corn is a pasta bar that also doubles as one of the most impressive beer joints anywhere in Melbourne. A few pastas are offered each day, served with one of 13 sauces, to be enjoyed with one of the hundreds of craft beers from around the world.
Fox in the corn, 4 Droop St
MALAYSIAN
Hit the road
Crisp, buttery, flaky and yet delightfully soft and light, Footscray is probably not the first port of call when thinking Malaysian, but at Roti Road they live up to their name with some of the best in the game. The roti canai is a simple staple that’s hard to beat, served with punchy sambal, curry and dhal. Add rendang beef or curry chicken for a full meal. And resuming next month — the famous “Flying Roti” show, where Chef Awi takes the thin roti dough and spins it through the air like a boomerang. Dinner and a show.
Roti Road, 189-193 Barkly St
10 MORE TO TRY
Start the day with great eggs and better coffee at Milking Station (35 Bunbury St) or within the converted shipping containers and sprawling gardens at Rudimentary (16-20 Leeds St). Grab a fresh sugarcane juice from Vy Coffee Bubble Tea (Shop 4, 44 Byron St), the city’s most famous — and many say the best — banh mi from Nhu Lan (116 Hopkins St), fab pho from Pho Hung Vuong (128 Hopkins St) and traditional Hanoi-style spring rolls from Sapa Hills (112 Hopkins St). There’s pizza and beers from the St Jerome’s crew at Back Alley Sally’s (4 Yewers St), fabulously fresh fish and chips at Conway (2 Wingfield St). Fancy a drink? Grab a craft beer at new spot, Bar Josephine (295 Barkly St) and listen to some smooth live tunes at The Night Heron (228 Nicholson St).
DO THIS
Footscray is home to some delicious events during the 25th Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, including The West is the Best — a celebration of local breweries (Hop Nation and West City), wineries (including Witchmount and Mt Macedon) and food (8Bit and Andrew’s Choice) held at Up in Smoke on April 9.
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Or head to Konjo for an African drumming jam followed by an Ethiopian banquet (Mar 31, Apr 1, 7, 8), Pigs Pots and Pinot at The Plough Hotel (Apr 1) or Footscray Fusion at Littlefoot (Apr 3-5). For info and tickets on all events: MFWF.com.au