Is Westside the best side?

1. GREECE » Philhellene, Moonee Ponds

I can count on one hand how many Cretan restaurants there are in Melbourne and still have fingers to spare. The online menu doesn't give you the full spectrum of what you can order at Philhellene, so make sure you call. Owner Susie Rerakis tells me that the menu is highly seasonal (“As it should be; my husband is a very active gardener and grows and picks half our produce”). You might find rabbit stifado (stew), dolmades wrapped in silverbeet instead of vine leaves, Cretan kalitsounia cheese and herb pies, roast goat, artichoke and broad bean casserole, youvarlakia (meatball soup with avgolemono egg-lemon sauce), sousoukakia (meatballs on risoni pasta) and koupes (a football-shaped, kibbeh-like Cypriot street food of minced meat in bulghur wheat). Susie adds that Cretan cuisine is predominately vegetarian and vegan with meat eaten on special occasions, and they can put together a serious feast to cater accordingly. Free delivery via the restaurant if you live within five kilometres and spend $50+, or add a $5 delivery fee if you’re a little further out.551-553 Mt Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds, 03 9370 3303, philhellene.com.au

2. ETHIOPIA » Yetenbi, Footscray

Have you noticed how every upper-middle class white person has their favourite Ethiopian restaurant (Can I say that? I think I just did). For me it's Ras Dashen, but given I’ve never been to the country and didn't grow up eating the food, what the hell would I know? For me, good Ethiopian food caters for Ethiopian people – I just reap the benefits. I had noticed Yetenbi a few doors down from Ras Dashen and looked it up. There were some dishes I hadn’t tried before, which I had to rectify. It was a good move.For Ethiopia’s Gurage people, “Yetenbi” is a warm welcome. It’s a beautiful sentiment from this small, family-run restaurant, which serves dulet, roughly chopped lamb tripe, liver and lean meat with onion, garlic and a fine red spice mix called mitmita. You can order it raw, medium or well done, but the owner will tell you it’s best barely cooked. Kifto, Ethiopia’s answer to beef tartare, is also a winner: a neat pile in a clay dish with niter kibbeh (Ethiopian butter), ayeb begomen (a mix of fresh cottage cheese and collard greens) and kocho, (a type of fibrous, vegetal bread made from the trunk of a banana-like palm called ensete) – all on spongy injera.249 Barkly Street, 03 8596 2756, Facebook

3. SRI LANKA » Hop & Spice, Braybrook

The first thing I did after leaving Colombo International Airport was make a beeline for the cafe at the Dutch Burgher Union to try lamprais, a hangover from the Dutch colonisation of Sri Lanka. Lamprais loosely translates to “lumped rice”, a packet of rice with a spread of dishes wrapped in banana leaf and baked. Hop & Spice has it on their menu, as well as a family lamprais meal deal with four servings of your favourite curry wrapped up with wambatu moji (eggplant pickle), seeni sambol (onion relish), boiled eggs, fish croquettes and a 1.5L soft drink. There's kottu roti, chopped and tossed with eggs, vegetables and served with side dishes; 15-piece string hopper packs with dhal, coconut sambol and either chicken, beef, lamb or fish; and watalappam for dessert, a coconut and palm sugar pudding. Check Facebook for specials like southern-style fish ambul thiyal (black pepper tuna in sour sauce, which I ate non-stop on the Sri Lankan coast). The restaurant delivers within 15 kilometres, charged at $1 per kilometre.284 Ballarat Road, Braybrook, 03 9310 2000, facebook.com/hopandspicebraybrook

4. TURKEY » Komur, Ascot Vale

Before he retired and moved on from his take-away shop in Campbellfield, Emir Ukur’s father was known in the community for his adana kebabs. In July 2019, Emir continued the legacy by opening his own shop, Komur. Emir's focus is on barbecue (komur means “coal”), and his Turkish take on it is a great way for Aussies to try something familiar but a little different. The signature dish here is of course adana kebab: spiced, minced lamb hand-pressed around a flat iron skewer and grilled over charcoal. For lamb or chicken pieces (as opposed to mince), look for shish. You can also order chicken wings, lamb cutlets or a mixed plate of everything (no-brainer). Wraps come with salad and dip; there are falafels, two-person platters and a simple dish of grilled tomatoes and green chilli; the dolmas (stuffed, wrapped vine leaves) are homemade; and Emir’s mum makes the baklava. Swig some Ayran drinking yoghurt or salgam, made from fermented purple carrots (it’s an acquired taste).446 Mt Alexander Road, Ascot Vale, 03 8307 6339, facebook.com/komurmelbourne

5. VIETNAM » Bun Cha Co Dao, Footscray

6. VIETNAM » Tan Thanh Loi, Footscray

Given you’re “visiting” northern Vietnam and this place is walking distance from Bun Cha Co Dao above, you might as well make two stops. Tan Thanh Loi is the place to go if you’re more team com tam (broken rice) than team noodle soup. You’ll be hard pressed to spend more than $13 on a main dish here. Choose from smoky grilled pork chop or chicken, a generous plate piled with processed meat loaf, a fried egg, shredded pork skin and a token salad of bean sprouts and carrot. I also love their banh canh cua crab noodle soup and funky AF bun mam (thick vermicelli noodles, seafood and grilled pork bobbing about in an anchovy soup base). The brusque, no-bullshit service here also gives me the warm and fuzzies. Don’t change, Tan Thanh Loi.73 Nicholson Street, Footscray, 03 9687 4886

7. IRAN » Cafe Sunshine & SalamaTea Restaurant, Sunshine

Filmed by

Liam Neal

8. NORTH INDIA » Delhi Food Zaika, Braybrook

It’s bittersweet stumbling upon this permanent food truck. Although it’s an exciting dhaba-style venue (roadside food stall) serving the kind of snacks you find in Delhi, it replaces Shreeji The Taste of Kutch, which I wrote about last year for SBS Food. It’s parked in the “234 Fun Galore” car park outside the Braybrook go-kart centre. Have you tasted murgh makhani before? It’s a dish that’s traced back to old Delhi when someone mixed tandoori chicken with a tomato-based gravy. You might also know it as butter chicken, and Delhi Food Zaika do the real deal, and also offer a vegetarian version. Come here for chaat (Indian snacks) like dahi bhalla (lentil fritters soaked in yoghurt and topped with chutney, often eaten during Holi) and dahi puri (filled pani puri shells generously sprinkled with sev, aka crunchy dried chickpea noodle shards) and pav bhaji (vegetable curry with a fried bread roll).234 Ballarat Road, Braybrook, 0452 122 267, Doordash

9. MEXICO » La Tortilleria, Kensington

72 Stubbs Street, Kensington, 03 9376 5577, latortilleria.com.au

10. YEMEN » House of Mandi, Flemington

The namesake dish at this restaurant is mandi, Yemeni meat and rice traditionally cooked in a tandoor pit. Here it’s more practical cooked in custom ovens that lock in moisture and flavour. As the meat cooks, the juices drip down onto the rice. Decide between four different lamb options, chicken seasoned with Yemeni spices or diced beef. Somali dishes feature prominently, such as “federation”, a huge plate of pasta and rice with any choice of meat. Also try masoob for dessert, a Yemeni creation of mashed banana with ground whole-wheat bread, drizzled with honey and finished with cream that hits the sweet spot between porridge and pudding. When restaurants reopen, do me a favour: sit on the floor cushions at House of Mandi and eat with your hands – it’ll taste better.326 Racecourse Road, Flemington, 03 9077 3963, Doordash

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