Dandenong is treasure trove of ethnic food, with its own Little India and Afghan Bazaar precincts - plus cafes and restaurants offering cuisines ranging from Balkan to Mauritian
Thirty kilometres southeast of Melbourne's city centre, Dandenong's rough edges are being smoothed by a $290m urban renewal project. The suburb is a cultural melting pot, with two-thirds of residents born overseas (twice the national average) and 71% speaking a language other than English. As a consequence it's a treasure trove of ethnic food, with its own Little India and Afghan Bazaar precincts - plus cafes and restaurants offering cuisines that include Ethiopian, West African, Sri Lankan, Lebanese, Turkish, Polish, Balkan and Mauritian.
Bikaner Sweet and Curry Cafe
Located smack bang in the middle of Little India, Bikaner serves northern Indian food with a good selection of authentic curries and tandoori dishes. But what makes this place stand out from the other cafes lining Foster Street is its huge selection of brightly coloured Indian sweets. Made by hand by the owner's father, there are more than 30 varieties to choose from, including gulab jamun and several kinds of Bengali cham-cham, semolina-based laddoo and burfi made with condensed milk.
Shop 5, 52B Foster Street, Dandenong
9792 9246
Lakshmi Vilas Cafe
Lakshmi Vilas is a vegetarian cafe, serving mainly southern Indian food (including dosas, iddlis, sambar and vadas) with a smattering of northern dishes, at ridiculously cheap prices. The convention here is to eat with your hands, with a basin conveniently located in the corner of the cafe for you to wash your hands before and after your meal. The dosas are particularly good, full of flavour without being too oily: don't leave without trying the masala dosa.
Shop 5, 31 Pultney Street, Dandenong
9793 7726
Afghan Pamir Restaurant
Pamir Restaurant is a Dandenong institution, hidden up a nondescript staircase and richly furnished with marble tabletops, carved wooden chairs, hand-woven rugs and traditional Afghan costumes on the walls. The Uzbek and Afghan cuisine is a bit pricier than at some Dandenong restaurants, but the $35 a head banquet will more than satisfy. The chicken and lamb backstrap skewers cooked over charcoal are a menu highlight, and on Saturday nights there's live music and entertainment.
195 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong
9792 0197
Afghan Tasty Food
At the other end of the spectrum decor-wise from Pamir, Afghan Tasty Food is brightly lit, no-frills cafe that lives up to its name. The genial owner, Muheen Bahrami, bakes all his Afghan breads in-house and supplies them to a number of supermarkets. In addition to the usual kebab and rice dishes, Afghan Tasty also has excellent mantu dumplings, filled with minced lamb and served with lentils and yoghurt.
365 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong
9792 4945
Polish Rye Crust Bakery
There's a pocket of Polish food in Dandenong in amongst the Indian and Afghan cafes. Just down the road from the more formal Polish restaurant Kluska sits Polish Rye Crust Bakery, run by a very friendly couple, Hanna and Andrew Lipiszko. As well as selling many kinds of Eastern European breads, bagels and pastries (including a delicious "cheesecake" made with quark in a brioche bun), the bakery also serves borscht, pierogi, cabbage rolls and goulash.
101-103 Foster Street, Dandenong
9706 9194
India Bazaar International
And for supplies in Dandenong, make a beeline for India Bazaar International on Foster Street - they sell Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani and Fijian ingredients, including a huge range of spices and over a dozen kinds of rice.
77 Foster Street, Dandenong
9794 7010
Claire Davie blogs at Melbourne Gastronome [@melbgastronome].
Photo: Assorted traditional Indian sweet treats from Bikaner Sweet and Curry Cafe. Photograph: Claire Davie