Dandenong - 3175

The Age

Tuesday August 29, 2006

SHARON GRAY

Thomas Street, Dandenong, is the new Kabul, with five Afghani bakeries, and new restaurants opening all the time. Foster Street, Dandenong, is the much loved "Little India", with three Indian sweet shops and an Ethiopian restaurant. The area is dotted with specialist grocery stores.

10 OF THE BEST

1 Pamir Kabab House, 161-163 Thomas Street, Dandenong.

Host Rahimi serves mountains of absolutely fresh, tasty traditional Afghani cuisine at lunch and dinner seven days a week. Lunchtime banquets for $15 a head for bookings of 10 or more are very popular with local businesses. Pamir's mantu (meat dumplings) are heavenly. None can compare. BYO too.

2 Ariana Afghan Kebab and Bakery, 16/200 Thomas Street.

Yunus' and Diana's customers are mainly Afghans, tucking into kebabs of best lamb backstrap and hot potato bread with spicy sauce. Open for lunch and dinner seven days.

3 Uncle's Smallgoods, 123 Thomas Street.

Polish everything: sausages, old-fashioned hams and smoked meats, all made from Australian produce. Also carries a range of Polish groceries, pickles and Wawel chocolates. Cheesecakes and doughnuts available on Fridays and Saturdays.

4 Sinbad, 202 Thomas Street.

A Dandenong institution for 16 years. Heavy white linen, open fireplace and fully licensed. Classic Lebanese cuisine with claims of having the best felafel in the world. Try the marinated shredded lamb or a comprehensive banquet.

5 Indra Thai, 65 Walker Street.

A pleasant, popular and enduring BYO restaurant with wonderful wall hangings, proud of its Thai cuisine. Lunch Tues-Fri and dinner Tues-Sun.

6 Rob's British and Irish Butchery, 177 Lonsdale Street.

Irish, English and Scottish black pudding, haggis, English pork pies with Branston pickle and Lancashire cheese, Cornish pasties, Welsh faggots, gammon rashers, boiling bacon and shelves of British groceries, including oat cakes and Marmite. Rob swears there is nothing like it in the world.

7 Gibe, 108-112 Foster Street. Serves mostly Ethiopian, Sudanese, Eritrean and Egyptian favourites.

Meaty dishes flavoured with Ethiopian spices and served with generous baskets of spongy bread. Open lunch and dinner Tues-Sun, and licensed. Sells four kinds of Ethiopian beer. A pool room adjoins the restaurant.

8 Punjab Sweet Centre, 2B Mason Street.

Open seven days until 8pm. Alongside a range of fresh Indian sweets, Punjab offers a full menu of Indian meat and vegetarian dishes, none more than $7.50. A friendly place.

9 Calcutta Sweets, 52E Foster Street. Open seven days until 8pm. A classic Indian sweet shop. Try the ras malai in milk, the king of Indian sweets. Like all these sweet shops, everything is made on the premises.

10 Jaipur Sweets, 52B Foster Street.

Another Indian sweet shop with a small, ever-changing menu of lunch and dinner dishes. Everyone thinks it's great to have so many sweet shops close together. They do a roaring business at Diwali festival time in October, when Indians buy sweets, mithai, by the kilo.

© 2006 The Age

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