There is a specialist Australian/NZ grocery near where I work and I have popped in there, and I don’t recognise a single thing. So what should an adventourous Pom like me try out of this shop?
They also sell beer, so any recommendations of good Aussie beer would be worth a try too.
They also sell some south effrikan stuff, but I’m not eating that in case it affects my accent and I end up talking like them. There are limits after all.
I don’t know much about beer, but Cascades seems to be pretty well-received here. Definitely get some Tim Tams.
It’s 2:43 in the morning here, so it might be worth trying in about 10 hours time when most of the Aussies/Kiwis will be up. 
Is it that one near Covent Garden?
If it was me, I’d buy obscene amounts of Tim tams and Kingstons (both yummy biscuits) and lots of packets of Twisties(a cheesey corn snack). 
I have always, or at least since I learned of their existence, wanted to try a pie floater.
Make sure to look for Bundaberg’s Lemon Lime Bitters. It is one of the finest soft drinks made. You’ll find it to be streets ahead of 7[sup]up[/sup] and Sprite.
Well, trying to remember what the Australian shop in Covent Garden used to stock, this is what I would try:
Biscuits: You have got to try our biscuits. Tim Tams, Mint Slices and Kingstons are all great. For something more savoury, try a box of Shapes. Barbecue Shapes are the best. I can munch through a whole box in one sitting, which is quite a disgusting feat, really.
Chocolate Bars: Go for a Violet Crumble, a Picnic or a Caramello Koala. The Freddo Frogs are good too, lots of yummy flavours.
A bag of Jaffas (little round orange-flavoured chocolates with a red coating.) They work great as a cinema snack. Go with a great Australian tradition and roll one or two down the aisle.
A tin of Milo. It’s a powdery chocolate drink you mix with milk, but better than Nesquick. Make sure you sneak a couple of spoonfuls straight into your mouth when no-one is looking.
A packet of Twisties. I prefer the Chicken flavour, but Cheese Twisties are an Australian institution.
And of course, a jar of Vegemite. Spread it on thiiiiiiiiiick.
As for beer, avoid VB like the plague, that stuff can kill you. Go for a Toohey’s New, or a Crown Lager for something more expensive. If they happen to have anything by James Squire, pay whatever exhorbitant price they will be charging and enjoy a truly great beer.
I know the one near Covent Garden! Woohoo, my 2 days in London let me learn something!
If you venture into the SA stuff, Mrs Ball makes a damn fine chutney…I like the peach one on chicken sammiches.
Zenster only advocates the Bundy LLB because he knows no better. What he should have said was Bundaberg Ginger Beer, which is, of course, the inspiration for that ambrosia stuff that people get so worked up about.
And, of course, Tim Tams. This will provide you the rarer of the ingredients for the afeared Tim Tam Bomb.
Take 1 (one) Tim Tam. Nibble the chocolate off the short ends.
Take 1 (one) cup of coffee. Leichhardt-style cappuccino is good for this sort of thing. Allow to cool to a drinkable temperature.
Plunge Tim Tam half-way into coffee. Suck hard on exposed short end until coffee shoots up through the biscuit like a straw. At this point, the biscuit will be starting to disintegrate, so quickly remove it from the coffee and scoop into mouth.
Licking chocolatey goop from your fingers may be described as “afterglow”.
It also does well as an ice-cream topping. And I know someone who sprinkles it over his muesli
Exactly, Monkey. You’ll see a lot of people who try to spread the word about Vegemite, but they think people can’t handle it, so they spread pansy-arsed lies about “only a scrape”. It should be understood that the only way to really eat the stuff is to spread it on as thickly as, say, super-crunchy peanut butter. It gives your morning toast a richer, more satisfying flavour.
Tim Tams are awful. Sorry Tim Tam fans, I simply don’t like 'em. See if they sell Chocolate Montes.
For beer, if you’re lucky, they’ll have Tooheys Old.
Speaking as an Australian:
Milo is God
Vegemite is the Anti-Christ.
YMMV
Coopers beer if they’ve got it.
James Squire is also excellent. Actually it’s brewed by Chuck Hahn at Malt Shovel Brewery. James Squire was Australia’s first master brewer.
Musk sticks.
I know we pride ourselves on our sense of humour but jokes at the expense of vegemite virgins are a bit much. Spread it about the thickness of a latex condom first time. Afterwards you may feel that you would have preferred a latex condom…or you may toughen up and cope with a nice thick smear.
You can make yourself one. Get yourself a Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney or Steak and Ale pie. They come in a tin ready for the oven. Serve atop mashed potato and put a dollop of tinned processed “mushy” peas on top. Yummy.
Slightly OT, but for the life of me I’ve never seen a pie floater.
Beer: Cascade Lager and Boags are great. Redback isn’t a bad wheat beer, if you like that stuff. If they have it, pay any amount to get your hands on some Little Creatures Pale Ale. Crown Lager is, IMO, terribly overrated (a fancy gold bottle does not a good beer make. ;))
Oh, you probably already know, but practically no-one drinks Fosters down here. There’s no demand for it so it isn’t even available in many shops, at least where I live.
Seconds the Tim Tams, although I give the edge to Kingstons.
Barbeque or tomato salsa flavoured Shapes.
Tim-Tams and Milo are a must.
Woah, you suggest going away from VB and drinking Toohey’s New? Are you serious?
You NSW people have weird tastes :). Anyways, I suggest getting beer in this order: Crown Lager (Crownies), Cralton Draught, VB. Tooheys New (IMHO) is somewhere down near toilet water.
Fortunately, the meat pie floater is an abomination confined only to South Australia.
Cascade Larger and musk sticks. Yum. Extra points if you can get the musk sticks in the fake cigarette packaging.
No. It’s called Skippy’s Lunchbox in Shepherd’s bush.
I have just walked past it and they are taking deliveries. The whole front of the shop is full of boxes of twisties, so they’re obviously popular.
Surely vegemite is marmite? In which case, been there done that. Same with Freddo frogs - they used to sell them in England.
I will take up some of the beer recommendations this afternoon. Depending on what they have. It isn’t that expensive - about the same as all bottled beer, after all most of the price is tax, so a few pence extra on the actual beer won’t make a huge difference. I’ll ask about James Squire, but I know they sell Tooheys. As for Bundaburg drinks - they definately sell the rum, but that is widely available in London (and it’s crap).
And on Monday i will try some of the biscuits - but Aussie biscuits are going to have to be ninja class to beat pommie biscuits.
A digression but this site is at the moment a bit of an interweb phenomenon here in the mother country.
http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/
thanks for the help, but I am buggered if I am asking for a caramello Koala, I have a reputation to kepp up you know…
No. It’s called Skippy’s Lunchbox in Shepherd’s bush.
I have just walked past it and they are taking deliveries. The whole front of the shop is full of boxes of twisties, so they’re obviously popular.
Surely vegemite is marmite? In which case, been there done that. Same with Freddo frogs - they used to sell them in England.
I will take up some of the beer recommendations this afternoon. Depending on what they have. It isn’t that expensive - about the same as all bottled beer, after all most of the price is tax, so a few pence extra on the actual beer won’t make a huge difference. I’ll ask about James Squire, but I know they sell Tooheys. As for Bundaburg drinks - they definately sell the rum, but that is widely available in London (and it’s crap).
And on Monday i will try some of the biscuits - but Aussie biscuits are going to have to be ninja class to beat pommie biscuits.
A digression but this site is at the moment a bit of an interweb phenomenon here in the mother country.
http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/
thanks for the help, but I am buggered if I am asking for a caramello Koala, I have a reputation to kepp up you know…