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.
Salt and Vinegar potato chips (I think you call them ‘crisps’?)! Man oh man! When I was living in Melbourne I snarfed these babies down with a quickness, but but here in the 'States we don’t have them, so there is a hole in heart.
As an ex-pommie myself, I would definately class Tim tams as ninja class. My personal rating is best overall biscuit out of all the pommie and aussie biscuits I’ve tried
When I was in London (many eons ago, yep the late 80’s) the one thing I bought from the New Zealand shop (which was under NZ house and I don’t think exists now) is a PROPER potato peeler. God knows how you Pommies del with the things you use to peel…go to the aussie shop and get a peeler, your life will be reformed!
How disappointing - it sound like most of the recommendations are for Australian junk food.
I was going to recommend kangaroo meat, ostrich meat, and native herbs, spices, jams and sauces (“bushfoods”).
If you’re into junk: please note that unlike UK Crunchies, Aus Violet Crumbles contain gelatine, so aren’t vegetarian/vegan friendly.
Also note that Tim Tams contain E102 - tartrazine orange food colour - which some studies suggest can trigger hyperactivity in some youngsters, and has no bloody business being in a chocolate biscuit at all. If they put the proper amount of cocoa in them, they wouldn’t need to “colour them up.”
If they sell actual native Australian food, I would recommend:
Quandong syrup/cordial - has a lovely sharp, peachy flavour
Wattleseed - so versatile, has coffee/hazelnut/caramel/chocolate flavour, wonderful in biscuits and baking, or even used like cocoa or coffee in hot milk
Anything with Lemon Aspen or Lemon Myrtle in
Bush-tomato based sauces for barbecue and marinades
You can get kangaroo meat and lemon myrtle cooking sauces in lots of places in London now. Sainsbury’s definitely stocks the latter. Any Walkabout pub serves kangaroo, and despite their deservedly boozy meat-market reputation the food is pretty good.
Surely, that’s a good ol pie ‘n’ peas (yumminess guaranteed), not a floater.
My understanding of a pie floater is that it’s simply a standard Australian meat pie floating in a bowl of pea and ham soup (also quite nice in wintertime, and no I’m not South Australian).
The original SA thing is an abomination served at the Balfours Pie Cart in Rundle Mall. Go to Harry’s Cafe de Wheels and ask for a pie floater and its mooshy peas and gravy. I first came across the expression at Wollongong dogs where I worked for a bookie. They served their pies with the choice of mash and/or peas and/or gravy. The peas and mash were lovingly added with an icecream scoop. Mind you this was then served to you in a bag for traditional onehanded eating.
How strange. I’ve never seen a supermarket here sell kangaroo meat – except as dog food!
It’s on the occasional restaurant menu (althought still pretty darn rare), but I’ve never seen anyone eat the stuff.
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Australia seafood would be worth trying, if they stock it. They’re hardly as good frozen, but crayfish, king prawns and certain breeds of Australian fish are wonderful.
okey dokey - here’s some beer feedback on tooheys and crown. they’re nice, but not great. Pretty mainstream lager IMHO, not as good as the European (ie german and czech) stuff.
Is there any other kind of beer than lager? Ie a proper darker beer? I’lll have a go at that if there is.
There is also a bloody great big walkabaout pub in shepherds bush (its pretty much an antipodean colony) so i’ll give kangaroo a go. But, sweet baby jesus, the walkabout is a hovel! THe things I do for science.
Narrad - I understand that kangaroo meat was “legalised” for human consumption in South Australia long before NSW. So in SA it’s easy to get, and cheap, but in NSW when I was there two years ago it was only in very expensive tourist restaurants, and most Sydneysiders regarded it as anything from slightly icky to rancid rat meat.
Hopefully, once they catch up with their Adelaide cousins, that will all change…
When I was in Australia (1997/1998) I had kangaroo plenty in NT, and also in Sydney. The excellent Lord Nelson in The Rocks used to do kangaroo pizzas; I think, if I remember rightly, that the one decent curry I had in Sydney was at a place that (Oh! Calcutta, I think the name was) also offered kangaroo in curries.
I think you mean the Australian Hotel on Cumberland Street in the Rocks. I know because I took you there!
If anyone does find themselves near the Australia Shop in Covent Garden, keep an eye out for Moreton Bay bug meat - it’s frozen of course so not ideal but oh, what a treat!
If you are not familiar with bugs they are similar to lobster: Moreton Bay Bugs
