5 Best Places To Eat Near Victoria University
Victoria University Footscray Park and Nicholson campuses are situated right in the middle of a culinary melting pot. The options are varied and culturally diverse, so let’s take a look at the five best places near Victoria University where you can get your munchies on.
Alami Yemeni
This unassuming restaurant offers East African cuisine. It’s based mostly on lentils and beans, so the dishes are very filling, as well as being high in fibre and protein. There are meat options as well. The food has a home-cooked feel. They don’t cook with a whole lot of spice, so it’s palatable. It goes down quite easy. For those who can’t handle spicy food, this is a good alternative as opposed to say, Indian food.
The dishes are generally large and are meant to be shared between a couple of people. You’re given different types of bread depending on the dish, but the most common type is the Ethiopian Injera bread. You don’t usually get cutlery, so you use the bread to pick up the food.
It’s cheap and as stated before and serves many! It’s located on Nicholson Street.
Kulan Cafe
There are a couple of burger joints near Victoria University, but this is one of the cheaper ones. That’s not speaking to the quality. These tasty burgers have a personal touch. Same goes with the customer service. The staff are warm and accommodating. They have a select number of burgers but they’re all made to a high standard every time. They’re named after the surrounding Footscary streets.
The burgers don’t look too big but they satiate. If that’s not enough though you can make a meal out of it: Throw in a side and a drink. They do fries and really nice onion rings. Wash that down with a soft drink or coffee (or a hot chocolate if you’re so inclined). You can also find this place on Nicholson.
VK – Viet Kitchen
When it comes to Vietnamese cuisine, there are a lot of options in Footscray, with a considerable range in price. This place is reasonably priced and is probably more suited to a gathering of friends over dinner, as opposed to grabbing lunch in a more humble-looking place. The place has a really nice decor, with Vietnamese inspired art pieces on the wall. It looks clean and inviting. The wait staff are friendly, and on the occasion that I went, the owners personally welcomed me in.
It has a nice atmosphere. Music is constantly playing, softly, on the background. The wait time was very short. It has a varied menu with many authentic Vietnamese dishes. I recommend the Vietnamese pancake. It’s like a big crepe, with filling that you can choose. You can go for pork, chicken, or prawn. It’s a monster that’s worth feeling bloated from later. It’s fully licenced but you can BYO. Visit it on Hopkins Street.
First Taste Restaurant – Chinese and Malaysian Cusine
Say you’re roaming around Footscray, near Victoria University (either campus). There’s so much to choose from, so much looks good. Say you’ve narrowed it down to Asian food. Broad, I know. Maybe you don’t want to commit to just one kind of cuisine, you want options. Here they are. First Taste gives you just that – a taste of Chinese and Malaysian food.
You can feast on the Chinese classics like Mongolian beef, honey chicken, sweet and sour pork, and so much more, alongside your Malaysian favourites like Satay Chicken, Seafood Laksa, or a Malaysian curry. There are a fair few Vietnamese dishes and a couple of Thai dishes sprinkled throughout, so you’ll want for nothing. It gets very busy during lunch and dinner, so you may want to reserve. Cash only. It’s near our last entry, on Hopkins Street.
The French Baguette
This cafe/restaurant/bakery offers Vietnamese and continental options. You can walk in and buy a pork roll and walk out. Or you can sit and eat. They have all the kinds of rolls that you would expect from a Vietnamese bakery, along with an assortment of delectable sweets. Add to that the continental options, like a parmigiana and focaccias, and you’ve got a large variety of food.
The beverage menu is nothing to sneeze at either, between hot, cold, and Vietnamese coffees, along with milkshakes and Italian sodas. It’s a fairly comfortable place to sit and eat in, with two levels of seating. It’s on Victoria Street.
