Jecca Zane
Sandra 1Dinkum Pies
September 4th 2007 07:04
In the crux of the warren that makes up the Block Arcade exists a spot that is as prized as a piece of steak in a lentil salad. An establishment unafraid to emblazon their mission statement proudly above the front door. An eatery that says what it does right there on the packet.
Dinkum Pies, translated as Genuine or Real pies in the Australian Dialect, could only sound more Australian if it were called "True Blue Tucker", "Bloody Beaut Baked Goods" or "Poida's Pie and Pastie Place"
Finding this place is like stumbling over your Nan's Lamb Roast in a Food's of the World festival. It's everything you craved to ease the clap of thunder in your stomach but never dreamed you'd find. An Australian island in a sea of assimilation.
As soon as you get inside, you'll be greeted by a gathering of Australian icons and you'll know just what I mean.
Frederick McCubbin's Pioneer's sit amongst scrub above the door. Sir Donald Bradman's sketched likeness advertises a pair of self-supporting "Elasta-Strap Trousers" in the corner. Holden's latest model, parked on the wall next to "The Don", is going for a cool £910 (plus tax). QANTAS are bashing on about their new routes to Java and other exotic places. Penfolds are in the other corner next to Bushell's Cocoa and Rosella's Tomato Chutney. While the menu is flanked by all the strange creatures Australia helped to spawn: the platypus, the Kangaroo, the Possum, Magpie and that lazy Eucalyptus addict; the Koala
But I digress from the meat of this posting, those glorious packages of beef and pastry: Pies. Dinkum's has a cache of all the old favourite's and a few more all for about $4.40. Generally I would go for Snow Pie, but today I opt for another favourite of mine; the Steak Cheese and Bacon (or as I think of it: the holy trinity) and sit down on a stool bolted to brown tiles to take it the rest of the surroundings.
The stark furnishing juxtaposed with the native garb on the walls reminds me of the "Greasy Spoon" cafes and "Pie and Mash" shops of London. Known for their modest interiors and prices, but renowned for their good old fashioned honest grub.
You can even pick up some good advice while devouring a Shepherd's with dead horse by reading the sheets of laminated paper that grace most of the walls:
"A person who never makes a mistake, is a person who isn't doing anything" and then there's "Other nations have history, we have football", (they mean Aussie Rules). But the best pearl of wisdom I observed was scrawled over the heads of the ladies handing out the hot little golden nuggets: "When it's brown it's cooked. If it's black it's buggered". I think there's something in that for all of us.
Dinkum Pies, translated as Genuine or Real pies in the Australian Dialect, could only sound more Australian if it were called "True Blue Tucker", "Bloody Beaut Baked Goods" or "Poida's Pie and Pastie Place"
Finding this place is like stumbling over your Nan's Lamb Roast in a Food's of the World festival. It's everything you craved to ease the clap of thunder in your stomach but never dreamed you'd find. An Australian island in a sea of assimilation.
As soon as you get inside, you'll be greeted by a gathering of Australian icons and you'll know just what I mean.
Frederick McCubbin's Pioneer's sit amongst scrub above the door. Sir Donald Bradman's sketched likeness advertises a pair of self-supporting "Elasta-Strap Trousers" in the corner. Holden's latest model, parked on the wall next to "The Don", is going for a cool £910 (plus tax). QANTAS are bashing on about their new routes to Java and other exotic places. Penfolds are in the other corner next to Bushell's Cocoa and Rosella's Tomato Chutney. While the menu is flanked by all the strange creatures Australia helped to spawn: the platypus, the Kangaroo, the Possum, Magpie and that lazy Eucalyptus addict; the Koala
But I digress from the meat of this posting, those glorious packages of beef and pastry: Pies. Dinkum's has a cache of all the old favourite's and a few more all for about $4.40. Generally I would go for Snow Pie, but today I opt for another favourite of mine; the Steak Cheese and Bacon (or as I think of it: the holy trinity) and sit down on a stool bolted to brown tiles to take it the rest of the surroundings.
The stark furnishing juxtaposed with the native garb on the walls reminds me of the "Greasy Spoon" cafes and "Pie and Mash" shops of London. Known for their modest interiors and prices, but renowned for their good old fashioned honest grub.
You can even pick up some good advice while devouring a Shepherd's with dead horse by reading the sheets of laminated paper that grace most of the walls:
"A person who never makes a mistake, is a person who isn't doing anything" and then there's "Other nations have history, we have football", (they mean Aussie Rules). But the best pearl of wisdom I observed was scrawled over the heads of the ladies handing out the hot little golden nuggets: "When it's brown it's cooked. If it's black it's buggered". I think there's something in that for all of us.
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