Kenny Weir discovers a new genre of fusion food at Footscray…
Consider The Sauce’s gaze was largely elsewhere as Littlefoot was coming on stream, so it came as a great surprise for a happy bunch of CTS regulars who came upon it coming back from Indo-Chinese just up the road.
We popped in for postprandial drinks and dessert, one of which – a foundation menu listing – was so brilliant we vowed to return to take the whole menu for a spin.
Several weeks later, the same crew of six, plus two, fronted for mid-week eats on a chillingly cold evening. The round front table was ours and proves precisely right for eight of us.
I thought we’d try everything on offer, food-wise, but our collective eyes fix on specific menu items at the expense of others.
It’s all good – pork rind chips ($3.50), fried chicken spare ribs ($10) with crunchy crumbs and wasabi mayo … both terrific, the crumb coating really is crunchy but also grease-free.
The ribs are suitably meaty and flavoursome and the wasabi mayo is a true delight.
The chips with beer cheese ($12.50) are fine but it seems I’m the only one unwowed by the beer cheese dip – I don’t find it to be a bad taste, it simply doesn’t turn me on.
Several serves of both versions of banh ‘mini’ ($5.50) – teriyaki tofu and barbecue braised beef – are ordered. They’re as fresh and tasty as can be. One devil’s advocate points out that they are smaller and more expensive than the regular banh mi just a block away, to which my immediate thought is: “Meh … this is a bar.”
Slow-cooked kangaroo on Ethiopian bean ful, topped with hemp seed dukkah ($18), is another outright winner and good value for money given the generous size of the portions.
The bean mix is a cool blend that reminds me of chilli con carne. That’s fine by me – Littlefoot’s aim is to embrace and celebrate the surrounding food cultures, not replicate them.
Rolls of injera and excellent greenery complete a fine dish.
I suspect when it comes to mains at Littlefoot, this roo dish is it – there is only one item that costs more, the $25 tasting board.
We are presented with an on-the-house duck pizza. By this time we’re all getting fullish, so a slice each is just right. It’s good, the meaty duck complemented by nice crunchy things.
Dessert time! Once more, we enjoy the injera and hazelnut chocolate pinwheels with creamy coconut dipping sauce ($9.50). What a superb and utterly delicious piece of imagination is this, perfectly encapsulating the Littlefoot food philosophy.
The sourness of the injera does a sexy tango with the sweetness of the hazelnut/chocolate, all lubricated by coconut sauce. Totally yum.
Littlefoot
Address: 223 Barkly Street, Footscray
Phone: 9396 1282
Kenny Weir is the founder of Consider the Sauce, the definitive guide to Melbourne western suburbs eating – www.considerthesauce.net
