MFWF Sunshine Wander of Iranian Nibbles, Ethiopian Platter and Viet Flan in Melbourne

I skipped lunch, wrapped up my work early, and took a direct bus to my next-door neighbourhood, Sunshine, for an evening of Sunshine Wander — a multicultural gastronomy event held by MFWF (the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival), showcasing the best immigrant cuisines on the underrated west side of Melbourne.

Since moving to the West, Sunshine has become an adopted neighbourhood—especially for its diversity of cuisine. From Chapli takeaways to Pho lunch dates, I have visited Sunshine plenty of times during the day. But I had never seen the night food scene, hence my excitement for joining the Sunshine Wander.

The food-themed wander didn’t start with food. At the set meeting point, we were greeted by an African drum player who played electric beats, followed by a fire attraction show. It was such a great way to break the ice among strangers (I came alone) and get all of us a bit more pumped up about the night. Eventually, the host introduced herself and invited us to start our so-called Sunshine wander.

SalamaTea — A Persian Kitchen Tucked Away in Sunshine Neighbourhood

Our first stop was SalamaTea, a beautifully decorated Iranian restaurant. More than twenty of us occupied three tables. The owner came soon after to welcome us and share a bit about the restaurant.

Their business model is to employ immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, to help them set and stabilise their footing in Australia.

He then continued to introduce the food for the evening. But honestly, by then, I was too distracted by the mouthwatering plates of nibbles of different types and colours in front of me.

The person in front of me, who seemed to fly solo as well that evening, asked whether I had had Iranian food before, and I told them no, not that I could remember. But having lived in Singapore and worked a stone’s throw away from Arab Street, I couldn’t be 100% sure. They said they never had as well, a statement echoed by the rest at our table.

The food, every single one of them, was exquisite.

I started with Falafel and couldn’t stop with just one; it was fresh and flavourful—in a word, fantastic. The Dolmeh (stuffed vegetables) reminded me of the similar kind I get in Prahran Market, but this was smaller and had a distinctive taste—it could be from the sweet and sour pomegranate dressing. My absolute favourite, though, was the beetroot dip. It tasted phenomenal, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t like beetroot. I had it generously with the flatbread provided, alternating it with the eggplant dip, Kashke Bademjan, which was also very yummy.

The only downside of eating at SalamaTea was having to constantly remind myself that I had to portion it because there were more places to visit that evening.

Café Sunshine & Salamatea كافه سلامتى Address: 21 Dickson St, Sunshine VIC 3020, Australia

Gojo Cafe & Restaurant — Sunshine’s very own Ethiopian corner

The smell of incense wafted through our noses even before we stepped into Gojo, the Ethiopian restaurant — our second wander in Sunshine for the night. The ambience was warm and cozy, as were the owner’s greetings, who welcomed us individually, embodying African hospitality.

This time, I sat at the back table with the event host. While waiting for the food, we talked about highlighting the West side, especially the Sunshine neighbourhood. We discussed her goal of getting more funds to invest in Sunshine’s cultural activities. When she mentioned the Lunar New Year festival the month before here in Sunshine, I said I was sorry for missing it. She replied that she was just glad I decided to come for the Sunshine Wander event.

We were served a beautiful platter of Injera surrounded by various colourful dishes that go with it, from meat to veggies, curried and sautéed. These platters are meant to be shared and eaten with hands — something I am familiar with but could empathize with when seeing some struggling with it. But once we got past the awkwardness of dipping our hands in a big plate of food shared with strangers, we all agreed it was delicious.

I had been in search of a good Ethiopian restaurant, one that served heat-packed curry dishes like we had in Saba’s before it closed down for good. Gojo could just be it. I made a mental note to take Fafa here so he could try it for himself.

Gojo Ethiopian Cafe & Restaurant Address: 10 Clarke St, Sunshine VIC 3020, Australia

NNB Dessert House – A Vietnamese Delight in Sunshine

Since I had eaten too much, I was relieved that the next and final stop was a Vietnamese dessert place; boy, was I wrong, as we were served four types of desserts!

These Vietnamese desserts reminded me of Indonesian desserts — sweet but not too sweet. My favourite was Sửa Sương Sáo (grass jelly with cold coconut milk). It tasted like home, as grass jelly drink had been a staple of my childhood. Meanwhile, Chè Trái Cây Sữa (made of fruits, palm sugar, pearls, and, of course, coconut Milk) reminded me of Cendol.

The one completely new to me was Chè Bắp (sweet corn pudding made of fresh corn, glutinous rice, tapioca pearls, and agar jelly, also served with coconut milk). The last one was Chè Flan (flan served with coffee and milk), which can be topped with toppings of our choice. I didn’t add any, though, as it was good as it was.

I also made friends with a middle-aged couple who shared a table with me. They were curious as to why I took multiple pictures of the food, so I told them about the blog; the conversation shifted to travel and them going on a big trip as soon as they had finally retired.

We then dissected the dessert in detail. Eventually, after too many versions of “Oh, this is just beautiful!!!” — the Aussie way to describe good food — I bid everyone goodbye and ticked off Sunshine Wonders after adding these three places to my go-to Sunshine, joining the likes of Afghan Shaheen and Panjali.

NNB Dessert House Restaurant Address: 221A Hampshire Rd, Sunshine VIC 3020, Australia.

Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.

Read more of MFWF events: MFWF Mapo Tofu The Taste of Chengdu.