So, this has been on my mind for a little while as we have been going to the Mackie Street Centre, especially in the evenings, walking back from choir practice. There are so many food and drink options starting from near the Causeway up as far as the Shepperton Road/Albany Highway intersection. There are shops that sell Asian style drinks, Asian style bakeries, cafes, restaurants and the most amazing array of food from different countries around the world.
If you are missing overseas travel because of the different food opportunities then come to our Food Street! It is amazing.
On Sunday night we were supposed to be joining other choirs for a Christmas Concert at one of our local private schools at the invitation of our choir director, David, who is a music teacher. The Mackie Street Singers are doing wonderfully under his direction and the choir is expanding, and we even have quite a few men. Stephen and I were all prepared and drove over to the school. It had begun to rain slightly before we left and we checked our emails, but no word on cancellation.
Only when we arrived were we sadly turned away. They had cancelled so recently that some of the animals were being brought in as we left. For the Nativity section, you understand. One donkey, several sheep and a few camels. Just to liven things up. The rain was still only fairly light, but we had heavier rain later and the following morning.
There were going to be food trucks at the Christmas Concert and we were in the mood for eating out.
That’s when we had the experience of actually looking for somewhere to eat. We chose purely on the food because the nice restaurant we checked out first had only rather starchy Italian food, which we didn’t fancy. There was live music, so it was disappointing.
But then, we found a Thai restaurant and although we are not vegetarian or vegan, the aspect and prices suited us. The decorations gave it a sort of Christmassy feel, certainly the colours were Christmassy, and there was music provided by a DJ in a special section at the front. There is a private room that can take 20 people and can be booked out for a group. The food was nice, perhaps a little too healthy, but the sticky rice and mango was delicious. If we had had a group we could have added some fried entrees, but for two of us it would have made too much food.
The point was, that there were so many options in just that small section of Albany Highway that we had an abundance of choices for both main meals and deserts.
We can enjoy an incredible variety of cuisines from around the world, all within walking distance of where we live. The world comes to us.
On a more sober note…
In the 5-6 km stretch of Albany Highway there are not only at least 100 cafes and restaurants, but three older style pubs that were built as hotels approximately 100 years ago , one undistinguished more recent pub and a bright new modern pub in the apartment building behind our house. There are two small, but useful shopping centres, one with a Coles and one with a Woolworths. At the Shepparton Road junction we have an Officeworks and a smallish Bunnings (hardware). There are many small speciality shops along the street as well, including one bookshop, kitchenware shops and newsagents. There are other, smaller supermarkets, an Aldi and an IGA. And there are still quite a few car yards, just in case that’s what you were really looking for.
All of this is unusual for a Perth suburb. Subiaco, Leederville and Mt Lawley have main streets with small sections like this stretch of Albany Highway and are better known, being in what are now quite ‘posh’ areas of Perth. Victoria Park is technically an inner city suburb, but on the ‘wrong’ side of the river to be fashionable.
We have two GP surgeries, a pathology collection point and radiology within a short walk from our house. Where we live has excellent bus services and there is a train service as well.
A future project could be to document what is actually available in different sections of Albany Highway and to take lots of photos.