A local's guide to Seddon

Advieh (71B Gamon Street) is a local favourite, whether for a lazy long brunch with friends or some urgent home delivery when you’re hungover. Everything at this Middle Eastern café feels lush and wholesome. Their halloumi fries (with yoghurt sauce, pomegranate seeds, pomegranate molasses, mint and a wedge of lemon) are a must-try.

There have been lots of heated debates about the best kebab in Greater Footscray and after much testing and deliberation, Seddon’s Brotherhood Yiros + Grill (in the back of the Christian Orthodox Brotherhood building at 99 Buckley St) takes the prize for the lamb category. The lamb is tender and well-seasoned, the homemade pita bread is pillowy-soft, the sauce is on point. They’re also delivering during current restrictions.

Several Seddon locals recommended organic bakery Sourdough Kitchen (172 Victoria St) for bread and pastries. Robert from Seddon Book Alley particularly likes their pumpkin bread, which keeps well and is great for carrying other flavours. They’re open for takeaway at the moment.

Luxsmith (5 Gamon St) is, as the name suggests, a wee bit luxe. The restaurant serves up a mix of Asian cuisines that might sound a bit confused on paper – Kerala fish curry, Korean beef cheeks, pad thai, har gow – but it works. The crispy miso Brussel sprouts are a flavour bomb of caramelised goodness and the beef cheek is melty and satisfying. Luxsmith changes its menu seasonally so get your fill of your faves before they disappear. They do delivery, with discounts if you order for pick-up directly instead of through the apps.

For classic chicken and chips, another local hero is McManos Chicken Bar (99 Charles St). Dave Chen’s deep-fried crinkle-cut chips are a cult favourite, even coming first place in a 2019 list of best hot chips from radio station Nova. The shop’s retro signage is also worth checking out. The whole experience is nostalgic in the nicest way, reminding us of family road trips in the days when Corona was just a model of car.

Try crunchy tiger bread rolls which sell out in a matter of hours at Seddon Eatery. Better yet, get the best of both worlds by asking for a barbecue pork banh mi. The rich, juicy layers of pork, spring onion and pickled carrot are soaked up by the roll to provide an experience you'll wish will never end. There's also fresh rice paper rolls and hot pies available to be purchased too. 

For a proper sit-down meal head to Copper Pot. The flavours of each dish will whisk you away from Seddon and transport you to somewhere in Europe. The venue champions seasonal, local produce, so the part of Europe you're arriving in will change. It also offers takeaway meals with each day having a different theme. Expect a contemporary and refined take on pub classics with meals designed to enjoy at home, and a gastronomic experience when you dine-in.

↑ Back to top

Lay Low (93 Buckley St) is a speakeasy-style cocktail bar that’s a tad less hidden now that the owners have put a neon sign above the door. But even without the covert factor, it’s still a very cool drinking hole with distinctive and reliably tasty drinks – plus you can order food from Brotherhood Yiros to the bar, so you can enjoy your kolokithokeftedes with your cocktails.

The Pancake Breakfast cocktail (rum, amaro, banana liqueur, first press cold drip coffee, salted banana, demerara sugar and salt) is available bottled for pick-up and delivery right now. Lay Low is maintaining its minimal waste ethos in lockdown so staff will come pick up the empty bottles from you too if you’re local.

Over in the Village, Seddon Wine Store (2/101 Victoria St) is a bar and bottle-o which boasts a great range of wines, craft beers and spirits in a cosy little space. The knowledgeable staff are really helpful and approachable if you don’t know the first thing about wine. There's a cosy seating area both indoors and outdoors, and a small but decent selection of cocktails and tapas-style bar food. 

Grab a takeaway cocktail from Charles and Gamon, or bask in the sunshine in its outdoor courtyard where dogs are allowed. The venue prides itself on serving a variety of beer and cider on tap and wine produced by small batch independent wine makers. 

Luxsmith also has a bar and wine shop next door to the restaurant.

↑ Back to top

Fig and Walnut (11 Bellairs Ave) over by Seddon train station is an adorable little spot that serves up picture-perfect coffees, brunches and pastries catering to all diets. The child-friendly cafe even has a cubby house out the back.

On the weekend, Seddon Village is often brimming with brunching crowds, and there’s no shortage of coffee options. Seddon Deadly Sins (148 Victoria St) has great coffee, hearty brunches and a lovely sunny courtyard (it's also one of several local shops firmly aboard the pun train).

Common Galaxia (130 Victoria St) is another popular café with more of a sleek, post-industrial Nordic aesthetic. Miss An’am (86a Charles St) does Asian fusion food and almost every kind of coffee (Vietnamese, espresso, pour-over or cold drip). And Lola (77 Charles St) is an airy space serving up Spanish-ish food. All of them have takeaway at the moment.

↑ Back to top

One of the most memorable shops in the Village is Dog Diversity (142 Victoria St), a pet supplies store, dog groomer, and grooming school next door to Seddon Vet Hospital. It’s been pampering the pups and hounds of Seddon since 2000.

If you’re after a gift for a non-canine friend, try Sedonia (41 Gamon St), Far Fetched Designs (84 Charles St), Simple Form (95 Charles St) or LoveLuvo (174 Victoria St). An eco-friendly social enterprise, LoveLuvo has a lot of home and body products in bulk so you can refill your containers to cut down on plastic.

Seddon Book Alley (107 Victoria St) is a secondhand bookshop. During lockdown, you can get a mystery “brown bag of books” from $20 with free delivery within a 5km radius. You just choose a genre and the owner Robert will handpick a selection for you. The store also offers book repair and restoration services, and normally they have a $3 trolley out the front.

For vintage fashion, Seddon has quite a selection: The Diamond Dog (105 Charles St), Once More With Feeling (73 Charles St), and – a more thrifty option – the Epilepsy Foundation Op Shop (101 Victoria St).

↑ Back to top

Trugo is a uniquely Victorian sport that’s something like a cross between croquet and lawn bowls. It was invented by railway workers in the western suburbs in the 1920s and 1930s, and Footscray Trugo Club (139 Buckley St), which is technically in Seddon, was the second club formed. It’s closed at the moment but the trugo lawn is still a nice place to take a lunch break. There’s also a mosaic mural on Charles Street that pays homage to trugo alongside other local history.

For over ten years, Spice Bazaar has been hosting popular cooking classes out of its Victoria Street venue. These are hands-on classes that give you all the skills you'll need to recreate these recipes at home (plus, the two glasses of wine you get don't hurt!) There are a few cuisines to try, including Moroccan and Persian as well as specialties on paella and curry. 

The Polish Museum and Archives (296 Nicholson St) houses materials from the Polish community across Australia. Access to the archives is by appointment, but the organisation also puts on exhibitions that tour nationally, and workshops teaching research skills. They also have a very active Facebook group with over 2,700 members which is a treasure trove of photos and memories – as vice-president Lucyna Artymiuk told us, “we’re rescuers of memory.”

Over on the Seddon-Footscray border, Phoenix Youth Centre (72 Buckley St) is a hub for arts, recreation and support services for young people in Maribyrnong city council. At the moment the venue is running a lot of online activities, including a series of workshops for music makers.

↑ Back to top

Head along to the Seddon Makers Market on the corner of Gamon Street and Mackay Street, which usually happens a couple of times a year. Keep an eye on dates via the website.