Albert Park Deli

Quite a long time ago I lived in port Melbourne and I loved this place. Especially all the different lasagnes! So today I went back — first time for like 15 years! And it still had amazing looking lasagne! It was modern but still as i remembered. And everything looked delicious!!! I ended up getting takeaway — couscous with mint and goats cheese and eggplant and then a Lebanese salad with tomato and mozzarella and more eggplant. Delicious and substantial it has done me for two meals! So glad to see a classic has maintained its standards!

There is always a steady crowd of diners at the tables outside the AP Deli, but for me the best bit is the changing menu of homestyle meals which you can take home and heat. Unlike those nasty pre-​prepared meals that you can buy elsewhere (particularly of the frozen variety!), the AP Deli meals taste just as good as something you have cooked yourself. I love the lentil patties and the meat casseroles (see chicken in some sort of sauce? It will be delicious). Staff are always happy to suggest reheating methods. I also love the couscous salads and they are a great dish to pop in your own bowl and take to a BBQ when you are short on time but need to ‘bring a salad’. I also head here when I am after some nice French cheese, some marinated olives or some baklava. The only less than positive thing I would say is that I’m not crazy about the meat lasagne — but I acknowledge that this may just be my preference for a more ‘anglicised’ version, or my affinity with the one my mum makes…
oh yes, and the vanilla slices are to die for.

I would like to see Melbourne start to evolve away from the café culture that we have created and start to create a bigger deli scene. It is hard to beat a home cooked meal that you can buy where you have not done all the hard work and tastes better than you could have done yourself. As the Albert Park Deli is open quite late you can always change your mind about cooking dinner and grab one of their delightful, flavoursome, hearty meals to take home.
The moment you walk inside to look at the display cabinet you realise that you are going to be here a while. A known pastime at the Albert Park Deli is to sit out the front for the whole day and enjoy breakfast, then lunch, and order dinner to take home. I recommend giving it a try someday.

It goes without saying that Albert Park Deli is a little overpriced. This is Albert Park after all.
Family owned and run since 1974, come Sunday morning this place is practically heaving with soccer mums, yuppies and bike riding enthusiasts. Don’t let the rather pretentious crowd put you off, this is a café worth travelling to. Whether you eat in or takeaway, it is the genuine quality of the handmade food that makes Albert Park Deli stand out from its lesser imitators. With a daily changing display of over 50 dishes such as vegetable lasagna, malaysian chicken curry and lentil patties, there is always something amazing on offer. To this day, I am yet to walk away empty handed. Grabbing a fresh soup to take home, be it minestrone or red lentil and yoghurt, has become something of a weekend ritual. Seeing as they usually sells out around 12.30, apparently I’m not alone in this.
The dietary challenged amongst us aren’t left out, with an impressive array of vegetarian & gluten free dishes available.