Al Alamy – International Coffee & Nuts

Al Alamy sits just off Bell st, parallel to Sydney road. Just where Coles and Woolworths are, and in the precinct of other small shops/​take away joints.
This place looks like a grocery store from the outside with seatings that are often filled by locals having thick black Lebanese coffees. Inside its a compact space where you will find pantry strapless, snacks, Middle Eastern ingredients, dried fruit and nuts, bread and a small bakery. Zaatar (oregano), mince meat pizzas and Lebanese pies (think mini pides) are a plenty here and a staple cheap lunch for locals.
I wish there are Al Alamy type bakeries/​store around Melbourne. Because, who doesn’t like cheap lunch, thick coffee and finding new grocery items? (pomegranate molasses I am lookin at you ;))

Everybody, get your butts down to this shop immediately!
This busy bakery, café and Middle Eastern food store is everything but the kitchen sink!
You’ll find a bunch of people huddled around the window display filled with Middle Eastern-​style pizzas that are baked fresh in a pizza oven right in front of your very eyes. You’ll hear names shouted out as customers come to collect their goody bags. It’s all part of the fun! My favourite baked goods are the $ 1.50 za’atar pizzas and $ 2.50 mince lamb with chilli and lemon pizzas. The smells are mouth-​watering and the flavours even tastier!
But it’s not just pastries and coffees that they seLL. If you’re looking for nuts, dried fruits, Middle Eastern sweets, spices, BBQ coals and all things alike, this is the store for you.

This place is always busy… wonder why… café and a bite to eat for around $ 5, and good quality at that.

The Arab world is a vast and diverse one, differing in language, cultural norms and food. So when you walk into a store and hear your dialect, smell your regional cuisine… it feels like home, like you belong there even if you’re a stranger in the crowd. Such is the case with Al Alamy.
My visits here start with the ceremonial cup of rocket fuel (Arabic coffee), made with Al-Alamy’s house-​roasted beans… the perfect boost of energy to look through the rest of the store. Then, out comes a piping hot spinach and feta pie, followed by a lahm b’ajeen, or lamb «pizza.» Light, crispy and squeezed generously with lemon juice.
If you’re here to shop, you’re in luck: you’ll find everything from cinnamon to house-​made allspice blends. $ 2.50-$ 3.50 for huge amounts of cloves, shawarma mix, vanilla sugar, ras-​el-​hanout, cardamom…
Beyond the spice racks are 4 back-​to-​back rows of bulk items: dried legumes, grains, fruits, lentils, coffee, and sweets. Again all very reasonably priced ($ 1.99/kg for corn!)
The staff are super generous and friendly, as well. I’d gone in looking for some coffee cups, but could only find sets of 12. When I mentioned only needed 2, the staffer smiled and gave me two for $ 1. She then threw in my favorite ground coffee and a coconut candy free of charge, bless her.
A bit off the well-​worn Sydney road path, but a few extra stops on the #19 tram well spent.

I didn’t used to head this far up Sydney Road. As far as I was concerned, the world of Brunswick finished at Albion Street.
which in a sense I guess it did, further up Sydney Road heads in Coburg, which to some people’s ears is another world away.
But you can get here by tram. One tram heading straight out of the city could get you up to Coburg in under an hour, and in my later youth I took one such afternoon to do this. Not because I wanted to go, but simply because I had run out things to do.
The magic that I did find was tucked behind several shops in the Coburg shopping strip. Near the larger supermarkets stands a shop with signage aging away from it’s black painted backing. Beneath the letterforms sit people enjoying the sunshine of the late morning or early afternoon. Inside there is much bustling about. Much bustling about baked Mediterranean goods.
The winner here is the safe staple of the Spinach and Cheese Pie. They call it a pie, but really it’s a pastry using pizza dough. Magical melted cheese and hot spinach come from it as you bite in, many sitting down to enjoy the wonder of it all.
The place also serves as a shop, selling many staples for you to make your own Mediterranean magic at home. Their sweets and coffee selection is also not to be missed. Very affordable and very very wonderful.