Vola Foods

May 13, 2023

   

Vola Foods is not the most eye-catching business on Ovens St. Queues for the Ovens Street Bakery stretch along the footpath any time they're open, and ONA Coffee's split-level seating puts all their customers on display. But Michael was observant enough on one of his bakery runs to notice signs saying Vola Foods and A Taste of Africa on what looked like a parking lot. 

The Vola Foods team have been gradually building up a cheery, welcoming outdoor set-up: starting with a shipping-container kitchen and outdoor barbecue, extending to picnic tables, which now have a roof over them and gas heaters on standby, and evidence of future plans for a bar. The menu is Cameroonian, with vegan options clearly marked. We halved two plates for lunch, aiming to try as many dishes as we could.

I started on the beans with puff puff ($15.50, pictured left) and was so enamoured that I asked myself if I even wanted to share. The beans were flavoured with warm and complex spices, while the puff puff were slightly sweet and fried like doughnuts. It's an excellent, contained meal for one and an instant comfort food.

Lots of other great dishes awaited me in my share of the Vegan Box ($23.50). Generous portions of coconut rice with beans and jollof rice were covered with a thick and tangy tomato stew, and surrounded by more fried starches: cassava, akra and plantain. Michael warned me off the chilli sauce, and bought a jar of it to take home for himself.

Vola Foods is distinct from anything else we've eaten before, much less anything we've eaten in Brunswick. We're excited that it's close to home and we'll have many more chances to familiarise ourselves with its flavours.

   

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Vola Foods

30 Ovens St, Brunswick

0478 697 257

menu

https://www.volafoods.com.au/

Accessibility: The premises is based on gravel so while generally flat is a bit uneven. Furniture is densely packed regular height picnic tables and backless benches (see photo above). We ordered and paid at a waist-height counter and received food to our table. We didn't visit the toilets.