A Taste of Australia: Kanga

Not too long before the world cup a friend of mine told me about an Australian meat pie place downtown call Kanga so naturally I had to add it to my list of places to visit during the World Cup.  I went over early today before lunch was even a thought for most people.  One woman was working (which may have been one of the owners) and was preparing a coffee of some sort for another customer.  There was a display case of the fresh meat pies and rolls to choose from.  On the counter were a number of tasty looking baked goods. 

I ordered a “Traditional Aussie”.  According to the small menu I grabbed this was “minced beef in a rich beef, tomato and vegemite gravy”.  I considered also ordering the Kiwi Classic (Kiwi as in New Zealand, not the fruit) but restrained myself.  I’ve been eating too much already this month and decided not to overdo it. It would be nice if my clothes still fit me at the end of the month!  They also had a baked treat called the billionaire shortbread that looked good but I had to restrain myself from ordering that too.

The meat pies are hand pies hence they are supposed to be eaten with your hands and are served in a paper bag.  I preferred to eat it with a fork and knife so grabbed some cutlery along with a packet of ketchup as suggested by the woman.  A friend had warned me of his experience with vegemite so I assumed the ketchup was to counter the taste of the vegemite.  The first few bites I took were without ketchup and I really liked it without it.  I then tried it with some ketchup but I personally found that it hid the yummy goodness of this meat pie.  The woman behind the counter asked me how the meat pie was and I commented on the vegemite to which she said theirs was mild.  So I still don’t quite know what vegemite tastes like but thanks to this hand pie I’m ready to try anything with vegemite in it.

If you like these hand pies, they have entire boxes of them available in the refrigerator or check out their website to see other stores that sell them.  Most of my Toronto friends reading this are probably within walking distance from work to this place on Duncan at Queen.  You might as well take a walk over for lunch sometime! :)