Australia - Jumbucks

Restaurant: Jumbuck's

Location: 24 Shepherd's Bush Green, London, W12 8PH

Date of visit: 26 March 2011

Time of visit: 8.30pm

Steve and Elle ate: Boomer Works Meal with large Aussie Rules pie

When it comes to thinking of an Australian restaurant in London, it's difficult not to instantly think of the Walkabout chain. However, chain restaurants are something I want to try and avoid during this project, as I would imagine authenticity would suffer. However, other than Walkabout, it was surprisingly difficult to track down another restaurant in London that specialised in Australian fare. Even in West London.

In the end, we opted to travel across to Australia's home from home in London - Shepherd's Bush - and to the Jumbucks pie shop. Yes, it's a national brand. But it's not Walkabout.

Jumbucks are well known where they are well known, and not where they're not. That is to say the pies are popular, but they aren't particularly easy to find. The company actually focus on distruting their pies to the likes of bingo halls, pubs and student unions. However, they do have a cafe in their own name in Shepherd's Bush - I believe their only branch.

Jumbuck's specialise in Jaffle pies, which are cooked in specalist Jaffle irons, which is a thing of outback camping origins. Their menu is pretty much made up of individual pies or meal deals.

When we walked in, it was pretty clear that this cafe was a small affair. In fact, it appeared that the main function of the cafe was actually as a takeaway, rather than a dine-in experience. Nonetheless, three tables were available.

All the pies were in a display cabinet at the main counter, with their names. It reminded me a little of a school canteen. On and behind the counter was a large variety of Australian products - sweets, crisps, drinks and other miscellaneous items that would appeal to Australians in London. Prices for these items did seem quite high.

Back to the food, and we both opted for the same thing - the Boomer Works Meal. This consisted of a pie, mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy. We also opted for the same pie, which was the Aussie Rules pie - chunky steak, bacon and cheese.

On first impression when the food arrived was that the pie was indeed quite small (it was a bit difficult to gague when they were all sitting side by side in the display cabinet). That said, the pie was actually quite good. The gravy inside was nice and rich, with a good abundance of steak and cheese sauce. However, there wasn't much sign of the bacon, other than a slight hint in the taste.

The mushy peas were extremely mushy peas. Not something to complain about though. That's just the nature of mushy peas - they're mushy. Moving on, the mashed potato was definitely mashed potato. And it was ok. But I wasn't entirely convinced that it didn't come from a packet of Smash.

Overall though, the meal was very good value, at only £4.15 each. Drinks weren't included, and came in the form of cans or bottles. There was no alcohol on sale.

It's worth noting that the gravy that the meal was served with was suitable for vegetarians. There are two pie options for veggies too.

A couple of downstairs on the night were that the front door was left open during our visit, which left the cafe quite chilly. Many people were coming in an out, so closing it each time wouldn't really have been an option. Also, there was no toilet in the cafe. I didn't think that was permissible for a venue which offers dining facilities, but what do I know?

The restaurant is open late, 1am on Friday and Saturday nights.

It was hardly a la carte dining, but it was a good, hearty, enjoyable and cheap meal

Cost of meal: Under £10 for two, including two soft drinks