Tucked away in a small corner of the Lower East Side is the Tuck Shop, which is a small bar that serves up an array of Australian meat pies. These little meat filled pastries are to the Aussies, what apple pie is to the Americans. This restaurant may be small, but it packs a lot of flavor!
As far as Americans know, the concept of Australian food goes as far as Vegemite sandwiches. Unfortunately, Americans have yet to accept this mysterious brown paste. But here is one place that blows that Australian stereotype right out of the billabong!
In Australia, meat pies are the definitive street food. Stroll the streets of Sydney or Melbourne, and you can chow down on some savory snacks! And now, you don’t have to go thousands of miles to the bush for these pies, when you go down to New York’s Lower East Side.
The pies are made similar to that of a chicken pot pie, only with ground hamburger. The meat is a balanced mix of sweet and savory. There is a hint of sauce that is somewhere between sloppy joe sauce and gravy. The crust is flaky, hot, and just a little buttery. The best way to enjoy one these treats is eating them one-handed, with a little squirt of ketchup on top of the pie, or as the Aussie call it, “sauce”.
For dessert, try a piece of lamington. This cake, which is also a staple of Australian cuisine, is a cube of sponge cake, covered in chocolate icing, then rolled in coconut, and filled with a squirt of jelly. Think of it as a cross between a chocolate cake, mounds bar, and a jelly donut. In other words, so good! I cannot find this dessert anywhere except inside this little restaurant. Remember to save room!
The restaurant, from the outside, looks like a small “hole-in-the-wall”. But, as always, looks can be deceiving. When you step inside, you are surrounded by an array of Australian kitsch on the walls and counters. Everything from maps of the land down under, to old beer cans, collector plates featuring Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, photos of koalas, road signs with kangaroo crossings, and black-and-white photos of little houses in the outback. All that’s missing is a movie poster of Crocodile Dundee and a eucalyptus tree! The one downside is that the interior is rather small; just enough room for about 12 to 16 customers.
As someone who once traveled through Australia and fell in love with the people, culture, and food, this restaurant evokes both feelings of nostalgia and sentimentality for me. Anyone who has ever wanted to travel through Australia, but can’t afford the expensive plane ticket, dining here may be the next best thing to being at a roadhouse in the outback.
Memories aside, this place is a must see because Australian cuisine is, in my opinion, so hard to come by in the states. I mean, one can find a Chinese restaurant, pizzeria, Taco Bell, and sushi bar on almost every corner. But an Australian pie restaurant is a fun and delicious experience; a simple comfort food staple that is long overdue in America. And what a way to introduce America to the edible treats that Australia is famous, and not Vegemite! And please don’t forget the lamington!
Tuck Shop
*68 E 1st St #1, New York, NY 10003. (212) 979-5200
115 Saint Marks Place, New York, NY 10009. (212) 777-2702
Nearest Subways:
2nd Av (F train)
1st Av (L train)
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oy, oy, oy!
Sounds great! Interested in your thoughts on Pie Face in Midtown, another Australian meat pie shop.
Comment asks your thoughts on midtown Pie Face..
I’ve been to Pie Face, not too long ago. It’s good, and they have an extensive menu. I should review that for another article…