Mondo Markets, Inglewood
The Mondo Markets are on every Saturday in spring, from 8am to 12.30pm on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Beaufort Street in Inglewood, next to Mondo Butcher.
Mondo Markets entrance
It’s a small undercover market with an intimate, friendly feel. It’s a simple but effective setup – a shaded courtyard with just enough sunshine peeking in, with stalls around the perimeter and tables and chairs in the centre where market-goers can sit and relax, eat and drink. The man behind this community market, local celebrity butcher and Mr Mondo himself Vince Garreffa makes a brief appearance, warmly welcomed by stallholders and punters alike before he returns to his busy shop next door. As I understand, the space, electricity and use of Vince’s cool room are all provided free to the stallholders. Friends meet, greet and embrace each other, and sit and enjoy coffee and breakfast together. We’d all love a weekend market like this in our neighbourhoods.
Crowds at Mondo Market
If you need that morning caffeine fix, there is fresh Essenza coffee brewing and hot milk frothing at the market’s entrance.
Coffee people at Mondo Markets
We’re big fans of Marcelita’s Colombian empanadas, having tasted these little beauties at the Perth Twilight Hawker Market in March. As soon as we arrive at Mondo Market my brain goes into an empanada desire frenzy and I steer Jac towards Marcelita’s stall, where we have a chat and place our order with Matt, Perth’s empanada evangelist and proud hubby of chief empanadista Marcela.
Matt the empanada evangelist
The empanadas are made with masa, or maize flour, which is gluten-free. You have a choice of three fillings: pulled pork with lime and coriander, potato with paprika and spring onion, or smoked beef brisket with potato and capsicum. They are AU$3 each or $10 for three plus a sauce.
It’s too hard to choose, so we simply order one of each plus one of the day’s special: an oyster empanada for Jac.
Because maize flour does not contain gluten, it is more delicate and less elastic compared to other flours, which is why the empanadas are made to order, ensuring the dough does not dry out and the delicious corn pastry puffs are always at their best. I watch delightedly as Marcela deftly makes Jac’s oyster empanada, placing a plump raw oyster in the centre of potato filling in freshly rolled masa pastry. The oyster cooks to a perfect medium rare inside the pastry when it’s deep-fried.
Making Jac’s oyster empanada
While the empanadistas roll the masa dough, Matt tends to a pot of arroz con leche, traditional Colombian rice pudding. We can’t resist ordering a cup of arroz con leche with arequipe (AU$4), rice pudding topped with gooey slow-cooked caramel. It’s what you want rice pudding to be – hot and comforting.
Arroz con leche (rice pudding with caramel)
When Matt presents us with our order we are touched and chuffed to find that he’s cooked us an extra empanada. He knows me pretty well – it’s my favourite, pork and lime. Jac’s oyster empanada is distinguished by a 3D “O” for oyster. We grab a free table to eat our breakfast, joined by food blogger Apex, who’s also enjoying empanadas and will be doing her fruit and veg shopping right here at the markets after breaky.
Empanadas and Arroz con leche
I don’t hesitate to choose guacamole to go with our empanadas. I love Marcelita’s guacamole. It’s smooth, creamy and full of fresh tangy lime.
Empanadas with guacamole
Follow Marcelita’s empanadas on Twitter @marcelitas_ and on Facebook
As we eat our empanadas, a bloke at the table next to ours leans over and suggests that we try the spanakopita at The Greek Corner – “It’s sooo buttery,” he says with feeling. We don’t need much more convincing. When the empanadas are all gone, we make our way to The Greek Corner and get a slice of spanakopita to share. It was lucky we got the recommendation as there are so many goodies on offer at The Greek Corner, I would’ve been bamboozled by indecision.
Papa standing off to the side grins at us and says: “Get these girls a big piece!” and we all laugh.
Getting us a slice of spanakopita at The Greek Corner
The spanakopita is delicious, a crispy buttery pastry sandwich filled with lusciously creamy spinach and feta. Thank you to our mystery food advisor!
Spanakopita, The Greek Corner
The New Norcia Bakery stall is loaded with crusty fresh loaves of different shapes and sizes, including multigrain and sourdough fruit bread, spelt sourdough, gluten-free sourdough, raisin and walnut sourdough, fig and fennel sourdough and ciabatta. We buy a crusty round sourdough loaf and as I walk around the market taking photographs I’m secretly planning and can’t wait to get home and eat a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich on thick buttered slices of that sourdough bread.
New Norcia Bakery stall
New Norcia breads
Also for sale, beautiful plain, almond and hazelnut croissants, and pain au chocolat. Perfect companions for coffee!
New Norcia croissants
Next, I’m keen to try Adele’s meat curry puffs (two for AU$5). She has vegetable samosas and various spicy relishes and chutneys for sale too. The curry puffs look like sausage rolls and smell very good.
Adele’s meat curry puffs and vegetable samosas
Adele is very sweet and smiley and calls us both “darling”! She encourages us to try some relish or chutney with our curry puffs – there’s eggplant relish, lemon relish and chutney. I’m quite content to eat my meat curry puff without a sauce, but Jac, a great lover of sauces, tries them all! They are all tasty and the eggplant relish has a surprising kick.
Getting us a couple of meat curry puffs (2 for $5)
The Old Lira stall has fresh handmade pizza bases for sale, made with no preservatives or additives. We watch with interest as pizza bases are chopped into pieces with a cleaver.
Chopping up the pizza
They whip up a tray of pizza squares topped with cheese, olives, fresh rocket and black pepper. These free samples disappear fast!
Old Lira pizza sample
Old Lira pizza bases
There are homemade pasta meals and Italian sweets for sale at Bella’s Homemade Pasta.
Bella’s homemade pasta
At Mondo Markets, you can buy locally grown fruit and vegetables.
Vegetables
Wall of vegetables
Vegetables
Every week, there is live music at the markets. It gives them a great atmosphere and it’s hard not to smile and bop along.
Listen to Mace Francis and The Hounds, recorded at Mondo Markets (mp3, 52 seconds)
Live music by The Hounds at Mondo Markets
The Hounds look very focused as they concentrate…
Strings
Horns
As well as playing, there’s lots of laughing!
The boys have a good laugh
The man with the clarinet is professional muso, Mondo Market regular and music organiser Alex Millier. Follow him on Twitter @alexmillier and check his blog Millier’s Musings for Mondo Market info.
There are fresh flowers, greeting cards, essential oils, stockings and more…
Flowers, greeting cards and more
Outside, fresh herbs.
Herbs ‘R’ Us
If the food at the Mondo Markets isn’t enough for you, just around the corner, at the front of Mondo Butcher on Beaufort Street, you can get one of their famous hot roast meat sandwiches, available on Saturday mornings all year round. It’s a must-visit destination for carnivores.
Roast meats at the Mondo roast meat sandwich stand
The meat is carved to order and your sandwich made right in front of you. The slabs of freshly carved roast meat are placed on the bread, a sprinkling of seasoning is added and for the final touch, a good squirt of roast juices. There are cold drinks for sale at the roast meat stall too.
Mondo’s roast meat sandwich assembly
Mondo’s hot roast meat sandwiches were among my top 5 eats for 2010. Below is my video from last year of a Mondo roast pork sandwich made in 33 seconds.
There’s more to discover when you check out Mondo Markets for yourselves! ;)
Crowds at Mondo Market
Mondo Mini Markets
On every Saturday in spring
Free entry
8am to 12.30pm
Corner of Sixth Avenue and Beaufort Street
Get a hot roast meat sandwich at Mondo Butcher, 824 Beaufort Street
Mondo Butcher is open on Saturdays 7am to 2pm
More on Mondo Markets
- Like Mondo Markets on Facebook for latest updates.
- Look out for the #mondomarkets hashtag on Twitter.
- A lovely article on Vince Garreffa, the man behind Mondo, by Kell Rowe.