Soyfoo Anh Long, Braybrook

Tau Foo Fah

Soyfoo Anh Long is a tofu shop on the vertiginous northern edge of Braybrook that drops into the Maribyrnong river valley, amongst the wrecking yards that advertise on hastily scrawled “Cash For Cars” signs stapled to a power pole. Their precast concrete panel factory was once neighboured by a business called “Hair Extension Online” who never seemed to be open to extend hair or have ever been in any way online.

This is the ne plus ultra of Melbourne Western suburbs food locations, if you ever want to weaponize a flawed sense of authenticity. Or you could just order it on doordash, like normal people. Treating anywhere like a “hidden treasure” ignores the economic reality of running a food business: cheap factory space will always be in the margins. You can find it by googling “soy near me”.

I ride my bike past it most days. It’s the end of the 20km loop that I ride than ends at the Lacy Street wall; a series of 11% gradient switchbacks that wind out of Cranwell Park. I try to climb it fast enough that I can’t talk afterwards. I roll past Soyfoo Anh Long in no state to eat tofu. I took today off.

They make: firm tofu (plain, fried in different convenient cuts, mushroom and vermicelli, lemongrass and chilli), soy milk and tau foo fah/đậu hũ đường, the refreshing silken tofu pudding dressed in a simple ginger syrup (above). The shop also fills its fridges with mock meats, has a selection of dry Vietnamese noodles and primarily vegetarian sauces.

Mushroom and Vermicelli tofu

The biggest payoff of getting to the factory in person is freshness. The fried mushroom and vermicelli tofu is warm from the fryer whenever you arrive, the strips of black wood ear fungus and noodle in it are the best textural counterpoint to the crispy exterior. You can just eat it straight or toss through sichuan pepper, salt and chili when you get home for more of a kick.

Soyfoo anh long, Braybrook

Location
Soyfoo Anh Long
24 Cranwell St
Braybrook VIC
Tofu is also stocked at many western suburbs grocers.

Footscray Market Opening Hours – Christmas 2015

I’ve now been blogging for 10 years. In that entire time the Footscray Market, one of Melbourne’s biggest wet markets, has never published their Christmas opening hours online. This post marks the 7th year of my Christmas vigil to celebrate it.

Here are the opening hours as published on a photocopy on the door:

DayHours
Tuesday, 22 December 20157:00AM-6:00PM
Wednesday, 23 December 20157:00AM-6:00PM
Thursday, 24 December 20157:00AM-6:00PM
Friday, 25 December 2015CLOSED
Saturday, 26 December 2015CLOSED
Sunday, 27 December 2015CLOSED
Monday, 28 December 2015CLOSED
Tuesday, 29 December 20157:00AM-4:00PM
Wednesday, 30 December 20157:00AM-4:00PM
Thursday, 31 December 20157:00AM-6:00PM
Friday, 1 January 2016CLOSED
Saturday, 2 January 20167:00AM-5:00PM

As for the regular Footscray Market trading hours, they are as follows:

Monday – Closed
Tuesday and Wednesday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Thursday – 7:00am-6:00pm
Friday – 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Sunday – Closed

Update

It’s a Christmas miracle. The hours are now published on their website. Herein ends my vigil, unless they forget to update them next year.

Footscray Market Opening Hours – Christmas 2014

Welcome to Year 6 of my Christmas vigil to commemorate Footscray Market’s complete inability to publish their Christmas/New Year’s opening hours online. Here are the opening hours, this year presented by the special request of Pat Nourse.

DayHours
Saturday, 20 December 20147:00AM-5:00PM
Sunday, 21 December 2014CLOSED
Monday, 22 December 2014CLOSED
Tuesday, 23 December 20147:00AM-5:00PM
Wednesday, 24 December 20147:00AM-5:00PM
Thursday, 25 December 2014CLOSED
Friday, 26 December 2014CLOSED
Saturday, 27 December 20147:00AM-5:00PM
Sunday, 28 December 2014CLOSED
Monday, 29 December 2014CLOSED
Tuesday, 30 December 20147:00AM-5:00PM
Wednesday, 31 December 20147:00AM-4:00PM
Thursday, 1 January 2015CLOSED
Friday, 2 January 20157:00AM-7:00PM
Saturday, 3 January 20157:00AM-5:00PM

As for the regular Footscray Market trading hours, they are as follows:

Monday – Closed
Tuesday and Wednesday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Thursday – 7:00am-6:00pm
Friday – 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Sunday – Closed

Footscray Market – Christmas Opening Hours 2013

Welcome to Year 5 of my Christmas vigil to commemorate ’s inability to publish their Christmas/New Year’s opening hours online. Consider my annual dose of community service done. Here are the trading hours:

Monday 23 December: 7:00am-4:00pm
Tuesday 24 December (Christmas eve): 7:00am-4:00pm
25-26 December: Closed
Friday 27 December: 7:00am – 7:00pm
Saturday 28 December: 7:00am – 5:00pm
29 – 30 December: Closed
Tuesday 31 December: 7:00am-4:00pm
Wednesday 1 January (New Year’s Day 2014): Closed

The regular opening hours for Footscray Market are:

Tuesday and Wednesday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Thursday – 7:00am-6:00pm
Friday – 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday – 7:00am-4:00pm

Footscray Market – Opening Hours, Christmas 2012

In what is fast becoming a tradition, my local market, , has failed to post opening hours anywhere online. Opening hours for the market over the Christmas/New Year’s period 2012 are:

Monday 24 December (Christmas Eve): 7:00am-4:00pm
25-26 December: Closed
Thursday 27 December: 7:00am – 6:00pm
Friday 28 December: 7:00am – 7:00pm
Saturday 29 December: 7:00am – 5:00pm
30 December – 1 January 2013: Closed
Wednesday 2 January: 7:00am – 4:00pm

The regular opening hours for Footscray Market continue to be:

Tuesday and Wednesday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Thursday – 7:00am-6:00pm
Friday – 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday – 7:00am-4:00pm

Christmas opening hours in 2013

#WEFO T-Shirt

A while back there was a discussion amongst West Footscray locals about the etymology of the suburb’s abbreviation “wefo”, a discussion started by its commodification by this $65 cushion from design gallery Post Industrial Design. I’d first seen the suburb referred to as WeFo in an email from November 2008 so the abbreviation’s history predates its growing popularity as a hashtag on Twitter and at a guess, probably started when people began to feel uncomfortable about gentrification and needed an ironic response.

And what’s more ironic and discomfiting than buying it, and wearing it on a tshirt.

Click through on the below images to buy in your choice of colour and style. Prices start at $17.

Footscray Market Opening Hours – Christmas 2011

Another year down, another year where my local market, , fails to build a website. Opening hours for the market over the Christmas/New Year’s period are:

Saturday 24 December (Christmas Eve): 7:00am-5:00pm
25-27 December: Closed
Wednesday 28 December: 7:00am – 4:00pm
Thursday 29 December: 7:00am – 6:00pm
Friday 30 December: 7:00am – 7:00pm
Saturday 31 December: 7:00am – 5:00pm
1-2 January 2012: Closed
Tuesday 3 January: 7:00am – 4:00pm

The regular opening hours for Footscray Market continue to be:

Tuesday and Wednesday – 7:00am-4:00pm
Thursday – 7:00am-6:00pm
Friday – 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday – 7:00am-4:00pm