Delish @ Hamilton, Mount Waverley by Bureaucrat

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across a very well-stocked Continental delicatessen in the main Mt Waverley shopping area. There had always been a deli in that area but I had never paid much attention to it because it seemed rather ho hum and unmemorable.  I'm not sure how long Delish @ Hamilton has been around, but it is certainly a much smarter and gourmet deli when compared to what was previously there.

The first few times I went there I was mainly there to stock up and try some deli products.  They have quite a range of yummy gourmet things - you'd expect this sort of deli in more upmarket areas and less so in modest Mt Wav.  Clearly, times are changing and I'm liking this change.  They do have limited seating inside and outside for coffee, cakes and toasted sangers. But because Delish is quite popular among the locals we didn't get a chance to score a table until our third visit.

One of the big plusses about Delish is that they have Grandmother's ham.  Beaker's friend loves this stuff as it's apparently ham that's made the proper way - i.e., just pork and salt.  There's no nasty nitrates or water added to the ham.  I got some and olive loaf to take home for a quick lunch. It was simply delicious with a generous schmear of whole-egg mayo.  The olive loaf was also yum with extra virgin olive oil and sweet, unctuous balsamic that I had bought from there.

I loved the cute packaging for the Grandmother's ham.

On our second visit, we still didn't get a table so we got some cakes to takeaway.  The vanilla slice was gorgeously custardy and generous, and the pastry was crisp and flaky.

While the lemon meringue was impressive to behold and delightfully sour. However, the meringue was a tad too sweet for my liking.

Finally, on our third visit, we managed to get there early enough on the weekend to have breakfast there.  A cheese and ham toastie that was simple and good.

And some tea and coffee to go with it, along with the morning paper.  The English breakfast tea was fine (sadly, they only offer powdered/syrup chai tea) while the coffee was lacking some real oomph.

Verdict: we liked it alot

Overall

A great deli to stock up on a range of delicious things.  Delish has a real nice community vibe to the place.  Service is friendly and warm. Seating is limited so you'll have to either get there early for a table or be opportunistic.  Prices for the dine-in food and the deli products are very well priced.  For me, I'm definitely a fan of their deli and bakery stuff; it's so convenient now to nip down there to grab some delectable cakes and proper bread. I would love the place more if they had proper chai tea and stronger coffee on offer.