First look: Ainslie’s new takeaway (which is a total Ainslie vibe)

Posted on 24 March, 2023

You don’t often associate health practitioners with the local takeaway.

But when remedial massage therapist Paul Dillon and partner and yoga instructor Maria Gabriela heard that Ainslie’s popular takeaway was potentially available for sale, they leapt at the chance to make it, well, a little more healthy.

A takeaway with Campos coffee and fresh gelati. Isn’t that how it should be? 

With their health therapy studio located upstairs at the suburban shopping strip, the move downstairs to slinging hamburgers wasn’t a big one geographically.

And the couple both met while they were working busy hospitality jobs in Sydney, so the thought of going back to running an eatery appealed to them.

The Ainslie locals decided to refresh and rebrand the old fish and chip joint, naming it Mt Ainslie Canteen and bringing a fresh-food approach to takeaway.

 

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Opening onto the busy strip beside the iconic Ainslie IGA, Canteen has coffee bar window serving Campos Coffee and a gelati bar serving a range of icecreams and sorbets (hello blood orange…).

Inside there is an array of fresh cut fruit and veggies ready for the juicer, while a display of salads is nestled next to the fried food section.

Of course, their stock in trade continues to be hamburgers and chips, but residents have happily embraced options like Bircher Mueslie alongside their egg and bacon rolls in the morning. And the burger menu is a little more gourmet, including a Southern Fried Chicken, Dirty Bird, Grilled Chicken Sandwich and Steak Sandwich—all of which are enticing new customers. 

 

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According to Paul “Ainslie is an active community and we wanted to bring some healthier options for people out walking and riding. We felt there were some things missing at the shops so we’ve tried to plug some of those holes and we’ve tried to deliver a more balanced offering.”

You can still find your classics but you can also get a fresh juice or smoothie and some healthier sandwich options.

“We’ve got people coming in and mixing things up, having a juice and a burger or ice-cream and a coffee which is really pleasing. We’ve also got a lot more people sitting down inside and out.”

 

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The couple has taken the hard decision to discontinue some of the takeaway’s more unhealthy options (they describe as “once a year food at the Canberra show sort of stuff”).

“If we couldn’t tell you what was in it, we stopped serving it. Unfortunately some of those things were quite tasty, so there were some long faces, but they’re coming back for the classics and even trying the new.”

This could be washed down with a peanut butter and turmeric smoothie or a carrot and watermelon juice, perhaps.

The new business is so demanding the couple have wound up their health therapy work to concentrate full time on Canteen. They say 90 per cent of people are positive about the changes they’ve made.

“There was a huge demographic who had never set foot in the shop until now. We wanted to reach those people whilst retaining existing customers, and the 10 per cent are starting to come give us a chance. We’ve got 20-year plus customers saying they’ve never seen the burgers so good.“

Next up, the couple plan to get their pizza oven cranking.