Caputo's Deli has been the same, in the same place since I moved to Australia in 1997. Furthermore,…read moreit smells the same. You know those smells that just remind you of your childhood? Going into Caputo's does exactly that. I instantly start to remember the little packets of Moam lollies (chewy candy in a variety of flavours) that my Mum would let me buy with my pocket money if I'd been good. They stock predominantly Italian imports in their tinned and dry food range, with a small but interesting range of gluten-free items. The cold meats and cheeses are what you'd expect for a suburban deli, but then nowadays I only really go for the Moam. Yes, they still stock them.

They have a great selection of tinned goods, breads, other baked goods. The deli section is very…read morecheese heavy, some meats and sausages. Also beans and pulses. A great little continental deli that has a coffee machine and does catering platters. The liver wurst I bought didn't knock my socks off but the pastrami made me swoon. As did the semi sundried tomatoes. Wow ! I'll be back for them. Plus I saw a barilla pasta shape I haven't seen before so I'll be back for pasta too. All up a good location nxt to the organic veg shop, two fresh bread shops and a supermarket.

When Bambra Deli closed for renovations some time back, residents in this part of Caulfield South…read morewere left feeling lost and vulnerable. Okay, maybe that's stretching the truth a little... but my sister who has lived here for years recollects what an inconvenience it was not having this precious little deli down the road. And when Bambra Deli finally reopened, loyal customers swamped the place like bees to honey. I recall my own excitement as I passed by and saw the lights on inside. Instinctively, I parked the car and headed in to grab some fresh bread, homemade tuna salad spread, egg salad spread and a jar of pickled purple cabbage. The great thing about this little gem of a find, is even though it stocks all the regular essentials like bread, milk and juice, it also carries a fine selection of gourmet style produce. Perfect for those who love the (small) finer things in life.

When I'm making something special, this is one of the places where I like to browse and get some…read moreinspiration. It's a good sized kiosk, and there's produce all around it, so I'll normally walk a few laps and think about what I'm making. My latest experience was when I'd decided that I wanted to make a pizza. I'd just bought a pizza stone, so I wanted to try it out. I got myself a really nice mozzarella and some bocconcini to start my little experiment, and I must say that these cheeses were absolutely excellent. The service is friendly and pretty quick. I'm really quite happy to keep on going back.

As far as delis go this one is ok. It was better when it was in the location of this photo,…read morehowever it has now moved next to brown gauge dry cleaners where the old mobile shop was there on the corner, so it's about 1/3 of the size that it was. There are crammed in racks of food items which makes it hard to see what's there and the display window is now 1/4 of what it used to be, so much less is on offer. But it's still a better choice than the other, larger deli which recently changed hands. I won't shop at tat other one now. It's sad they moved but I can understand the rent is probably a killer in the other location. Still happy with the quality of the food there.