It takes only 48 hours in New York before bad Australian habits surface. Two days in, you’ll find yourself in lamé hotpants borrowed from a West Village tragic shrieking ‘On A Night Like This’ at a pitch that rivals Kylie for crapness.

And you’ll also be tonguing for a Boag’s.

After lacklustre American brews and the threat of karaoke, it was gratifying to stumble across Eight Mile Creek in Soho’s Nolita district. Here, you can crack a Coopers and, importantly for my purposes, a Boag’s Premium. All without a trace of Kylie. The joint was kick-started by brothers Frank and Will Ford and their childhood friend Bill Mitchell. Apparently they’re from Whyalla, South Australia. No wonder they decided to bring their Australian lagers, wines and flavours to New York.

The restaurant and bar is one of a clutch in the immediate vicinity of Spring and Mulberry streets that locals now call ‘Little Australia’.

The Creek’s menu features ostensibly Australian items. But some of them would be unusual on a menu back home. Emu carpaccio and kangaroo skewers appeal to adventurous locals, while expats seeking a taste of home will find comfort in pan roasted Aussie lamb rack and the Sunday afternoon barbie replete with snags out in the courtyard. Onya, the chubby Blue Heeler, makes the rounds; his doleful eyes ensuring any scraps don’t go to waste.

The Australian wines are well chosen and actually relatively inexpensive, with a Stonier’s Pinot Noir 2005 and Mt Langi Ghiran Shiraz, Blue Label 2000 among some decent Victorian offerings.

Across the road at Ruby’s the coffee is as good as you’ll find in Melbourne – a rarity in the Big Apple. It’s served with the surly attitude one might expect from a Fitzroy café waitress-cum-actress with a hangover, but really, it just adds to the feeling of home.

If you’re staying in the area, they’ll even deliver their excellent sangers.

Around the corner is Public. This restaurant is high end Mod Oz. Chef Brad Farmerie is actually from Pittsburgh, but his culinary creative sense is undeniably Antipodean. Asian and Middle Eastern flavours are executed with the sort of Italian flair we take for granted in Melbourne. In New York, this sort of fusion is exceptional. And it’s a hit. The restaurant is hugely popular and continues to garner rave reviews. Again, the wine list has a heavy Australian bent. With a certain New York mien, the entrance is lined with post office boxes where members will find a cracker bottle of Australian or New Zealand wine selected by Farmerie along with tasting notes and menu suggestions to match.

Over in the West Village, newbie Kingswood is making a splash. It’s what we’d call a gastropub back home, and the locals are lapping it up. The owners also run the aforementioned Ruby’s. A few of the items, such as the Bronte Burger, feature on the menu in both places, but here diners enjoy it with excellent Australian wine choices instead of espresso served by wafer thin artistes.

For a quick bite, expats flock to Tuck Shop. This East village hole-in-the-wall is the place to come for meat pies and sausage rolls. They’re a little on the sweet side, which is perhaps a concession to the American market. The Vegemite toast and Grinders coffee are unadulterated, however, and enough to keep any niggling homesickness at bay. And Kylie off your iPod.

Rubys Café, 219 Mulberry St, New York, +1 (212) 925 5755

Public, 210 Elizabeth St, New York, +1 (212) 343 7011

Kingswood, 121 W 10th St, New York, +1 (212) 645 0044

Eight Mile Creek, 240 Mulberry Street, New York, +1 (212) 431 4635

Tuck Shop, 68 E 1st St, New York, +1 (212) 979 5200