Jellybread- West Footscray

Jellybread is a small kid friendly cafe filled with retro laminate mix-matched tables and chairs. They have a small menu mostly consisting of breaky options or sandwiches but they are quite vegan friendly, offering soy milkshakes, nuttelex and clearly marked vegan options. 

Excuse these photos!


Kids have their own indoor play area

I opted for a strawberry milkshake and when I enquired about whether their soymilk was gf she agreed to make it with gf soymilk since the regular one was not gf. I love that attention to detail and customer service.



I got some gf toast with baked beans and a side of avocado. I also asked for nuttelex, I think its the only cafe I've seen it listed as an alternative option. With an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper, this was a great breakfast. The baked beans were not spicy as advertised but contained veggies and red kidney beans and were tasty enough. The other vegan option I could see was avocado, tomatoes and rocket on toast.



They also had a vegan cake option and separate gluten free brownies.

I have read that they have a nice outside area where kids can be found playing on warm days, this is the place to go if you have kids and I look forward to returning once bub comes along. I'm always looking for more breaky options in the inner west, let me know if you have other suggestions.

Jellybread has been blogged about by little eats, hey bambini, and fill up on bread.

Jellybread
561 Barkly Street
West Footscray
Monday- Sunday 9am-4pm

Jellybread is a small kid friendly cafe filled with retro laminate mix-matched tables and chairs. They have a small menu mostly consisting of breaky options or sandwiches but they are quite vegan friendly, offering soy milkshakes, nuttelex and clearly marked vegan options. 

Excuse these photos!


Kids have their own indoor play area

I opted for a strawberry milkshake and when I enquired about whether their soymilk was gf she agreed to make it with gf soymilk since the regular one was not gf. I love that attention to detail and customer service.



I got some gf toast with baked beans and a side of avocado. I also asked for nuttelex, I think its the only cafe I've seen it listed as an alternative option. With an extra sprinkle of salt and pepper, this was a great breakfast. The baked beans were not spicy as advertised but contained veggies and red kidney beans and were tasty enough. The other vegan option I could see was avocado, tomatoes and rocket on toast.



They also had a vegan cake option and separate gluten free brownies.

I have read that they have a nice outside area where kids can be found playing on warm days, this is the place to go if you have kids and I look forward to returning once bub comes along. I'm always looking for more breaky options in the inner west, let me know if you have other suggestions.

Jellybread has been blogged about by little eats, hey bambini, and fill up on bread.

Jellybread
561 Barkly Street
West Footscray
Monday- Sunday 9am-4pm

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Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut- West Footscray- 2

Unfortunately staff have since confirmed that they use ghee so that their dosas are not in fact vegan!!!!!

I'm pleased to announce that I'm feeling a lot better, no puking for 10 days now. Still experiencing nausea and dependent on meds but they seem to be working the closer I get to 20 weeks. I've started eating out again and just enjoying life and had to blog about my latest obsession.

About my third meal out after a long hiatus I suggested dosa hut to my mother. My mother has been a saint spending most saturdays with me to keep me company and taking me on little outings when I started to be well enough. I was scared about how curry may make me feel sick but that's what I felt like eating and foods with strong flavour are preferable to all the bland ones that I ate whilst I was sick which I still can not eat. Still I was nervous.

Dosa Hut is a small cafe and its not the fanciest place but it does serve what I believe to be authentic food. My mother and I were the only non Indian people when we went at lunch time. The main street of West Footscray seems to be filled with Indian restaurants but Dosa Hut always seems busy.

I ordered a vata, a spiced lentil  flour patty which was tasty and quite hard and I was a little disappointed that they serve them cold, but at $2.50 can not really complain.



I also ordered a masala dosa. Now this really is the best thing I have tasted in a long time. I'm since been obsessed despite eating a wide range of foods since but this really is perfection. Nice crepe type crunchy consistency, most addictive potato curry inside and served with two curries, the one on the far right is a tiny bit spicy but not too bad for me and I can only handle mild range of chilli and also served with coconut cooling sauce.  My mother loved her chili and cheese dosa.  At $8.95 the masala dosa is such an affordable meal. A can of sprite washes it all down wonderfully.



Here's an inside shot:



My stomach has shrunk a little so I couldn't finish it. Next time I'll just order just a dosa but I remember last time I wanted two.  I'm pleased to report they didn't make me sick and I've been dreaming about going back since, trying to convince Toby to go tonight.

See my previous review here. I couldn't see any new reviews since last time we went.

Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut
604 Barkly street
West Footscray
9687 0171



Edited to add: I have heard reports of one person being advised that they use ghee despite them denying it when I asked. I'm really hoping this isn't true but hoping that someone from South India can confirm.

Unfortunately staff have since confirmed that they use ghee so that their dosas are not in fact vegan!!!!!

I'm pleased to announce that I'm feeling a lot better, no puking for 10 days now. Still experiencing nausea and dependent on meds but they seem to be working the closer I get to 20 weeks. I've started eating out again and just enjoying life and had to blog about my latest obsession.

About my third meal out after a long hiatus I suggested dosa hut to my mother. My mother has been a saint spending most saturdays with me to keep me company and taking me on little outings when I started to be well enough. I was scared about how curry may make me feel sick but that's what I felt like eating and foods with strong flavour are preferable to all the bland ones that I ate whilst I was sick which I still can not eat. Still I was nervous.

Dosa Hut is a small cafe and its not the fanciest place but it does serve what I believe to be authentic food. My mother and I were the only non Indian people when we went at lunch time. The main street of West Footscray seems to be filled with Indian restaurants but Dosa Hut always seems busy.

I ordered a vata, a spiced lentil  flour patty which was tasty and quite hard and I was a little disappointed that they serve them cold, but at $2.50 can not really complain.



I also ordered a masala dosa. Now this really is the best thing I have tasted in a long time. I'm since been obsessed despite eating a wide range of foods since but this really is perfection. Nice crepe type crunchy consistency, most addictive potato curry inside and served with two curries, the one on the far right is a tiny bit spicy but not too bad for me and I can only handle mild range of chilli and also served with coconut cooling sauce.  My mother loved her chili and cheese dosa.  At $8.95 the masala dosa is such an affordable meal. A can of sprite washes it all down wonderfully.



Here's an inside shot:



My stomach has shrunk a little so I couldn't finish it. Next time I'll just order just a dosa but I remember last time I wanted two.  I'm pleased to report they didn't make me sick and I've been dreaming about going back since, trying to convince Toby to go tonight.

See my previous review here. I couldn't see any new reviews since last time we went.

Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut
604 Barkly street
West Footscray
9687 0171



Edited to add: I have heard reports of one person being advised that they use ghee despite them denying it when I asked. I'm really hoping this isn't true but hoping that someone from South India can confirm.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Berrissimo Frozen Yoghurt

My colleague Steph told me about this magical Frozen Yoghurt place Berrissimo on Brunswick St that do vegan options.

They have two vegan flavours (and yes, they are gluten-free!) each week.  This week's flavours are watermelon and yellow peach.  I was going for the small yellow peach with no topping ($4) but K said the whole point of having fro-yo is the fun of adding toppings.

So, I decided to go hard and picked yellow peach pieces and two types of buba ($5.5 with three toppings).
It is even better than the  TCBY fro-yo I had back home in my pre-vegan days.  And yep, picking toppings for your fro-yo is fun! :-) K loved it too, she said it had a great sweet-sour flavour.

Berrissimo
Address: Shop 2, 360 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
Ph: 03 9041 2177
Hours: Sunday - Thursday 12pm to 9:30pm, Friday – Saturday 12pm to 10:30pm

My colleague Steph told me about this magical Frozen Yoghurt place Berrissimo on Brunswick St that do vegan options.

They have two vegan flavours (and yes, they are gluten-free!) each week.  This week's flavours are watermelon and yellow peach.  I was going for the small yellow peach with no topping ($4) but K said the whole point of having fro-yo is the fun of adding toppings.

So, I decided to go hard and picked yellow peach pieces and two types of buba ($5.5 with three toppings).
It is even better than the  TCBY fro-yo I had back home in my pre-vegan days.  And yep, picking toppings for your fro-yo is fun! :-) K loved it too, she said it had a great sweet-sour flavour.

Berrissimo
Address: Shop 2, 360 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
Ph: 03 9041 2177
Hours: Sunday - Thursday 12pm to 9:30pm, Friday – Saturday 12pm to 10:30pm

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Mr Nice Guy BakeShop- Ascot Vale

At the end of a busy day!

I've been to Mr Nice Guy's in ascot vale several times, in fact at one stage it was almost a weekly thing but never got around til blogging it til now. It's an all vegan bakery with tons of gluten free options. Their gf options seem to grow each week, I swear. I have tried and loved their gf raspberry bread, gf cupcakes, banoffee pie,  raw chocolate cupcakes, pumpkin choc chip donut and so much more. It's a smallish cafe with limited bench seating options.

Heres some recent pics:



Pecan pie. It was my first time trying pecan pie and it was super rice, I probably should have eaten half of it in one setting but it was too good. The gf base was quite good too, not too hard or cardboardy with mild flavour.



Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. Since when do I resist pb chocolate combination? I had to go past on a weeknight determined to ensure I didn't miss it.The cheesecake itself was great with slightly salted peanut butter but I wasn't a huge fan of the brownie base. I prefer their traditional cheesecake bases, either the baked cheesecake or the berry ones.

I'm yet to try their savoury jalapeno cornbread muffins but will be in again soon.


Their customer service is awesome too, when I got the pecan pie, they didn't have any plastic forks and I explained that I wanted to go eat it in the car as a friend who was meeting me had a sleeping baby and they loaned me a regular fork.

Mr Nice Guy BakeShop
151 Union Road
Ascot Vale
Open:
Tue- Sat 8am- 6pm
Sun: 9am- 4pm.
Follow them on facebook for awesome pictures and updates to their menu which is constantly changing.

Mr Nice Guy Bakeshop has also been blogged about by wheres the beef, veganopolous (multiple times), new international students, live blissful, consider the source, appetite affliction and Melbourne with Rocket.

At the end of a busy day!

I've been to Mr Nice Guy's in ascot vale several times, in fact at one stage it was almost a weekly thing but never got around til blogging it til now. It's an all vegan bakery with tons of gluten free options. Their gf options seem to grow each week, I swear. I have tried and loved their gf raspberry bread, gf cupcakes, banoffee pie,  raw chocolate cupcakes, pumpkin choc chip donut and so much more. It's a smallish cafe with limited bench seating options.

Heres some recent pics:



Pecan pie. It was my first time trying pecan pie and it was super rice, I probably should have eaten half of it in one setting but it was too good. The gf base was quite good too, not too hard or cardboardy with mild flavour.



Peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. Since when do I resist pb chocolate combination? I had to go past on a weeknight determined to ensure I didn't miss it.The cheesecake itself was great with slightly salted peanut butter but I wasn't a huge fan of the brownie base. I prefer their traditional cheesecake bases, either the baked cheesecake or the berry ones.

I'm yet to try their savoury jalapeno cornbread muffins but will be in again soon.


Their customer service is awesome too, when I got the pecan pie, they didn't have any plastic forks and I explained that I wanted to go eat it in the car as a friend who was meeting me had a sleeping baby and they loaned me a regular fork.

Mr Nice Guy BakeShop
151 Union Road
Ascot Vale
Open:
Tue- Sat 8am- 6pm
Sun: 9am- 4pm.
Follow them on facebook for awesome pictures and updates to their menu which is constantly changing.

Mr Nice Guy Bakeshop has also been blogged about by wheres the beef, veganopolous (multiple times), new international students, live blissful, consider the source, appetite affliction and Melbourne with Rocket.

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Dos Diablos Mobile Cantina

Dos Diablos is another food truck that travels to the north and western suburbs. It seems to be often at the yarraville gardens. I went last weekend and discovered their 100% gluten free sign. Yay for gf options, they have three taco options. There is quite a gap in the window compared to other food trucks so you feel like you need to yell your order or stand on toes to pay and collect food.



I got a small serving of  the papas fritas or seasoned fries. They were thinly cut, lightly spiced with smoked paprika and contained a slight chilli flavour in the sauce. They were perfect, next time I will get the bigger size though!


I also got their bean taco which is vegan without making any adjustments. It is filled with black beans, mushrooms with corn salsa and salsa verde on a soft corn tortilla. These were good but not amazing. I wanted more salsa and verde and no mushrooms. At $6 a taco, I think next time will need to order at least two with fries.


Dos Diablos Mobile Cantina
mobile food truck
check out their facebook or twitter page to see where they are

Dos Diablos has also been blogged about by Consider the source. I'm sure others have blogged about the dos diablos but when I search, it only comes up with the American food truck. Please let me know if you have blogged about it and I'll add your post.

Dos Diablos is another food truck that travels to the north and western suburbs. It seems to be often at the yarraville gardens. I went last weekend and discovered their 100% gluten free sign. Yay for gf options, they have three taco options. There is quite a gap in the window compared to other food trucks so you feel like you need to yell your order or stand on toes to pay and collect food.



I got a small serving of  the papas fritas or seasoned fries. They were thinly cut, lightly spiced with smoked paprika and contained a slight chilli flavour in the sauce. They were perfect, next time I will get the bigger size though!


I also got their bean taco which is vegan without making any adjustments. It is filled with black beans, mushrooms with corn salsa and salsa verde on a soft corn tortilla. These were good but not amazing. I wanted more salsa and verde and no mushrooms. At $6 a taco, I think next time will need to order at least two with fries.


Dos Diablos Mobile Cantina
mobile food truck
check out their facebook or twitter page to see where they are

Dos Diablos has also been blogged about by Consider the source. I'm sure others have blogged about the dos diablos but when I search, it only comes up with the American food truck. Please let me know if you have blogged about it and I'll add your post.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Shark's Tail Fish and Chippery, Sunshine West

I used to love potato cakes, even slightly dodgy ones from food courts that had been sitting there for hours. This love may have started in my first part time job as a teenager in a fish and chip shop. When I first was diagnosed coeliac I started craving them even more. I did indulge once when a friend made some gf ones for a potluck but aside from that have kept craving them. Unfortunately we don't deep fry at home so that wasn't an option. Thankfully there is a fish and chip shop which makes gluten free potato cakes and they use vegetable oil and a seperate fryer for gf items.  They have been offering gluten free options for about 4 years.,

I went today and got two gluten free potato cakes. The batter was super crunchy and oh so perfect. I doubt anyone would ever guess they were gluten free. I also got some minimal chips which was a generous serve and had the perfect ratio of crunchy and soft chips. I had two colleagues help me finish the chips who gave them a thumbs up.

Everything with an asterisk can be made gluten free, plus lots of fish of course. I will be trying their onion rings and pineapple or banana fritters in the near future. I'm thinking a quick visit her before or after the beach on hot summer days.



They are located close to a ring road exit but doubt they are close to public transport.

Shark's Tail Fish & Chippery
shop 1/136 the avenue
West Sunshine
Open 7 days
9360 5522

For more possible gf options at fish and chip shops check out Gluten Schmooten's list.

I used to love potato cakes, even slightly dodgy ones from food courts that had been sitting there for hours. This love may have started in my first part time job as a teenager in a fish and chip shop. When I first was diagnosed coeliac I started craving them even more. I did indulge once when a friend made some gf ones for a potluck but aside from that have kept craving them. Unfortunately we don't deep fry at home so that wasn't an option. Thankfully there is a fish and chip shop which makes gluten free potato cakes and they use vegetable oil and a seperate fryer for gf items.  They have been offering gluten free options for about 4 years.,

I went today and got two gluten free potato cakes. The batter was super crunchy and oh so perfect. I doubt anyone would ever guess they were gluten free. I also got some minimal chips which was a generous serve and had the perfect ratio of crunchy and soft chips. I had two colleagues help me finish the chips who gave them a thumbs up.

Everything with an asterisk can be made gluten free, plus lots of fish of course. I will be trying their onion rings and pineapple or banana fritters in the near future. I'm thinking a quick visit her before or after the beach on hot summer days.



They are located close to a ring road exit but doubt they are close to public transport.

Shark's Tail Fish & Chippery
shop 1/136 the avenue
West Sunshine
Open 7 days
9360 5522

For more possible gf options at fish and chip shops check out Gluten Schmooten's list.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Reverence Hotel - Footscray

Toby and I finally started to explore the bike paths in the west, we road to the docklands and back, it was quite quick with hardly any traffic lights to stop at. Afterwards we rode to reverence hotel which is right next to the bike path. Reverence is an omni pub with vegan options, it is owned by the ex arthouse owners. Every tuesday night they have trivia, $3 tacos and $3 tecate's (mexican beer), but this week they had it today-boxing day.  Tuesday never seems to work time wise but a public holiday was perfect timing. We went along with Cindy and Michael, see their blog in a few days for better pics!

There was a mixture of hipsters and some older locals but unfortunately there was no inside tables left so we sat outside in the beer garden. Looks like they take bookings since a few tables were reserved. I notice they also had pizzas on their regular menu with vegan and gf options from Thursday-Sunday.

There was 4 taco options (all gf), two meat options and two vegan options: beans and tofu. Toby ordered one of each for me and him:



The tofu was my favourite and reminded me of our tofu tacos, it was crumbled and flavoured with smoked paprika and other spices. It was served with a creamy mayo type sauce with home made salsa and lime on the side. Two wasn't enough for either of us, toby needed four to get full, and I needed 3 in total. I was pretty pleased with my $9 dinner, I really had low expectations but they were both great. The bean taco was tobys favourite, it has mushrooms and avocado and corn in it. Toby was pleased with cheap but good beer. We will be back to try the pizza another night but pleased to have another westside vegan option.
 .
It has been blogged about the good hearted.

Reverence Hotel
28 Napier Street
Footscray

Toby and I finally started to explore the bike paths in the west, we road to the docklands and back, it was quite quick with hardly any traffic lights to stop at. Afterwards we rode to reverence hotel which is right next to the bike path. Reverence is an omni pub with vegan options, it is owned by the ex arthouse owners. Every tuesday night they have trivia, $3 tacos and $3 tecate's (mexican beer), but this week they had it today-boxing day.  Tuesday never seems to work time wise but a public holiday was perfect timing. We went along with Cindy and Michael, see their blog in a few days for better pics!

There was a mixture of hipsters and some older locals but unfortunately there was no inside tables left so we sat outside in the beer garden. Looks like they take bookings since a few tables were reserved. I notice they also had pizzas on their regular menu with vegan and gf options from Thursday-Sunday.

There was 4 taco options (all gf), two meat options and two vegan options: beans and tofu. Toby ordered one of each for me and him:



The tofu was my favourite and reminded me of our tofu tacos, it was crumbled and flavoured with smoked paprika and other spices. It was served with a creamy mayo type sauce with home made salsa and lime on the side. Two wasn't enough for either of us, toby needed four to get full, and I needed 3 in total. I was pretty pleased with my $9 dinner, I really had low expectations but they were both great. The bean taco was tobys favourite, it has mushrooms and avocado and corn in it. Toby was pleased with cheap but good beer. We will be back to try the pizza another night but pleased to have another westside vegan option.
 .
It has been blogged about the good hearted.

Reverence Hotel
28 Napier Street
Footscray

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Brisbane Gluten Free and Vegan Eating

Last time we went to Brisbane, it was a great gluteny filled mockmeat adventure. This time around I was a tad nervous about what I would eat. Thankfully I had the incredibly kind Susan to pick us up, drive around  do a lot of the research and even let us stay with her. She also assisted me with a green ant issue which is much too embarrassing to list her. Lets just say that I discovered that green ant bites hurt and the pain lasts for ages and they can bite all sorts of places! One morning she made us some xgfx cherry vanilla pancakes, served with leftover chocolate peanut butter ice cream. That was certainly worth the plane trip!

First stop was Green Edge-vegan supermarket and cafe. I was surprised to see lots of new products that we don't have in Melbourne like the so delicious ice cream range with ice cream made from almond milk or coconut milk.

When everyone (translation: susan, matt and james) recommended having a burger minus a bun, I really thought blah. But I loved the tofu satay burger so much that I had it twice and when on to recreate it back home I didn't miss the bun at all, in fact I think I even prefer it (since I tried it at home with gf bread). The tofu is covered in a chickpea flour, fried and the satay sauce is awesome. The salad has traditional mayo on it.. Sadly, I can't find the picture though, blogger fail!!!

I also got to have a raspberry spider, haven't had one for years!

I got to try lots of ice cream from there and all three of matt and james desserts, they have vegan dessert place called delicious regardless with vegan and mostly gluten free desserts, you have to check them out when you are in Brisbane. I do have a disclaimer though: they are twitter friends who we also met up with but I hope you believe me when I say that their chocolate cheesecake was seriously like a piece of heaven, rich sweet heaven:

The chocolate mousse was similarly rich and had a very slight nutty flavour. I struggled to finish it but got some help when we met up with Theresa, Amy and Susan.

The lemon cheesecake was refreshing on a hot summer day and meant that I had room for more desserts.

Toby had a list of speciality coffee places to try. He said cupcoffee was his favorite.  I went along to one of the cafes- bunker  and discovered that they had iced chocolate made with melted chocolate and bonsoy and sold in bottles. It was smooth, no lumps at all and rich and awesome on a hot brisbane day. I want to recreate this at home!

with Tobys cold press coffee.

We went to a nepalese restaurant on our last night called Himalayan cafe on the last night. Susan wasn't joking when she said we better book, even on a sunday night, it was pretty full. We started with an entree called 'mask ko bara' which was a gf patty made with black lentil flour. The tetxure was kind of bready and tasty.

We ordered three different curries. I think we all had different favourites, I think mine was the chickpea curry, toby enjoyed the lemongrass silken tofu one and I think susan's was the potato one. But that might be wrong, they all had similar yet flavours but slightly different heat.

Afterwards we spotted a gelato place called re del gelato and went into enquiry and discovered several vegan flavours. I loved the lychee and the mango but Toby was more daring and went for the carrot, orange and lemon gelato (featured centre back) which tasted exactly like the vitamin c tablets that we had as a child, no obvious carrot taste at all but I don't think I could eat a lot of it.

We also went to loving hut but I wasn't a big fan of my gf dishes, while toby enjoyed some mock meat.

I'm not a big fan of salads (particularly lettuce types) so when Susan and Matt suggested for a last meal that we got to a leabanese place for salads called NoNos I was again hesitant but it was awesome.

I had a plate with a lentil caramelized onion rice salad, a potato salad made with tahini which was awesome and I hate tahini, a chickpea salad and a green bean salad with one piece of fried eggplant. My faves were definitely the lentil and the potato salad.The fried eggplant was so good that I got a second piece and made Toby share it with me. Toby said his falafel was a bit bland though but then he had a lot of falafel.

We also enjoyed some good food at a relatives gorgeous wedding. All in all ways a great trip to brisbane! I know I haven't researched who has blogged about where, such bad blogger etiquette but it one long post.

Last time we went to Brisbane, it was a great gluteny filled mockmeat adventure. This time around I was a tad nervous about what I would eat. Thankfully I had the incredibly kind Susan to pick us up, drive around  do a lot of the research and even let us stay with her. She also assisted me with a green ant issue which is much too embarrassing to list her. Lets just say that I discovered that green ant bites hurt and the pain lasts for ages and they can bite all sorts of places! One morning she made us some xgfx cherry vanilla pancakes, served with leftover chocolate peanut butter ice cream. That was certainly worth the plane trip!

First stop was Green Edge-vegan supermarket and cafe. I was surprised to see lots of new products that we don't have in Melbourne like the so delicious ice cream range with ice cream made from almond milk or coconut milk.

When everyone (translation: susan, matt and james) recommended having a burger minus a bun, I really thought blah. But I loved the tofu satay burger so much that I had it twice and when on to recreate it back home I didn't miss the bun at all, in fact I think I even prefer it (since I tried it at home with gf bread). The tofu is covered in a chickpea flour, fried and the satay sauce is awesome. The salad has traditional mayo on it.. Sadly, I can't find the picture though, blogger fail!!!

I also got to have a raspberry spider, haven't had one for years!

I got to try lots of ice cream from there and all three of matt and james desserts, they have vegan dessert place called delicious regardless with vegan and mostly gluten free desserts, you have to check them out when you are in Brisbane. I do have a disclaimer though: they are twitter friends who we also met up with but I hope you believe me when I say that their chocolate cheesecake was seriously like a piece of heaven, rich sweet heaven:

The chocolate mousse was similarly rich and had a very slight nutty flavour. I struggled to finish it but got some help when we met up with Theresa, Amy and Susan.

The lemon cheesecake was refreshing on a hot summer day and meant that I had room for more desserts.

Toby had a list of speciality coffee places to try. He said cupcoffee was his favorite.  I went along to one of the cafes- bunker  and discovered that they had iced chocolate made with melted chocolate and bonsoy and sold in bottles. It was smooth, no lumps at all and rich and awesome on a hot brisbane day. I want to recreate this at home!

with Tobys cold press coffee.

We went to a nepalese restaurant on our last night called Himalayan cafe on the last night. Susan wasn't joking when she said we better book, even on a sunday night, it was pretty full. We started with an entree called 'mask ko bara' which was a gf patty made with black lentil flour. The tetxure was kind of bready and tasty.

We ordered three different curries. I think we all had different favourites, I think mine was the chickpea curry, toby enjoyed the lemongrass silken tofu one and I think susan's was the potato one. But that might be wrong, they all had similar yet flavours but slightly different heat.

Afterwards we spotted a gelato place called re del gelato and went into enquiry and discovered several vegan flavours. I loved the lychee and the mango but Toby was more daring and went for the carrot, orange and lemon gelato (featured centre back) which tasted exactly like the vitamin c tablets that we had as a child, no obvious carrot taste at all but I don't think I could eat a lot of it.

We also went to loving hut but I wasn't a big fan of my gf dishes, while toby enjoyed some mock meat.

I'm not a big fan of salads (particularly lettuce types) so when Susan and Matt suggested for a last meal that we got to a leabanese place for salads called NoNos I was again hesitant but it was awesome.

I had a plate with a lentil caramelized onion rice salad, a potato salad made with tahini which was awesome and I hate tahini, a chickpea salad and a green bean salad with one piece of fried eggplant. My faves were definitely the lentil and the potato salad.The fried eggplant was so good that I got a second piece and made Toby share it with me. Toby said his falafel was a bit bland though but then he had a lot of falafel.

We also enjoyed some good food at a relatives gorgeous wedding. All in all ways a great trip to brisbane! I know I haven't researched who has blogged about where, such bad blogger etiquette but it one long post.

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Purple Patch- Sandringham

Our friend Craig has recently started working at a vegetarian cafe called Purple Patch in Sandringham. I went along with vegan friends a few weeks ago who had similar fry ups to the ones Cindy blogged about with tofu scramble, deep fried 'sausages' and loads of  other fried things. Craig listed a range of things which are gluten free and savoury but then suggested that he have a go at making some gluten free pancakes. As you all know I have a sweet tooth so I said yes but was a little dubious, you can't just make up a gluten free pancake recipe can you???

But then this amazing plate arrived with a stack of soft pillowly pancakes, a berry cream cheese sauce (why haven't I had a cream cheese sauce with pancakes before?), bananas and maple syrup. It was A-MAZ-ING. Seriously some of the best pancakes I have ever had, including gluteny ones. My gluten eating friends also enjoyed the bits I shared.

If you ask nicely when he is working I'm sure he would make them again.

I also enjoyed a take away coconut raspberry slice.

Purple Patch has also been blogged about by Veganise This.

Purple Patch
19 Bay Road
Sandringham

Our friend Craig has recently started working at a vegetarian cafe called Purple Patch in Sandringham. I went along with vegan friends a few weeks ago who had similar fry ups to the ones Cindy blogged about with tofu scramble, deep fried 'sausages' and loads of  other fried things. Craig listed a range of things which are gluten free and savoury but then suggested that he have a go at making some gluten free pancakes. As you all know I have a sweet tooth so I said yes but was a little dubious, you can't just make up a gluten free pancake recipe can you???

But then this amazing plate arrived with a stack of soft pillowly pancakes, a berry cream cheese sauce (why haven't I had a cream cheese sauce with pancakes before?), bananas and maple syrup. It was A-MAZ-ING. Seriously some of the best pancakes I have ever had, including gluteny ones. My gluten eating friends also enjoyed the bits I shared.

If you ask nicely when he is working I'm sure he would make them again.

I also enjoyed a take away coconut raspberry slice.

Purple Patch has also been blogged about by Veganise This.

Purple Patch
19 Bay Road
Sandringham

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Dosa Hut- West Footscray

I've been craving dosas since our Hong Kong trip and so suggested dosa hut for a family event. It's a nice looking cafe with very reasonable prices. I wasn't completely confident of their gf-ness because when I asked she said that they use regular flour too but Toby and I were pretty sure that she was talking about the whole restaurant rather than the dosas. I didn't get sick afterwards which is a good sign.

 excuse the phone pic

Toby and I both ordered the masala dosa (about $8). It comes with a coconut sauce, a mild vegetable curry and a slightly spicer sauce. The potato curry inside the large pancake was very tasty but also very spicy. My family members enjoyed their dosas and curries too although my grandfathers rice based dish was far too spicy for him. I think Toby struggled too with the spice level, so if you can't handle the heat I would stay away. I loved it though. My mother who is a big fan of Indian food said that she couldn't believe that she had only just discovered dosas. My only complaint was that I was still a little hungry so ate half of a second serve.

You can read other reviews at footscray food blog and consider the sauce.

Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut
604 Barkly Street
West Footscray
9687 0171

I've been craving dosas since our Hong Kong trip and so suggested dosa hut for a family event. It's a nice looking cafe with very reasonable prices. I wasn't completely confident of their gf-ness because when I asked she said that they use regular flour too but Toby and I were pretty sure that she was talking about the whole restaurant rather than the dosas. I didn't get sick afterwards which is a good sign.

 excuse the phone pic

Toby and I both ordered the masala dosa (about $8). It comes with a coconut sauce, a mild vegetable curry and a slightly spicer sauce. The potato curry inside the large pancake was very tasty but also very spicy. My family members enjoyed their dosas and curries too although my grandfathers rice based dish was far too spicy for him. I think Toby struggled too with the spice level, so if you can't handle the heat I would stay away. I loved it though. My mother who is a big fan of Indian food said that she couldn't believe that she had only just discovered dosas. My only complaint was that I was still a little hungry so ate half of a second serve.

You can read other reviews at footscray food blog and consider the sauce.

Salaam Namaste Dosa Hut
604 Barkly Street
West Footscray
9687 0171

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Red Robyn Cafe and Ten Year Vegan Anniversary

I came back from semi blogging retirement to tell you two things.

First: I've been vegan for 10 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't really remember what month it was but suspect it was some time between June and August. I still remember family members telling me it was a stage that I was going through. Remember, mum? I think i've changed a lot over those years though in the beginning I was so passionate that I wanted to tell everyone, would happily engage in conversations/arguments whereas now I've become somewhat non confrontational in fact loads of people in my life don't even know, particularly colleagues. I'm also trying to move away from eating vegan junk food and move to healthier wholefoods.

Second:

There is a relatively new gluten free cafe called Red Robyn which I adore. I've been twice now. It's an omni gluten free cafe but caters really well to vegans. Often vegetarian places like chinese vegetarian restaurants do not cater at all for coeliacs and gluten free cafes don't cater for vegans. So Red Robyn makes my heart sing!

The first time I went, I had the sweet potato rosti with smoky beans and avocado which I loved. Yesterday when I went I got the curried lentil pot pie with chickpea chips. The pastry on top of the lentil pot pie was great for gf pastry which is no easy feat. The lenil curry was surprisingly good with a coconut base and the chicpeas fries were amazing. I need to try to make these at home.

Then it was DONUT TIME, I got a custard donut. Yes a vegan and gluten free custard donut! I should have taken an inside shot but I was too excited. The donut part was quite similar to a regular donut but it needed more custard. Last time I went I got a vanilla slice which was awesome. I also have a jam donut in my fridge waiting for me to eat after dinner tonight and I had some yoyos last night. The yoyos are ok but perhaps too sweet, but I don't think i've ever been a yoyo fan.

It's quite a quitea cute cafe too, I loved these features:

They have lots of other awesome things that I want to try like too like the vegan and gluten free pancakes! The customer service is great and they cater well to other intolerances too like fructose malabsorption. Toby said that the coffee is actually pretty good and they have rice milk, as well as soy milk available. Both times I went with people who can eat gluten like Toby, Michael and Erin and they all enjoyed their meals. My only complaint is that its not super close to my house but so worth the drive!

Red Robyn Cafe & Restaurant
393 Camberwell Rd
Camberwell
9077 3763

I came back from semi blogging retirement to tell you two things.

First: I've been vegan for 10 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't really remember what month it was but suspect it was some time between June and August. I still remember family members telling me it was a stage that I was going through. Remember, mum? I think i've changed a lot over those years though in the beginning I was so passionate that I wanted to tell everyone, would happily engage in conversations/arguments whereas now I've become somewhat non confrontational in fact loads of people in my life don't even know, particularly colleagues. I'm also trying to move away from eating vegan junk food and move to healthier wholefoods.

Second:

There is a relatively new gluten free cafe called Red Robyn which I adore. I've been twice now. It's an omni gluten free cafe but caters really well to vegans. Often vegetarian places like chinese vegetarian restaurants do not cater at all for coeliacs and gluten free cafes don't cater for vegans. So Red Robyn makes my heart sing!

The first time I went, I had the sweet potato rosti with smoky beans and avocado which I loved. Yesterday when I went I got the curried lentil pot pie with chickpea chips. The pastry on top of the lentil pot pie was great for gf pastry which is no easy feat. The lenil curry was surprisingly good with a coconut base and the chicpeas fries were amazing. I need to try to make these at home.

Then it was DONUT TIME, I got a custard donut. Yes a vegan and gluten free custard donut! I should have taken an inside shot but I was too excited. The donut part was quite similar to a regular donut but it needed more custard. Last time I went I got a vanilla slice which was awesome. I also have a jam donut in my fridge waiting for me to eat after dinner tonight and I had some yoyos last night. The yoyos are ok but perhaps too sweet, but I don't think i've ever been a yoyo fan.

It's quite a quitea cute cafe too, I loved these features:

They have lots of other awesome things that I want to try like too like the vegan and gluten free pancakes! The customer service is great and they cater well to other intolerances too like fructose malabsorption. Toby said that the coffee is actually pretty good and they have rice milk, as well as soy milk available. Both times I went with people who can eat gluten like Toby, Michael and Erin and they all enjoyed their meals. My only complaint is that its not super close to my house but so worth the drive!

Red Robyn Cafe & Restaurant
393 Camberwell Rd
Camberwell
9077 3763

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Munster Haus - Now Open For Dinner

Life has been crazy lately, just really busy, we actually have lots of things to blog about but need more time. A friend of mine recently alerting me to the fact that Munster Haus is now open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. We haven't been since they first opened which we blogged about here because we so rarely go out for lunch and kind of forgot about it.

We went last week and they had plenty of gluten free options and was the perfect quick and quite healthy meal. All of the meals are precooked or salads. You can choose the bowl size and as many options as you can want, the medium bowl ($14) seems to be best for me whereas Toby opts for large ($18).


This one had so many delicious parts including a quinoa salad, sweet chilli type tofu dish, roasted potatoes, fried polenta squares, rice balls and more with two dips on top, a tofu based sauce and another one which I think was chickpea based but was very different to hummous. My fave parts were the roasted potatoes, polenta squares, the chilli tofu and the tofu dip but it was all tasty and great to have so much variation.  

We enjoyed it so much we went back this weekend, with friends of ours who had there first dinner out with their baby.  They also talked to the owner about it being pram accessible and a staff member explained that dinner is fine but lunch tends to be very busy.



They had different meals but also a few of the same dishes, I had the potatoes, chilli tofu and the tofu dip again. Also some brussel sprouts, a chickpea dish, salad, some plain rice, another dip and much more.

Toby is a huge fan too, he tends to choose the high protein dishes and fell in love with a Japanese style broth with tofu and veggies last weekend so much that he tried to recreate it at home with no success.

It will definitely become a regular eat out option.

It has been blogged about by mocchi eats, wheres the beef twice, juganaut, words@random, confessions of a food nazi, Fitzroyalty and the Big V.

Munster Haus
371 St Georges Rd
North Fitzroy
Mon - Thu: 09:00-16:30
Fri - Sat: 09:00-20:00

Life has been crazy lately, just really busy, we actually have lots of things to blog about but need more time. A friend of mine recently alerting me to the fact that Munster Haus is now open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. We haven't been since they first opened which we blogged about here because we so rarely go out for lunch and kind of forgot about it.

We went last week and they had plenty of gluten free options and was the perfect quick and quite healthy meal. All of the meals are precooked or salads. You can choose the bowl size and as many options as you can want, the medium bowl ($14) seems to be best for me whereas Toby opts for large ($18).


This one had so many delicious parts including a quinoa salad, sweet chilli type tofu dish, roasted potatoes, fried polenta squares, rice balls and more with two dips on top, a tofu based sauce and another one which I think was chickpea based but was very different to hummous. My fave parts were the roasted potatoes, polenta squares, the chilli tofu and the tofu dip but it was all tasty and great to have so much variation.  

We enjoyed it so much we went back this weekend, with friends of ours who had there first dinner out with their baby.  They also talked to the owner about it being pram accessible and a staff member explained that dinner is fine but lunch tends to be very busy.



They had different meals but also a few of the same dishes, I had the potatoes, chilli tofu and the tofu dip again. Also some brussel sprouts, a chickpea dish, salad, some plain rice, another dip and much more.

Toby is a huge fan too, he tends to choose the high protein dishes and fell in love with a Japanese style broth with tofu and veggies last weekend so much that he tried to recreate it at home with no success.

It will definitely become a regular eat out option.

It has been blogged about by mocchi eats, wheres the beef twice, juganaut, words@random, confessions of a food nazi, Fitzroyalty and the Big V.

Munster Haus
371 St Georges Rd
North Fitzroy
Mon - Thu: 09:00-16:30
Fri - Sat: 09:00-20:00

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Sunflower Organics Cafe and Wholefoods Store.

We love Daylesford so was very excited when we received a very generous voucher for accommodation and entry to the Hepburn spring spa. We went last weekend and we had a great week enjoying the usual places like Chocolate Mill and the Himalaya bakery. The spa was excellent and contained something called spa couches which were truly amazing!!!.

We also went to a new vegan cafe called Sunflower Organic Cafe and Wholefoods store which had only been open for a few weeks. We tried to go for dinner one night but discovered it was closed so went back the following morning for breakfast. We had both had the sunflower big breakfast. They made mine gf by replacing tempeh with plain tempeh and choosing potato rosti instead of the toast. It contained baked beans, tempeh, fried tomatoes, spinach, mushroom and the rosti. It was enjoyable, I loved the thinly sliced and fried tempeh but I did add some more tamari to flavour the spinach. Also the rostis were a little undercooked. The service was excellent though and they were so excellent about making things gf. The breakfast is normally served with fried apple which I'm so curious about but they didn't have any that morning.

I couldn't resist trying just a couple of their raw desserts, I had the orange chocolate cake and the lemon ball. Both were sweet and tasty but the orange choc cake was my fave because it was so creamy.

Sunflower Organic Cafe and Wholefoods store
1 Knox Street
Daylesford
5348 3637

We love Daylesford so was very excited when we received a very generous voucher for accommodation and entry to the Hepburn spring spa. We went last weekend and we had a great week enjoying the usual places like Chocolate Mill and the Himalaya bakery. The spa was excellent and contained something called spa couches which were truly amazing!!!.

We also went to a new vegan cafe called Sunflower Organic Cafe and Wholefoods store which had only been open for a few weeks. We tried to go for dinner one night but discovered it was closed so went back the following morning for breakfast. We had both had the sunflower big breakfast. They made mine gf by replacing tempeh with plain tempeh and choosing potato rosti instead of the toast. It contained baked beans, tempeh, fried tomatoes, spinach, mushroom and the rosti. It was enjoyable, I loved the thinly sliced and fried tempeh but I did add some more tamari to flavour the spinach. Also the rostis were a little undercooked. The service was excellent though and they were so excellent about making things gf. The breakfast is normally served with fried apple which I'm so curious about but they didn't have any that morning.

I couldn't resist trying just a couple of their raw desserts, I had the orange chocolate cake and the lemon ball. Both were sweet and tasty but the orange choc cake was my fave because it was so creamy.

Sunflower Organic Cafe and Wholefoods store
1 Knox Street
Daylesford
5348 3637

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Los Latinos-Maidstone

It was my birthday a few weeks ago so to celebrate I went out for dinner with my family to Los Latinos. The restaurant wasn't what I expected, it sits amongst a set of worn out looking shops:

Taken from my car window because it was cold and I was being lazy

I stole some of my brothers corn chips with salsa and quacamole which were delicous but I forgot to take a photo. In my defence, it was my first proper outing since the surgery so I was excited to be back socialising again outside of the home. I also forgot to take a photo of the huge mango smoothies, which were basically giant non alchololic margaritas which gave my sister, my cousin and my stepdad brain freezes.

Toby and I shared some fried plantains minus the sour cream. They were crispy and delicious and were served with perhaps the best refried beans I have ever tasted:

Toby also ordered a deep fried cassava dish which he loved but i'm guessing wasn't gluten free so I avoided it.

We each got a plate of bean pupusas minus dairy which were served with salsa and pickled salad. The pupusas were so much more superior than the ones we have made at home. They were also super filling so I was thankful that we could take a couple home for breakfast the next day.

Don't they look like cookies?

I will defintely be back for more another time. The menu on their website appeared to be outdated so they are much more veg friendly than the website appears. Also I recommend booking, they were booked out first time we tried.

Los Latinos has also been reviewed by Footscray food blog and consider the source.

Los Latinos
128 Mitchell Street
Maidstone

It was my birthday a few weeks ago so to celebrate I went out for dinner with my family to Los Latinos. The restaurant wasn't what I expected, it sits amongst a set of worn out looking shops:

Taken from my car window because it was cold and I was being lazy

I stole some of my brothers corn chips with salsa and quacamole which were delicous but I forgot to take a photo. In my defence, it was my first proper outing since the surgery so I was excited to be back socialising again outside of the home. I also forgot to take a photo of the huge mango smoothies, which were basically giant non alchololic margaritas which gave my sister, my cousin and my stepdad brain freezes.

Toby and I shared some fried plantains minus the sour cream. They were crispy and delicious and were served with perhaps the best refried beans I have ever tasted:

Toby also ordered a deep fried cassava dish which he loved but i'm guessing wasn't gluten free so I avoided it.

We each got a plate of bean pupusas minus dairy which were served with salsa and pickled salad. The pupusas were so much more superior than the ones we have made at home. They were also super filling so I was thankful that we could take a couple home for breakfast the next day.

Don't they look like cookies?

I will defintely be back for more another time. The menu on their website appeared to be outdated so they are much more veg friendly than the website appears. Also I recommend booking, they were booked out first time we tried.

Los Latinos has also been reviewed by Footscray food blog and consider the source.

Los Latinos
128 Mitchell Street
Maidstone

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