Crunch Cafe, Thornbury

I got an email from a thoughful person called Jo, who told me about another place where I can find breakfast which is both gluten free and vegan. So I arranged to meet Bec and Troy there a few weeks ago to give it a go. Crunch is a smallish omni cafe with a couple of tables outside and several inside. They have one large vegan breakfast option, which we all had, to make mine gluten free they simply had to subsitute the toast for gluten free toast. It comes with spinach, tomato, generous serve of avocado, black beans and smoked tofu. The smoked tofu was delicious and I was pleased to see black beans on a breakfast menu but the flavouring of the beans and spinach was a tad bland and could do with some extra herbs. It was easily fixed though with some extra salt and pepper and lots of lemon squeezed over it. It was filling, full of protein (for Toby) and I'm super grateful for another place in the northern suburbs where I can enjoy a large vegan and gluten free breakfast, because lets face it I'm not the easiest to feed at breakfast time. They also have a few gluten free desserts and my favourite Charlie's juice available.

Toby's long black rating: 7/10.



I think crunch is a relatively new cafe, so haven't seen many reviews apart from the coffee guide.

Crunch Cafe
669 High St
Thornbury

I got an email from a thoughful person called Jo, who told me about another place where I can find breakfast which is both gluten free and vegan. So I arranged to meet Bec and Troy there a few weeks ago to give it a go. Crunch is a smallish omni cafe with a couple of tables outside and several inside. They have one large vegan breakfast option, which we all had, to make mine gluten free they simply had to subsitute the toast for gluten free toast. It comes with spinach, tomato, generous serve of avocado, black beans and smoked tofu. The smoked tofu was delicious and I was pleased to see black beans on a breakfast menu but the flavouring of the beans and spinach was a tad bland and could do with some extra herbs. It was easily fixed though with some extra salt and pepper and lots of lemon squeezed over it. It was filling, full of protein (for Toby) and I'm super grateful for another place in the northern suburbs where I can enjoy a large vegan and gluten free breakfast, because lets face it I'm not the easiest to feed at breakfast time. They also have a few gluten free desserts and my favourite Charlie's juice available.

Toby's long black rating: 7/10.



I think crunch is a relatively new cafe, so haven't seen many reviews apart from the coffee guide.

Crunch Cafe
669 High St
Thornbury

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Tart N Round saved my soul

I went to Tart n Round last night and Toby and I were seriously impressed. As Toby commented they are no longer just a dessert place. Their savoury options have improved since I was there last and there is a new larger menu. I can now really understand Lena's excitement.I can't even begin to explain my new found appreciation for the place, since it is the only vegan and gluten free place, so the one place where I can eat everything! I hope they stay open for a long time, I really do. Sadly, it was pretty quiet and empty for a Saturday night.

I'm staying away from most veg restaurants at the moment, because it's just too depressing seeing all of my old favourite dishes that I now can't eat. Also, I've already tried lots of gluten free products that have been horrible so it was relieve to get some good things. This is also my first gluten free meal that I have walked away feeling really full. Plus, for gluten free meals the prices are quite reasonable.

Please excuse the dark and blurry camera phone pics!

Toby and I decided to share one main and one entree to allow room for dessert. We had the lentil moussaka, it had a layer of mashed potato in it, which added a creaminess and just made the meal really comforting and got the thumbs up from both of us. It was awesome comfort food.

We also had shared an entree of pumpkin risotto balls, that were served with a tomato chutney. It was noticable that they didn't have regular bread crumbs, but some sort of alternative crumbing, but it didn't affect the taste. These were Toby's favourite.

In the background, our friends tried the dips with bread. I was hesitant about trying anything that resembled bread, because I've been warned from several people to stay away from any g/f bread for a while, because most of it sucks compared to regular bread. But this toasted bread, was almost like toasted pita bread, crisp and delicious and not at all weird tasting. I was over the moon, seriously wanting to jump up and down on my chair and squeal in delight. I know it's not regular bread, but to have wraps like this would still make life a lot easier. The staff/owners are so friendly, and showed me the packet: it's the old time bakery organic gluten free bread, watch out though because the non organic gluten free bread contains dairy. Now I just need to find out where they stock it.

I also tried a tiny bit of a friend's pizza crust which is really thin but was a thousand times better than a gluten free pizza I have tried elsewhere.

And then I had the cherry chocolate cake which is over the top. I couldn't finish it and look forward to eating the leftovers today. I know some people can't handle the over the top sweetness/richness of their desserts, but it's exactly my type of dessert. It's probably a good idea to share desserts because not only are they extra sweet but the pieces are also quite large.

Tart N Round
839 High St
Thornbury
9480 0818
Wed-Friday 12-10
Sat- Sun 9-10
www

I went to Tart n Round last night and Toby and I were seriously impressed. As Toby commented they are no longer just a dessert place. Their savoury options have improved since I was there last and there is a new larger menu. I can now really understand Lena's excitement.I can't even begin to explain my new found appreciation for the place, since it is the only vegan and gluten free place, so the one place where I can eat everything! I hope they stay open for a long time, I really do. Sadly, it was pretty quiet and empty for a Saturday night.

I'm staying away from most veg restaurants at the moment, because it's just too depressing seeing all of my old favourite dishes that I now can't eat. Also, I've already tried lots of gluten free products that have been horrible so it was relieve to get some good things. This is also my first gluten free meal that I have walked away feeling really full. Plus, for gluten free meals the prices are quite reasonable.

Please excuse the dark and blurry camera phone pics!

Toby and I decided to share one main and one entree to allow room for dessert. We had the lentil moussaka, it had a layer of mashed potato in it, which added a creaminess and just made the meal really comforting and got the thumbs up from both of us. It was awesome comfort food.

We also had shared an entree of pumpkin risotto balls, that were served with a tomato chutney. It was noticable that they didn't have regular bread crumbs, but some sort of alternative crumbing, but it didn't affect the taste. These were Toby's favourite.

In the background, our friends tried the dips with bread. I was hesitant about trying anything that resembled bread, because I've been warned from several people to stay away from any g/f bread for a while, because most of it sucks compared to regular bread. But this toasted bread, was almost like toasted pita bread, crisp and delicious and not at all weird tasting. I was over the moon, seriously wanting to jump up and down on my chair and squeal in delight. I know it's not regular bread, but to have wraps like this would still make life a lot easier. The staff/owners are so friendly, and showed me the packet: it's the old time bakery organic gluten free bread, watch out though because the non organic gluten free bread contains dairy. Now I just need to find out where they stock it.

I also tried a tiny bit of a friend's pizza crust which is really thin but was a thousand times better than a gluten free pizza I have tried elsewhere.

And then I had the cherry chocolate cake which is over the top. I couldn't finish it and look forward to eating the leftovers today. I know some people can't handle the over the top sweetness/richness of their desserts, but it's exactly my type of dessert. It's probably a good idea to share desserts because not only are they extra sweet but the pieces are also quite large.

Tart N Round
839 High St
Thornbury
9480 0818
Wed-Friday 12-10
Sat- Sun 9-10
www

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Tart N Round

I took Mr T to Tart N Round last night. It's now open Friday and Sat nights and has grown quite a bit since I first blogged about it.

I had a delicious, thick strawberry milkshake, which was really filling


and a burrito, with bean/rice chili which just had the right amount of kick to it, lettuce and creamy guacamole.


Mr T had the lasagna which I blogged about last time.



But I think where this place really stands out is it's amazing variety of vegan and gluten free desserts. I was super full but shared a scoop of double chocolate ice cream. It rocked my world, seriously! Soft unlike most soy ice cream almost like soft serve, creamy with lovely dark chocolate flakes in it. If I could marry an ice cream it would be this:


We didn't have room left in our bellies but I couldn't resist getting a piece of black forest cake for take away. It was beautiful to look out (before it went in a take away container) and had really nice cherry and chocolate and "cream" layers. I know where I am getting my birthday cake next year!

The guys who run this cafe are really nice and friendly and also gave us a tiny bit of their choc mint mudcake to try, it was super rich and gave me a really nice sugar buzz.

I don't think there is another place in Melbourne that can compete with this place in terms of vegan desserts. and everything is gluten free too so people like Lena can enjoy everything. They have so many other desserts too including vegan fudge, choc peppermint crisp and lots more.

I was a little sad that this new vegan cafe was virtually empty, the cafe has a nice feel but I guess not many people know about it yet. So go and show it some vegan gluten free love and enjoy the amazing desserts!

Tart N Round
839 High St
Thornbury
Tue- Thu 9-5
Fri- Sat: 9- late
Sun 9-5
www

I took Mr T to Tart N Round last night. It's now open Friday and Sat nights and has grown quite a bit since I first blogged about it.

I had a delicious, thick strawberry milkshake, which was really filling


and a burrito, with bean/rice chili which just had the right amount of kick to it, lettuce and creamy guacamole.


Mr T had the lasagna which I blogged about last time.



But I think where this place really stands out is it's amazing variety of vegan and gluten free desserts. I was super full but shared a scoop of double chocolate ice cream. It rocked my world, seriously! Soft unlike most soy ice cream almost like soft serve, creamy with lovely dark chocolate flakes in it. If I could marry an ice cream it would be this:


We didn't have room left in our bellies but I couldn't resist getting a piece of black forest cake for take away. It was beautiful to look out (before it went in a take away container) and had really nice cherry and chocolate and "cream" layers. I know where I am getting my birthday cake next year!

The guys who run this cafe are really nice and friendly and also gave us a tiny bit of their choc mint mudcake to try, it was super rich and gave me a really nice sugar buzz.

I don't think there is another place in Melbourne that can compete with this place in terms of vegan desserts. and everything is gluten free too so people like Lena can enjoy everything. They have so many other desserts too including vegan fudge, choc peppermint crisp and lots more.

I was a little sad that this new vegan cafe was virtually empty, the cafe has a nice feel but I guess not many people know about it yet. So go and show it some vegan gluten free love and enjoy the amazing desserts!

Tart N Round
839 High St
Thornbury
Tue- Thu 9-5
Fri- Sat: 9- late
Sun 9-5
www

reade more... Résuméabuiyad