The Resident, Ashburton

Since moving to Tassie, a number of new little cafes have popped up in the suburbs around my parents’ house. The cool vibes of the inner suburbs are definitely making their way further out.

The Resident is a cute little cafe located in the Ashburton shopping strip of High st. It has a nice sunny courtyard out the back, giving the cafe more space than you first expect. It’s right near the train station and on a bike/walking path, making it the perfect stop after a morning stroll.

My mum, aunty and I popped in for brunch one morning, and managed to nab a table out in the sunshine. While there were not a lot of vegan options on the menu (well, none without slight alteration), the staff were very friendly and helpful in explaining what I could and couldn’t have (and checking with the chef when unsure). I ended up doing a mix and match breakfast, picking most of the available vegan options.

It was far better than I expected! I loved the addition of microgreens, and the mushrooms were beautiful. I’m not often in the mood for a ‘big breakfast’, but I really enjoyed all of this – though was pretty stuffed by the end.

They also do a mean coffee (and have Bonsoy on offer – yay!)

A few weeks later Mum and I went back for lunch. This time I selected from the lunch menu, as last time the person serving us mentioned that the wild rice salad could be made vegan. There is vegetarian bahn mi on the menu, but unfortunately (for me, anyway) they use a brioche bun…sad, because I loooove bahn mis!

Anyway, upon confirming that they could leave out the pomegranate labne, I ordered the wild rice salad with pumpkin, sun dried tomato, king brown mushroom, preserved lemon and fennel seed.

This was okay, but not amazing. I enjoyed the components, but I guess it was lacking without the pomegranate labne…it really needed just a bit more flavour. A dash of a replacement dressing or something would have been great. Instead I settled for some salt.

In saying that – it wasn’t bad, and I understand that I was the one who made adjustments to the dish so won’t be holding it against them. Until the menu changes though, I think I’ll stick with the brekkie items. I’m just glad there’s a go-to cafe with a bit of charisma in Ashburton now!

The Resident
246 High St, Ashburton
Sat – Thurs – 7am – 5pm
Fri – 7am – 4pm, then 6pm – late

Raw Cheese and Onion Cauliflower Popcorn

Listen up! I’ve got a new favourite raw snack thanks to Veganopolous, who gave me this great idea in her post last week.

I was already planning to get the dehydrator going on the weekend to make some more crackers, but I needed some ideas on what to fill the other trays with. Her post was very timely! As soon as I saw her picture, I knew I had to try this stuff. CAULIFLOWER POPCORN.

I decided to flavour it cheese and onion style, because it’s been forever since I’ve had that flavouring. I swear, this took me back to eating cheese and onion crinkle cut chips. They feel really junk foody, but minus the junk! Best thing is, they are so simple to prepare.

I’ll share the quantities I used below, but obviously these are very adjustable according to your taste.

Raw Cheese and Onion Cauliflower Popcorn

1 head of cauliflower
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp onion powder
1/2 – 1tsp salt
A healthy dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Cut cauliflower into bite size pieces and place in a bowl.

Add oil and toss to coat.

Now add the rest of your seasonings – yeast, onion powder, salt and cayenne. Cover the bowl with a lid or plate and give it a good shake to coat all the pieces. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.

Pop the pieces onto a dehydrator rack with a teflex sheet on it and dehydrate at 45C for 8-12 hours, or until crispy.

This could also be adapted and cooked at a low temperature in your oven.

And voila! Delicious, crispy and ADDICTIVE popcorn bites. The main issue I noticed is that when storing them, they tend to lose a bit of their crispiness. However, this doesn’t have to be an issue – they are seriously so moreish you will have to fight not to eat them all straight out of the dehydrator.

Fitzroy eats: Overdosa and Vegie Bar

Oh my lordy….this is my second last ‘catch-up’ post, and then I will be completely UP TO DATE, for the first time in MONTHS. The excitement is killing me.

So a couple of weeks ago, Billy and I popped over to Fitzroy to visit Overdosa. While we were still traveling I had heard about this magical pop-up dosa place and I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would still be open for us when we returned. As luck would have it, it was – but not for long…this was its last day of business out of the Rose St location.

Unfortunately we weren’t as hungry as I’d hoped we would be for this adventure, but we still managed to sample some of the delights on offer.

There were three dosas to choose from – potato masala, smokey eggplant with peas and a spicy tamarind pumpkin. I was already set on the smokey eggplant, which we got with a side of coconut chutney and some carrot salad. After the first bite, I knew I’d made the right decision. The dosa was lovely and crispy, and the filling was perfect…just the right amount of smokiness.

Billy ordered a serve of the lentil poppers, with some curd and dill chutney (not vegan). We also got a serve of the chilli chutney, because it was the only one we hadn’t chosen and I felt bad. And also, I love chilli.

These were crispy, fluffy, and super addictive, and perfect with a dunking of chilli.

We really enjoyed both of our choices,and we’re now pretty sold on Overdosa. As I said, unfortunately they are no longer at the Rose St location, but are frequently popping up around town at festivals and bars – keep an eye out on their facebook page to see where they’ll be next. Do yourself a favour and track them down!

Next up: Vegie Bar.

I met a couple of aunties for lunch here one day, as one of them conveniently works right on Brunswick st. We popped over to Vegie Bar to fill our tummies. It was very busy (as usual), but we managed to get a table tucked up the back in a dark little corner.

It’s been a while between visits for me, and the menu has many new and exciting offerings, while still retaining some of the old favourites like roti wraps and pizzas. We were pretty hungry, and everything was looking pretty good, so we decided to get a bunch of plates and share them all.

We started with some dim sims to snack on. These were super crispy little parcels that did a good job of warding off hunger as we waited for our mains.

Next up, some black bean nachos with pine nut cream, guacamole and jalapenos. Admittedly, these don’t look amazing – but looks can be deceiving. These babies were delicious (plus, who can go past black beans in a Mexican dish…NOT ME).

This was the raw quiche, which had a really interesting crust that was surprisingly sweet – it had shredded coconut in it and was no doubt something similar to what you would use for a raw dessert. This was not at all what I was expecting, but it worked surprisingly well and it was enjoyed by all.

Lastly, the vegan risotto. This was made with a combination of wild and brown rice, and was packed with veggies like corn, sweet potato and red capsicum, and had a beautiful flavour from the ginger, coconut, lemongrass and kaffir lime. Delicious and very filling – I was glad to be sharing this one.

A good majority of Vegie Bar’s current menu is already vegan, with more of it able to be vegan on request. I’m loving the variety of dishes on offer now, with something for everyone. I’ll definitely be back to have a go at some more of the menu (and maybe a dessert!) soon, if I can get a seat.

Overdosa
Various locations around Melbourne – see website

Vegie Bar
380 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Mon-Thurs – 11am – 10pm
Fri – 11am – 10.30pm
Sat – 9am – 10.30pm
Sun – 9am – 10pm

White bean dip with sundried tomato, rosemary and sage

While hummus, in all it’s wonder, flexibility and glory, tends to be my go-to dip, I find that white beans make a nice light and creamy alternative – and they’re just as easy to mix up the flavour combinations with.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the markets as they were packing up and bought a whopper box of tomatoes for a measly $2 ($2!!!!!!!!). I turned all the slightly bruised ones into jars of tomato basil sauce for pizza/pasta/etc, kept some for salads, and chucked the rest in the dehydrator and sucked the juice out of those babies. For this recipe, I simply rehydrated a bunch of them and added them to a few things that were already lying around – leftover shallots from another recipe, and rosemary and sage from the garden.

Enjoy!

White bean dip with sundried tomato, rosemary and sage

4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, rehydrated
Juice of half a lemon
2Tbsp olive oil + 1/2tsp oil for frying pan
1 can (400g) cannellini beans
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
5 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan over medium heat. Add shallots and sautee for a couple of minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so until golden. Take off heat and transfer to food processor.

Add lemon juice, olive oil and tomatoes and process until fairly smooth.

Add cannellini beans and process again until smooth.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add rosemary and sage. Process to combine all ingredients.

Serve immediately, or store in the fridge until ready to use.

Brunswick eats: The Cornish Arms and Tom Phat

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to cram two visits to Brunswick in the one week. Not one to miss a good vegan dining opportunity, I made the most of being over that side of town.

Firstly, I had a much overdue catch up with a lovely friend of mine for a few drinks. After working up our hunger over a few drinks, she recommended we head over to Tom Phat for a bite to eat. The smell when we walked in was amazing, and I was pretty excited to find multiple options clearly marked as vegan on the menu.

We decided to get two dishes and share them both. The first was Nasi Mesantan with tofu fritters, spiced red rice and chilli-tomato sambal.

It looks a bit like a mish mash of everything here, but let me tell you – these tofu balls were delicious – crispy on the outside, but really light and almost fluffy inside. Loved the spiced rice and sambal too.

The second dish was off the specials list, and it was a kind of satay tofu and tempeh salad, with strips of roti bread. The addition of roti bread was kind of strange, but very welcome – it was great to dip in the sauce. I loved the texture of the tofu in this one too, it was cooked in thin slabs and had a great chewiness to it.

These were both really substantial meals, and we couldn’t quite get through them both, but that had nothing to do with their tastiness. We both really enjoyed our meal. The service was fast and friendly, and to be honest, I was surprised they let us come in at 9.30-ish on a Sunday night (but totally glad!)

Next up was a visit to the Cornish Arms on one of those scorching summer days. It was one of the ones that was disgustingly hot all day, and then the skies opened in the evening for a downpour. Luckily, we managed to grab a seat outside, but undercover, and we got to watch the lightning show from the front row. It was a little dicey for a moment there as the pub lost power amongst the storminess and we thought our hopes of a feed there were lost, but luckily the outage only lasted five minutes or so.

As I said in my last post, I’m pretty stoked by the masses of vegan pub food appearing everywhere. I love being able to order a parmy and pot, or whatever else takes my fancy. This time, I decided to do something a bit different and order the beer battered fish and chips. This is different for me as I my memories of fish are not very fond, so I wasn’t at all sure whether I would like this or not. It was too novelty for me not to try though…

The meals here are not for the faint hearted. I was not SUPER hungry, but this was also A LOT of fried food. But that’s what we were there for! I was surprised at how the fish was served – I guess I was expecting flatter ‘fillets’ rather than big chunky balls. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it. The to-fish was wrapped in seaweed before being battered, and was accompanied with a convincing tartare sauce. While I found it pretty tasty, I only got through one piece of fish, with Billy taking two for the team and one lonely little guy being left behind.

Billy went with the ‘steak’ sandwich, which consisted of duck seitan, facon, cheez along with some fillings. We swapped a few bites, and both found it thoroughly enjoyable. In my mind I had expected the eggplant chips to be more finger-like in shape, but I loved these crumbed rounds. I could have eaten a whole bowl of them!

This was one of those occasions where we had to let our tummies digest for some time before we even tried to stand up, and Billy declared that he “would never eat again!” As we know from other posts, this has turned out to be untrue, but you understand the sentiment.

The Cornish Arms is a great place for some solid vegan pub food. I’m definitely keen to try some of their other offerings, but I think next time I’ll try and work up a decent appetite before I tackle a whole meal.

Tom Phat
182-184 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
Weekdays – 11am – 10pm
Weekends – 8am – 10pm
Tues – CLOSED

The Cornish Arms
163A Sydney Rd, Brunswick
Kitchen hours (every day):
Lunch: 12pm – 3pm
Dinner: 6pm – 9.30pm
Pizza & Snacks available every day from 3pm – 9.30pm

A day of deliciousness: Admiral Cheng-Ho, Gelato Messina and Reverence Hotel

Yesterday was a good day. Not only did I get to have hangs with Billy and family and see some bands, we also got to eat some really delicious food. What more could I ask for? Good company + good music + good food = happy.

While trying to decide on somewhere to eat, my mum suggested Admiral Cheng-Ho, which she had read about online. I was only too happy with this decision as it was definitely on my ‘to-do’ list after reading about Cindy and Michael’s visit there a couple of weeks ago.

We wandered in for a late-ish lunch and were greeted and seated by the friendly staff there. Looking over the menu there was plenty of deliciousness, and the majority of it was already vegan (with much of the remainder having the option to be). They do an all-day breakfast (yay!) as well as a selection of sandwiches and salads for lunch.

I was pretty sold on the breakfast menu, and though I loved the sound of the quinoa pancakes I was definitely in the mood for something savoury. I (along with most of our party) went with ‘The Admiral’ – zucchini fritters with sauteed kale, seasonal vegetables, tangy beetroot relish and basil cashew cream.

This was exactly what I could have hoped for. The fritters were light and fluffy, and while they weren’t bursting with flavour on their own, the sides and balsamic drizzle were the perfect accompaniment, offering beautiful zestiness and creaminess. I was slightly apprehensive of the beetroot relish, seeing as though it is not my my most loved vegetable, however the tanginess did a great job at neutralising the sweetness – which is what I think I don’t like about beetroot in the first place. And oh my goodness, the basil cashew cream…whaaaaaat?! This is AMAZING. I need a tub of this to dip everything in. Seriously.

I didn’t grab snaps of the other dishes – the other two both went for the Umami mushrooms on pumpkin, spinach and sundried tomato polenta bread. They had the non-vegan option, which included goats cheese as well as thyme and red chili oil. It looked delicious and had a good reception from both.

While I would have loved to grab a coffee, I just couldn’t face it in the heat. Billy and Ellen had the guys whip them up a specialty iced chai, which was lovely and refreshing, and mum and dad both went for a glass of coconut water. We were all very happy customers, and I’ll no doubt be returning to give the rest of the menu a good try.

After lunch, we went over to Gelato Messina, which mum had been hanging out to go to for some time. There was a bit of a line when we arrived, but it moved fairly quickly and actually gave us a chance to look over the menu which was quite extensive. They had some really interesting flavour combinations, and while the vegan selection was limited to the sorbets, they had some flavours that were far from ordinary.

I couldn’t resist getting three flavours to try, and I went with blood orange, salted coconut with mango salsa, and pear and white balsamic. The flavours were all beautiful, the salted coconut being a stand-out favourite. The balsamic pear was awesome too, tangy and packed with a pear punch.

Billy went with a combo of the salted coconut, passionfruit and chocolate. The chocolate was amazingly rich, and the fruity passionfruit balanced it out nicely. Billy was stoked, claiming it to be the best gelato of his life and then declaring that it would be the last ice-cream he would ever eat, as there would be nowhere to go but down from there. We’ll see about that….

After wandering Smith St for a while, we headed over west to Footscray, as we were going to a show later in the evening. To kill some time, we headed over to the Reverence for a beer and to get out of the sun for a while. After our late lunch, we weren’t super hungry but looking over the menu we thought we had best sample at least something while we were on this side of the city. I am totally loving the surge of vegan pub food available in Melbourne right now. So many options! The menu at the Rev is Mexican-inspired, with a bunch of snack/small plates and larger meals, as well as a selection of pizzas (and a few desserts).

We went with some taquitos, which were stuffed with vegan chorizo, sweet potato and refried beans and topped with guacamole, lime and tomatillo sauce with a side of chipotle mayo. HOLY MOLY. These were SO FREAKING GOOD. It was like an explosion of delicious in my mouth. Neither of us had ever had a taquito before, but this will definitely not be the last. We raved about these allllll night. And even today. All we have been doing is planning our next feasible time to visit the Rev for more food.

Obviously we couldn’t have bar snacks without the spicy shoestring fries (with chipotle lime mayo). To be honest, neither of us could detect much chipotle or lime in the mayo, but we enjoyed the creaminess nonetheless. The fries were generously seasoned which I love. They were gone in a flash.

And so ends our day of delicious eats!

Admiral Cheng-Ho
325 Johnston St, Abbotsford
Mon-Fri – 6am – 4pm
Sat-Sun – 8am – 5pm

Gelato Messina
237 Smith St, Fitzroy
Sun-Thurs – 12pm – 11pm
Fri-Sat- 12pm – 11.30pm

Reverence Hotel
28 Napier St, Footscray
Kitchen Hours:
Mon – CLOSED
Tues – $3 Tacos only, from 6pm
Wed-Sat – 6pm – 10pm
Sun – from 3pm