Another work drive out to Coburg a while back resulted in another need for lunch. After the last pleasant experience at True North, I swung by to pick up another sammich. This time, I opted for a faux chicken deal.
Excuse the car lap shot, I’m eating on the run (don’t worry, am still in car park).
The make up of this one was chicken, mayo, lettuce and sprouts on sourdough bread. It was decent, though not as satisfying as the reuben I previously got there – still a respectable lunch. The bear has been asking since my previous post when I would take him out there for a reuben, I think he has been distracted by the offering of a vegan reuben a lot closer to home through Smith & Deli for now though.
Though I’ve been living a short walk away from A Caterpillar’s Dream for six months now, I’ve only made the effort to eat there once. It’s a kind of strange spot for a vegetarian cafe, nestled on the edge of a carpark shared with Leo’s Supermarket and Laurent’s Bakery, amongst other things. It’s a pretty standard cafe set up, nothing to write home about. I apologise in advance for the dodgy photos to follow.
My mum went with a lighter option – the rice paper rolls with lemon and chili sauce. While in appearance, they did not impress, mum declared them tasty.
Dad went with the zucchini corn fritters, with avocado, chutney and sour cream. This was a ‘vegan available’ item, though I can’t remember if dad took them up on that. Either way, he enjoyed it.
We got some ‘sweet potato wedges’ with plum and black pepper spice to share. These were not at all what we were expecting – they were quite sweet and were reminiscent of the pumpkin cakes from chinese restaurants. A bit to dessert-y for me.
Luckily, I had just a few salty regular fries with my meal – pie, chips and salad. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what was inside the pie – was it mushroom? That’ll teach me for leaving it for so long before sharing. A satisfying lunch, but lucky I had some others to share the chip load with.
Mum had her eye on the cake display from the moment we walked in, and though I was getting full, who am I to deny somebody of their cake dreams? We shared this tiramisu cupcake, it was lovely and moist.
Lastly, I had to have an iced coffee, because duh. It was good, however it was definitely enough to tip me into over-fullness. A Caterpillar’s Dream offers decent vegetarian food at a fairly reasonable price – there is nothing outstanding, but it does the trick just fine.
Another really old post is from Fina’s Vegetarian Cafe. I think this might date back to living at the old place, when we frequented Fina’s on a fairly regular basis. Though we’ve eaten there many times, I don’t think I’ve ever shared the experience.
Some spring rolls to share. After living just off VIctoria St, I could never eat spring rolls without lettuce and mint again! How did I not know about this sooner?
We had a habit of getting the same few dishes each visit (pancake, spicy noodle soup) so this time we were determined to try something different. The bear went with the special vegan quang noodle – a combination of noodles, veggies, paper tofu and mock bacon in a creamy broth, with fresh herbs and bean sprouts on the side. While bear enjoyed his dish, he tasted mine and immediately got food envy. Lucky we like to share.
I actually can’t remember what this was – I think perhaps the bamboo soup? All I recall is the deliciously chewy bits of mock meat – either bacon or duck, and a clean and tasty broth.
We love Fina’s – the service is friendly, the meals are tasty, well portioned and reasonably priced. Since this visit, Fina’s have opened up their second restaurant – this one on Brunswick St in Fitzroy and 100% vegan. We popped by on opening night to enjoy a meal, will share our findings later.
True North Cafe
2A Munro St, Coburg
Mon – Fri – 7am – 4pm
Sat – Sun – 8am – 4pm
A Caterpillar’s Dream
Shop 4/26 Princess St, Kew
Mon – Thurs – 8.30am – 4pm
Fri – Sat – 8.30am – 4pm & 5.30pm – 9pm
Sun – 9am – 4pm
Fina’s Vegetarian Cafe
268 Victoria St, Richmond
Mon – 10.30am – 3pm
Tues – Sun – 9.30am – 9.30pm
Little Vegan Bear 
shame you didn’t get to eat in true north – it has such a nice ambiance – the cupcake and noodle soup look great but doesn’t that pie look very old fashioned sort of aussie meal – which is nice if it is done well
Ha! You’re right about the pie! I will have to go and eat in at True North some time, I haven’t been back since they’ve opened up the larger space so I’d be keen to check it out.
The noodle soup looks fantastic, as do the fresh spring rolls. I’m all about the cake though!
I’m with you on that one – gotta love cake!
Nice to have some decent vegan food not a million miles away. I’d have been all over that tiramisu cupcake and iced coffee. And to be honest, pretty much all of the rest of it…!
Agreed – we are getting quite lucky here in Melbourne with all the vegan food within close proximity. It seems to be becoming more and more accessible, which is a win 😀
I remember the faux Reuben, it looked great! This ‘chicken’ one also looks good (I love good bread and this stuff looks good!) but… I can’t get my head around faux chicken. I’d rather eat a whack of hummus I think. So glad there are so many good vegan options when eating out. It’s becoming heaps better here on the west coast too, particularly when it comes to milk options 🙂
Ahh, did you make it to True North on your trip? Cool! Yeah to be honest, it took me some time to get into the whole faux meat thing at all – I never actually enjoyed meat anyway, so the fake stuff seemed pointless. I’ve grown to like it as a novelty, special occasion kind of thing. I’m never sure how accurate it is at portraying meat because I honestly cannot remember the taste, which is crazy. It’s great isn’t it! We had hazelnut milk coffees for the first time when we were over in Denmark at Raven’s Coffee – it was yuuuummmy.