Prior to Christmas, my Dad’s sisters and parents came over from W.A to celebrate my early Christmas and my Grandparents’ 55th wedding anniversary. In order to maximise celebrations, the family booked a house down in Rye and we spent a couple of days wandering, eating, spa-ing and other such activities.
On one of the days, we spent a little bit of time wandering around Sorrento until we were peckish for some lunch. We stopped in front of Shells Cafe, and after a quick google discovered a pretty low Urbanspoon rating. We remembered the Portsea Hotel up the road, so jumped in cars and headed over there. Unfortunately when we arrived, there was some kind of event going on at the hotel and it was not open to the public. With limited other options at that time of afternoon, we shipped back to Sorrento and ended up back at Shells, our tummies willing to give it a try.
A quick look at the menu presented a few potentially veganisable options. After asking the waitress, I was told the dish I wanted couldn’t be veganised, but the Asian mango coleslaw salad could be made with tofu instead of chicken. I hid my disappointment (I’m not the biggest mango fan), and agreed to give it a shot.
And boy am I glad that I did. The mango was shredded finely amongst the coleslaw and so was not overpowering, instead offering a slight sweetness to an otherwise savoury salad. Lots of crunch (my favourite texture) from cabbage, bean sprouts, capsicum and carrot, and delicious fried shallots on top. Fresh and satisfying!
I’m sorry I prejudged Shells on some poor reviews, our experience was definitely pleasant.
Shells Cafe
85 Ocean Beach Rd, Sorrento
Open breakfast and lunch
Little Vegan Bear 