Vegie Bar and Three One 2 One

Walking up and down Brunswick street always gets my tummy rumbling. I recently popped into Vegie Bar with my mum for a quick snack in between some seriously successful browsing.

“This is not the time for dumplings” said nobody ever. Quite thick skins on these ones, I can’t remember what the filling was made of, it wasn’t remarkably tasty but nothing a good dunking of sauce cant fix.

Along the same vein, I will never pass on wontons. I really liked the broth these were in – gingery, garlicky with some fresh coriander…heavenly match.

To top it off, I had a matcha milkshake. I have not forayed very far into the world of matcha, so the taste is quite unusual to me still. I did enjoy this, but perhaps not quite what I was craving at the time (read: ice coffee).

This next visit goes back some time. As in possibly last year. Three One 2 One is a little cafe on Bridge road in Richmond, with a funky rhino on the side of the wall.

Upon first glance at the menu, it is not super vegan friendly. There are plenty of cheesy and eggy vegetarian options, though nothing strikes my eye. The lunch menu is mostly paninis and sandwiches, and after asking the waitress, she pointed a few things that they could alter for me. I went with the pumpkin and gruere sandwich with candied walnuts, caramelised onion and rocket (minus the gruere), which came with a side of “chubby chips”.

The chips were yum! The sandwich was a little strange – the candied walnuts making for a very sweet addition. I found them quite hard little nuggets in the sandwich, providing an almost tooth breaking crunch. With pumpkin not being my top choice of vegetables to put in a sandwich, this didn’t really impress. I did however enjoy the experience and the service, which led me to go back two more times since then, however unfortunately it just hasn’t quite cut it on the follow up visits. Once for brekkie I had quite a plain avo on toast, and the next time I tried to customise my own vegan sandwich, and despite the girl acknowledging and trying to advise what I could eat (though appearing confused at what vegan actually means), my sandwich came out with mayonnaise and most likely butter-cooked mushrooms. Despite my average experiences, my non-vegan dining companions really enjoyed their meals.

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

Three One 2 One
424 Bridge Road, Richmond
Open every day 8am – 4pm

Eating right at Vegie Bar

This post goes back to a meal I had a couple of months ago now – where did the time go? Looking at the pictures I can remember exactly when these were from – the sun was shining and it was a couple of days before I started my new job (so we’re going back to mid-March here). The bear and I were wandering around Fitzroy picking up a few last things, and putting an order in for some reward-for-new-job boots at Vegan Wares.

At the time, I was in the middle of a detox and all the walking around was getting my tummy rumbling. I can start feeling hungry and hold onto that feeling for a while, but once I cross over my hunger threshold, I turn to grumpy VERY quickly. Luckily for us, we were just down from Vegie Bar and I knew I would be able to find something detox-suitable, while the bear could choose from a range of more substantial options.

I ordered the colourful raw Living Stack, which consisted of layers of zucchini, carrot and tomato on top of a marinated mushroom, with a tomato beetroot puree. It had a fancy dehydrated slice of tomato on top, as well as some pretty micro-greens. I’m sure there were other things involved in the stack, but I can’t remember this far on. It was served with a great big green salad on the side, which was topped with some long cheesy kale chips. This was just what I needed – lots of vibrant and fresh ingredients. I loved the bold flavour of the puree in the stack, but I have to admit the marinated mushroom was a bit too much for me – I had to pass some of it on to the bear. I’m still working on pushing the boundaries of my mushroom eating. I have another threshold – the raw mushroom threshold, which I definitely crossed on this day. It’s one of those things that I need to keep working on.

The bear enjoyed a satay tofu wrap, which despite its anemic appearance in comparison to my colourful meal, packed a lot of flavour and he seemed satisfied. I even took a sneaky bite, just to make sure everything was in order. Confirmation acquired.

Bear also ordered a purifier juice – apple, carrot, celery and ginger, a combination that you can never really go wrong with. Despite declaring that I did not want a drink when we ordered, I thoroughly enjoyed drinking most of this one. Oops.

Another enjoyable meal at Vegie Bar, consistent with the last two visits I’ve made since being back in Melbourne. You can find the details of those trips here and here.

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

Afternoon stop-in at Vegie Bar

After a day of wandering around Fitzroy recently, we popped into Vegie Bar for a quick pick-me-up.

I was immediately attracted to a chocolatey dessert in the cabinet. You know, I’m pretty sure this is the FIRST dessert that I’ve had at Vegie Bar? I might have shared a slice of cake years ago, but more than often I come out of the other side of lunch/dinner to even THINK about sweets.

(Excuse the speckles, it just started to rain)

I didn’t actually read what this was – I saw the V on the card, saw the chocolate/slice/cake and got it. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. Not for lack of flavour, but more because I thought it was a giant Twix and was expecting a biscuity crunchy layer in there.

That aside, this was really delicious. It was a raw dessert, with a rich chocolate fudgy centre. Definitely a great little treat to put a spring back in your step after an afternoon lull.

And what better to accompany it than an ice coffee?

I actually cannot not order an ice coffee if I see a vegan one on a menu. I just have to have it.

This was definitely one of the better ones I’ve had. It was made with real coffee, and as a result was not sickening sweet like some that I’ve tried. The only sweetness came from the ice cream, which is the way I believe it should be. Yay ice coffee!

Definitely enjoying visiting this old favourite now that I’m back in Melbourne. Check out the last time I visited here.

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

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