You don’t need to be on a fully-fledged vegetarian diet to appreciate some of the freaking delicious Melbourne restaurants for vegetarian and vegan eaters. There’s a few hidden around Melbourne CBD and suburbs – perhaps you know of some specialising in great vegetarian pizza. It’s easy to miss these eateries, and they’re always so healthy and an easy way to get your protein fix in a meal.
Whether’s it’s lunch or dinner, there’s quite a few local secrets when it comes to vegetarian cuisine in Melbourne, so voice up, vegetarians and vegie-fans! Guide us to the best vegetarian restaurants in Melbourne, and be sure to mention the best vegetarian meal recipes and menu dishes.
I’m quite the fan of Bowl of Soul in Port Melbourne, an awesome organic vegie burger joint. Despite not being a vegetarian myself, I’d go so far as to say they’re the best burgers around Bay Street. I’ve read of Bowl of Soul fans travelling from the other side of the city just to get their fix.
If you’re not a burger fan, they do a small selection of other great meals – their stews and soups are also delicious.
Soul Mama is a great basically a limited smorgasboard with a great view out over the bay. , though a bit preachy at times for those that enjoy vegetarian meals but arent vegetarians.
The Vegie Bar, Brunswick St has excellent food. Don’t expect great service but hey, this is Melbourne… *ducks*
They inspired today’s question, I was there last night ;) The service may be suspect, but, well… at least the staff are hot.
I’m only visiting Melbourne but I’ve been to both the Veggie Bar on Brunswick Street and Soul Mama in St Kilda and they were both amazing! Staff were great in both places and the food was awesome! Soul Mama has the better view though (what with the beach and sea etc!)
Moroccan Soup Bar on St Georges Rd is awesome. You can get a banquet for about $18 a head, and they have the best chick peas ever (did I just say that?)
I’ve seen to Soul Mama’s but I still think Lord of the Fries is the best veggie food in the city. It’s accessible, it’s fast and god damn it’s tasty!
+1 for Moroccan Soup Bar. So delicious it’ll melt your face… those chick peas, with yoghurt, almonds and toasted pita bread pieces, are a-mazing.
according to Pink (yes, the popstar), the vegan parma at the East Brunswick is the greatest vegan meal she’s ever had.
Oh, so man suggestions:
In terms of best quality food, I think most would agree that Shakahari in Carlton is a clear winner — it’s the only really top-end all-vego restaurant in the city. Their menu pretty much never changes, but perhaps that doesn’t matter, because their “satay legend” — vegie kebabs with tofu, seitan and a to-die-for satay sauce — may be all you need ever order.
(Although it’s not a vegetarian restaurant, for high-end vegetarian cuisine, Ezard’s in the city has a very extensive vegetarian menu and offers a specific vegetarian degustation.)
I’ll also put in a +1 for Moroccan Soup Bar. The chickpea dish is indeed amazing.
A few perhaps lesser-known places:
Fo Guang Yuan is a Buddhist art gallery and tea house on Queen St that also does great vegetarian buns, soups and mock-meat stuff for lunch.
The Las Vegan Bakery on Smith St is a quirky and delicious little hole-in-the-wall — lots of different vegie burgers, salads, wraps, soups, calzones — but is only open on weekdays for lunch, and now Thursday + Fridays for dinner, but still not weekends.
Just down the road is Trippy Taco, which is a vegetarian “fresh mex” (ie not junky “Tex Mex” Taco Bill stuff — loads of fresh salads and beans and tofus — but still of the faux-mexican taco, buritto, nacho offerings) place. Huge and delicious servings.
ALSO on Smith St: there is Soul Food, which is nothing special, but do nice big servings, have lots of variety and some really great salads; Friends of the Earth, which does big, cheap plates of about four or five different wholesome but hearty vegie dishes each day, albeit of varying quality; and a new all-vego pub called Grumpy’s Green, which I’ve never tried but have heard is a little bland and average from several people.
Bridge Rd in Richmond is another vegie-dense area. Tofu Shop International is probably the best one there — huge servings of curries, stir-fries and salads, vego souvlakis and their famous tofu soft serve ice cream (no really!).
For “junkier” food — apart from Trippy Taco — Lord of the Fries in the city really is awesome. It’s all about the French Canadian chips.
For the best vegie burger, it’s a hard call, but I would have to go with Grill’d, who make two amazing ones and know the secret to a good burger: good quality buns, and load on the condiments (sorry, Urban Burger, but your sauce stinginess is your downfall, despite some great quality and innovative ingredients). I’d happily hear suggestions for better ones, though.
Nice one – big FGY fan here. Their kumquat tea is both delicious and presents endless opportunities to make kumquat jokes over lunch.
For mock-meat stuff, I hear really good things about Enlightened Cuisine on Queensbridge St near Crown , but haven’t been there myself, so I can’t vouch.
Hot tip: For good vego food, look out for various Buddhist festivals and celebrations happening throughout the year, as Buddhists regularly go vego for important days and put on a good feast.
The big Buddha’s Birthday celebration in Fed Square (which is hosted by the FGY folk) especially has rows of tents all down the Yarra doing only vegetarian food.
The Quang Minh temple in Braebrook serve amazing vegetarian food as part of their Tet (Vietamese New Year) celebrations, including the greatest vegetarian Hue-style Pho.
Two of the best vegetarian places in Melbourne are Bo De Trai (Vietnamese vegeatarian restaurant at 94 Hopkins Street, Footscray – run by Buddhist monks) and White Lotus (185 Victoris Street, North Melbourne – atmosphere a bit lacking, but delicious tasty food).
I’m also a fan of the FGY teahouse in Queen Street.
As Ruth mentioned – Enlighted Cuisine on Queensbridge Street. Visited one night for a wedding banquet dinner and was super-impressed with the great tasting food! Although, after the 10th course or so, I was starting to tire of the texture of mock-meat-stuff….
Soul Mama is always an experience, I go out of my way to get a Lord of the Fries burger now that I’ve discovered them (put them in more places PLEASE!!!), when in St. Kilda Veg Out on Fitzroy Street is hard to drive past (their butter tofu is orgasmic) and Vegie Bar is quite simply an institution – and I haven’t really had issues with the service so I’m not sure where the comments are based on. Yes they’re not bursting out of themselves to make your stay the best experience you’ve ever had in the world, but I’ve never had rudeness or indifference.
I live in Footscray and have never heard of Bo De Trai but will definately be checking that out – and as for ‘Satay Legend’ at Shakahari – the thought of it is making me salivate so will check that out too.
And of course… anything Pink admires I am anxious to try so look out East Brunswick!!!
Shakahari – amazing food in a fine dining setting. The best.
There’s a really awesome veggie burger at the Town Hall in North Melbourne.. I think it’s on Errol street. Seriously, best veggie burger I’ve ever had. It has goat’s cheese though so perhaps 86 that if you’re vegan. Other food at the Town Hall is stellar too.
Tried the vegan parma at The East but it wasn’t that special… The ‘thing’ that was sitting on the plate covered in sauce and cheese, in place of the chicken would have been bloody horrible if not for the sauce and cheese. I really don’t get the whole faux-meat thing. If you’re vegetarian, why would you want to eat something that looks/tastes like meat?
I also don’t know whats special about the parma from Brunswick East. I’m pretty sure it’s just a Sanitarium schnitzel with sauce and cheese over it.
I LOVE Lord of the Fries, Trippy Taco and Nostralis. These are veg musts in Melbourne.
“I really don’t get the whole faux-meat thing. If you’re vegetarian, why would you want to eat something that looks/tastes like meat?”
It’s called being vegan for ethical reasons. I loved meat – the taste, the texture – everything about it, before I realised it was just wrong to exploit animals in any way.
Trippy Taco is fantastic, fresh and fast- if you can get a table! I’m not a vego but often get mexican takeaway from there.