CERES Community Environmental Park is arguably Melbourne’s hippie hub. CERES stands for Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies and it’s a not-for-profit, sustainable urban farm located on the banks of Merri Creek in East Brunswick.

But whether you wear hemp fisherman’s pants or carry a designer label handbag, I think everyone would enjoy a trip to CERES. There’s an organic cafe, shop, nursery, community garden, adventure playground, bike shed, conference venue, function restaurant and organic markets every Wednesday and Saturday.

The CERES Organic Cafe is a great pit-stop for your visit to CERES. A big wooden hut houses the kitchen, which cooks mainly organic food with many of the ingredients coming straight of CERES‘ organic market garden. Seating is scattered around the cafe’s wrap-around verandah, under the plastic marquee or by the shade of tea trees within sight of the kids’ sandpit. Though it’s all pretty relaxed so if you decided you wanted to louche around on a picnic blanket with your kids and pets I think that’d be ok too.

To start – iced dandelion tea ($5). I wasn’t expecting it to come with ice cream but the sweet vanilla scoop was needed to temper some of the bitterness of the tea.

The breakfast menu is very eggs-heavy (there are chooks living on site) with the most interesting version being the Indonesian eggs ($15.60). What came out was a large wholesale selection of brown rice, Asian herbs, crisp salad greens, a sweet soy sauce and a sprinkle of peanuts, all finished with two fried eggs sunny side up.

Poke your knife through the cheerful yellow yolk, cut up the whites into bite sized pieces and then toss the whole lot together with the dollop of sambal for a breakfast that’s hearty, filling and a spice sensation. Having chilli for breakfast is not for everyone but if your stomach can deal with it, I highly recommend this dish.

While I was very full, I was intrigued by the fact that the muffins were $5. I haven’t seen muffins break the $5 barrier in Melbourne before and wondered whether there was a reason they were unusually expensive. A taste test of the milk chocolate and hazelnut muffin revealed that we would have been better off saving our $5 and the calories. Amongst four people the verdict was unanimous – the muffin was too solid and dense for our liking – maybe all that almond meal inside it was what made it such an expensive item relative to everything else on the menu?

Apparently their gluten free orange and almond cake is considered one of the best in town so I’ll be trying that next time instead.

The kitchen is open until 3pm and the lunch menu looks as healthful and appetising as the breakfast options. I will definitely be returning to CERES and the CERES Organic Cafe – it’s a great day out for urbanites wanting to get in touch with their inner hippie.

For other locations where you can experience the country in the city, try the Farm Cafe at Collingwood Children’s Farm.

CERES Organic Cafe, CERES Community Environment Park, Cnr Roberts and Stewart Streets, Brunswick East +61 3 9389 0100

Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4pm
Saturday 8.30am – 5pm
Sunday 9am – 5pm

View MEL: HOT OR NOT in a larger map

However, I do have an interest in vegan food and vegan cooking, in the same way that I have an interest in any food that tastes good. So when Carla from vegan blog Easy as Vegan Pie advertised that she was starting beginners vegan cooking classes I jumped at the chance to learn some more about things you can do with tofu (amongst other things).

A group of us gathered around a large table at Milkwood’s front room while Carla held court with her trusty eBay-ed food processor, a portable gas stove and frypan and a plethora of ingredients I’d never heard of – Japanese silken tofu, umeboshi, liquid smoke, ‘nooch‘ (nutritional yeast, a cheesy tasting parmesan-substitute).

We were all handed recipe sheets to follow and passed around a plate of vegan sausage rolls to get us going. Over two hours we worked our way through demonstrations of vegan versions of caramalised onion quiche, basil pesto, pate, dill sour cream, bolognese and dark chocolate tart.

I think the key thing to keep in mind with vegan food is not ‘does it taste like the non-vegan version?’ but ‘does it taste good?’. My favourite dish of the night was the basil pesto, followed closely by the dark chocolate tart. In fact, I’ve just stocked up on a bag of nooch :–)

At the end of two hours I’d had a great night out – Carla was full of useful information and a relaxed and funny host (she’s very forthright with cutting corners in her cooking ‘who can be arsed?’). Everyone came with an open mind and a willingness to share, so it’s not like we were just sitting in silence during a 2 hour lecture.

I learnt about new ingredients, new shops and new methods of cooking. Apparently Homebrand food is often vegan and USA Foods is the place for all your (accidentally) vegan junk food needs. Finally, the food was tasty too :–)

The class is geared towards helping non-vegans tackle the basics of vegan cooking though I think vegans (a handful in our class) can still learn something new by sharing recipes, cooking and shopping tips.

Carla’s next classes are on Thursday 3 November and Sunday 27 November. Places are limited to 13 people so booking early is essential – the first class is already filling up. For more information, click here.

In case you get confused by the ’99 Problems’ emblazoned on the door of number 31 Johnston Street…the address is a cafe called The Mercy Seat by day and a bar called 99 Problems by night. Time-sharing space (and facilities) is such a good idea!

The Mercy Seat serves vegan food that’s not just beans and lentils. In fact, here’s the place to get your fake meat fix! The lunch menu has three ‘meaty’ choices – a Creole Chicken burger, Philly Cheesesteak roll and Blackened tofu mushroom burger. The all day breakfast menu doesn’t contain the same degree of meat fakery – make your choice between scrambled tofu, scrambled pesto eggs and avocado feta smash.

D and I shared the Creole Chicken Burger with extra vegan bacon and cheese ($12) and the Blackened tofu mushroom burger ($10). The food is prepared behind the bar using a simple oven grill and came out promptly (though we were also the first table to arrive for lunch).

Both burgers were very tasty so it’s hard for me to pick a favourite – but I think I preferred the blackened tofu as it was less processed than the ‘chicken’ patty and contained nice big chunks of creamy avocado. That’s the compromise with mock meat – sometimes it’s the choice between taste, texture and processing. I did really like the smokiness of the facon though so I think they should have the option for facon and cheese for all the burgers! Oh and definitely hit your burger up with the bottle of hot sauce if you like some heat.

For sweets they source their brownies, cupcakes and cookies from Box Brownies in Collingwood. The vegan and gluten free peanut butter brownie ($4.50) was amazing! It had an oozy caramel topping studded with peanuts and caramel shards and a surprisingly moist brownie base given no eggs or butter were used. Despite the sugar-coma-inducing description, the brownie was actually not too sweet so it’s easy enough to finish a whole slab on your own :–)

I liked The Mercy Seat – the food is good and cheap, the staff were friendly, the atmosphere and uber-relaxed and they were playing Prince on the speakers.

For more places to eat mock meat, try Englightened Cuisine and Las Vegan.

The Mercy Seat, 31 Johnston St, Collingwood
Wed – Sun: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm

What do you expect to find in a supermarket carpark? Cars, trolleys, a rubbish skip and maybe some delinquent kids? Certainly not the coolest cafe-in-a-brick-shed in town.

Monk Bodhi Dharma sounds like the temple for some Eastern cult, but in fact it’s a fabulous rustic cubbyhouse cafe nestled away from the bright flourescence of the nearby Woolworths. It takes a bit of finding but is well worth the search.

The vegetarian kitchen specialises in healthy eating and kick-ass coffee and tea. The cafe drinkers amongst my friends loved the smooth and creamy inhouse coffee blends. Being the outcast non-coffee drinker, I went for the chai latte, a very spicy mix steeping an unexpected heat into the soy milk. It came presented in a lovely Japanese glazed earthenware teapot and a hand-warming handleless tea cup.

The stripped back brickwork and imposing communal table Where’s makes the space cosy for the people supping on the special stews and soups and the standard menu extending from breakfast to 3pm through to lunch. I went for the Mexican bean mix and crusty seeded bread, a filling and warming dish enhanced by the fiery homemade chilli jam.

J’s banana bread was moist and studded with walnuts while the accompanying lemon ricotta was an indulgent yet light spread.

In need of dessert, I decided to backtrack to the breakfast options to order the Madagascan French Toast ($16). It’s quite appropriate as a dessert – a very sweet mix of eggy bread flavoured with cinnamon and cardamom served with sticky poached pear, that moreish lemon ricotta again, crushed pistachios and drizzled with syrup. It was delicious but my one complaint is that I didn’t like the baguette used to make the French toast, as it was very hard to cut through the crust and overly chewy.

Service was super-friendly and the waitress was very understanding and accommodating of the various accroutrement of new mothers – prams, capsules and nappy bags.

A nice final touch came with the bill – their business card not only lists their contact details, but recommends other places around Melbourne that they like (including Auction Rooms, De Clieu, Proud Mary and Three Bags Full). I love a place that spreads the love!

For more reviews, check out Espresso Melbourne, Where’s the Beef and Backseat Baristas. Monk Bodhi Dharma occasionally hold breakfast degustations which sounds like a good reason to get out of bed and cross town – read Eat, Drink, Stagger to find out more.

• Monk Bodhi Dharma, Rear 202 Carlisle St, Balaclava +61 3 9534 7250

The Fox Hotel is an old-school boozer which outwardly looks more ‘pub’ than ‘gastro-pub’. The venue is an eclectic conglomeration of sticky-carpet-esque spaces, including the high-stooled front bar, the dimly lit dining area, squishy couches, a small outdoor space and a separate pool room. There’s even a rooftop deck which I didn’t have a chance to explore.

However, what attracted me to the Fox Hotel was its reputation for food. Specifically, I’d read on Where’s the Beef that they had an extensive vegetarian menu, quite unusual for a pub. So it was a great destination for (vegetarian) Miss Kish and I to catch up.

As we sat down in the front bar to inspect the menu, Kish remarked “Wow, normally I have no trouble choosing something because there’s only ever two token vegetarian options. This is great!” And if you flip over the page, there’s a whole page for non-vegetarians as well. Very impressive.

We started out with five homemade mushroom and tofu gyozas with dipping sauce ($10). On its arrival I had my doubts – the gyozas looked a little emaciated. Well, looks can be deceiving, as these dumplings were juicy and wrapped in skins of good consistency. In fact I think if they’ve been plumped up with more filling the whole thing could have been too soggy, what with mushrooms generally sweating water when cooked.

For our mains we shared two generous plates – whole field mushroom lasagne with three cheeses and spinach served with chips and salad ($17) and marinated tofu steak with wasabi mayo and a black sesame crust with asian greens, sticky rice and a ginger soy sauce ($17).

I think of the two dishes the lasagne was more successful. It was a cheesy, oozy slab of mushroom, spinach and pasta sheets, an excellent retort to people who insist that they just can’t get full on vegetables. The accompanying salad was crisp and fresh and the chips were great for mopping up the cheese.

There was no hint of wasabi mayo in our tofu steak and the black sesame crust was more of a garnish than a crust. I also didn’t particularly like the sticky rice – it felt more like glugginess of overcooked rice than the elasticity of glutinous rice. Not a bad dish overall, but really outshone by the lasagne.

Though only a weeknight, the pub was full of diners and drinkers and a seemingly popular hangout with locals. Even if you’re not a local, I think that the Fox Hotel is well worth a special trip.

For a pub meal at the other end of the spectrum, check out my review of the meat-tastic Napier Hotel.

• Fox Hotel, 351 Wellington St, Collingwood +61 3 9416 4957

Englightened Cuisine is one of the  few Chinese restaurants in Melbourne that specialise in Chinese vegetarian food. Basically, this entails using a lot of tofu/bean curd/seitan (a wheat protein) to replicate meat and seafood, with varying degrees of success.

My mum is a big fan of Chinese vegetarian food so I decided to take my parents and a family friend to lunch at Englightened Cuisine. It’s located in a nondescript semi-industrial block in Southbank but despite the fact that you’re unlikely to stumble across it, the restaurant was almost full on a Saturday afternoon.

The decor is kitschy Chinese – some watercolour paintings, paper napkins folded into shapes and faux antique wooden furniture. The lunch menu boasts a lot of rice and noodle dishes for a good value $10 but we wanted something a little different so opted for some items from the dinner menu as well.

To start, the Four Seasons combination platter (small $35). This transpired to be fake scallops, fake char siu, fake sweet and sour pork and fake chicken nuggets. It was reasonably tasty but not a particularly deft dish – sort of a Chinglish-fish-and-chip-shop-in-a-country-town combination of items. Everything tasted and looked remarkably like its real counterpart except for the char siu which neither tasted or looked like BBQ pork, sorry.

Highly recommended is one of the claypots – we had the combination claypot (fried tofu and vegetables) with yee mee ($10). This was more of a traditional vegetarian dish with no fake meat but simple soy-based flavours soaked up by the slippery noodles.

Speaking of noodles we ended up with another two noodles dishes. That’s because the spicy eggplant and tofu noodles we ordered where super spicy ($10). To the point where it was unpleasant. In order to temper the heat we hastily ordered the Yee Mee combination, a basic hokkien style fried noodle the shreeded Chinese mushrooms and egg ($10) and the two lots of noodles combined gave the right amount of kick for us.

As you can see, all of the noodle dishes were sitting in a large pool of sauce and the flavours of every dish were very forceful. It was quite different to the delicate flavours of Cantonese vegetarian food that we were used to and expecting. But we discerned that the restaurant was probably run by Taiwanese people, whose cuisine is generally more robust in their use of soy and chilli.

Given my preference for Cantonese vegetarian food, it’s hard to say whether I’d make a special trip to return to Englightened Cuisine – but if I was in the area and looking for something different for a cheap lunch (it cost us $65 for 4 people) then I’d certainly go again.

For more reviews (written by vegan/vegetarians), check out Vegan About Town, Where’s the Beef and Easy as (Vegan) Pie.

• Englightened Cuisine, 113 Queensbridge Street, Southbank +61 3 9686 9188

What do you eat when Melbourne turns on consecutive days of 30+ temperatures and it’s too hot to cook?

Other than icecream, how about trying out some raw food?

Raw food is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet. We’re not just talking endless variations on salad – raw foodies do inventive things with a  blender, food processor, juicer, and dehydrator, often to produce dishes which mimic cooked food.

Yong Green Food is one of the few restaurants in Melbourne which serve raw food but their menu does extend to vegan/vegetarian food if you’re in the mood for something warm. Our party of three decided to stick to the raw food options for the novelty factor.

First up we each ordered freshly ground almond milk sweetened with agave syrup. For some reason the prices of the juices and smoothies are set high at the $8 mark (ie almost the same price as a meal) whereas the almond milk was a reasonable $5. It was delicious served over ice, very creamy and obviously ground from nuts as the texture had slight grittiness to it.

From the dozen or so raw food options, we shared the mock salmon roe, nachos and rawsagne. My favourite was the nachos which was effectively chip-and-dip. Except the chips were dehydrated slices made from chai seeds, capsicum, carrot, onion and garlic which were crispy and not crunchy like a traditional corn chip. The chips were served with three colourful dips – cashew cream, guacamole and sunfried seeds. We had to order more chips with the dip as it was so good.

Next favourite was the rawsagne ($14.95). Maybe it’s just because I love saying the word ‘rawsagne’. No, really, this was a sort of like a solid frittata of layered zucchini with mushrooms, onion, cashew cream and raw tomato sauce. The tomato sauce gave it a bit of zing whereas the cashew cream (my now favourite raw food ingredient) did a good approximation of creamy bechamel.

Less successful (though A loved it) was the raw sushi ($8.95) which was very pretty to look at but I felt was just mushed up vegetables/seeds made into shapes.

After our mains I was quite surprised to find that I was very full. Really, we could have done without dessert but who could resist the sound of raw pecan pie and green tea raw cheesecake spiked with red goji berries (they offer other flavours as well) ($7.50 each).

I can’t say that I was blown away by the desserts. I liked the fluffy texture of the pecan pie but preferred the flavour of the raw cheesecake. In case you’re wondering how you make a cheesecake without baking it, the ingredients were listed as cashew, coconut oil, agave, almonds, sunflower seeds, sultanas, dates and coconut.

Now for a bizarre side effect. All of us got very, very, very sleepy during our meal. Not in a post-prandial ‘I just had a huge dinner and am now ready to sleep’ way but as if we all suffered from severe narcolepsy. I could barely string two words together and could have put my head on the table and gone to sleep inside the restaurant. I have no idea why this happened but I’m assuming maybe some of the ingredients, or the way my body was processing the raw food, triggered the sleep response. Can anyone help me here? It was very curious.

I very much enjoyed the creativity of the raw food at Yong Green Food and it was great to think that everything was super-healthy. Even the apneotic effects of the food could be a bonus if you have trouble sleeping! My only gripe is that the service was really haphazard – they were very busy and seemed to only have one waitress who kept forgetting to bring us water or remove our empty dishes. She was very friendly though so I guess it’s forgiveable – though I was unbelievably parched throughout my meal.

For more reviews of Yong Green Food, check out I’m so hungreeee, Where’s the Beef? and Vegan About Town.

• Yong Green Food, 421 Brunswick St, Fitzroy +61 3 9417 3338

Well, thanks to Where’s the Beef, I have discovered possibly the best value degustation in Melbourne. $25 for 8 courses at Zenzero Blu. Yes you heard right.

It is eight vegetarian courses, but as I’m not much of a meat-eater I don’t think that detracts from the fantastic value for money. The various dishes range from good to really delicious and I guarantee that you’ll be very full at the end, even though no meat is involved.

I think that Zenzero Blu have hit onto smart idea, as the cafe’s brown wood and black banquette interior and dark awninged exterior is not somewhere that I would necessarily be enticed to enter if I was just strolling the streets of North Fitzroy. Yet on a Tuesday night they were reasonably full in the front dining section (there is a large second room and a courtyard, neither of which was being used on the night) and many people seemed to be enjoying the vegetarian degustation.

Now for the food, the menu of which changes regularly according to availability. First up, some olives marinated in orange zest, garlic and fennel. Within the same course, some flaky charred roti and three dollops of dip – smoked eggplant, Moroccan lentil and cashew. I didn’t try the olives but I very much enjoyed the bread and dips, in particular the slightly spicy Moroccan lentil and the rich cashew.

Second course was soup of the day, being potato, leek and lemon. Potato and leek soup is a fairly traditional winter soup, but the slight acidity from the lemon really lifted it to an appropriately refreshing Spring-like flavour. The tangy soup was a highlight.

Catalan-style bread, or what I would usually consider a bruschetta – fresh chopped tomatoes piled on crunchy toasted bread with a drizzle of olive oil. Some large and overly mushy porcini mushroom and pumpkin aracini with a bright tomato sugo and a ring of salsa verde. And cumin dusted sweet potato chips which looked promising but were sadly very soggy, more like steamed sweet potato.

My next favourite dish was a simple crisp salad of rocket, dates, sliced apple and grano padano. It counterbalanced the risotto with eggplant, olives, basil and tomato sugo, which though very flavoursome had been sadly overcooked to an almost congee-like consistency (much like the same rice in the aracini).

Finally for dessert, a smooth pannacotta of no discernible flavouring (made with animal-product gelatin? not sure) with a flourescent berry coulis.

Service was friendly and efficient during our two hour meal and the vibe of the cafe was bright and casual. I did spy some other tables eating meat and fish dishes from the a la carte menu, but if you’re going to Zenzero Blu for dinner then I highly recommend the vegetarian degustation. It’s worth returning for.

• Zenzero Blu, 32 Best St cnr St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North +61 3 9481 3393
  

How many vegetarian establishments can one street sustain? Quite a few it seems, if you operate on Smith Street.

Slowly, I’ve managed to tick off my list Trippy Taco, Las Vegan and Friends of the Earth. As I was feeling a bit under the weather on a sunny weekday and in need of some healthful sustenance, I decided that it was time to complete the series with Soul Food Cafe.

According to their website it’s been operating for an impressive 25 years and nothing much has changed in that time. Call me omnivorously ignorant but for a vegetarian restaurant I was quite impressed by Soul Food‘s varied menu, with many of the dishes adaptable for vegans and gluten-free diners.

I wanted to try something like a house specialty so enlisted the help of the super-friendly young waitress. She directed me to the patties because you also got to choose any classic Soul Food salad as a side – so I ended up with a Thai brown rice pattie flavoured with fresh ginger, coriander and soy sauce with a sweet chilli mango sauce.  The natural salad accompanient was the Asian mint salad, consisting of baby spinach, bean sprouts, tofu, capsicum, Thai mint leaves and a nicely balanced lemon soy dressing ($9.50).

Despite the waitress’s recommendation, I can’t say that I’d rave about the pattie, mainly because I’m not fan of overcooked gluey rice. Other than that I quite liked the flavours and the crunchy sesame seed coating. And it was very filling. Fortunately, the fresh and colourful salad lifted the dish.

To finish the meal I tried the moist lemon and yoghurt cake, which came with a rather winsome pot of ying-yang berry and mango coulis ($4).

I liked the relaxed atmosphere, motley crew of dreadlocked and hippe patrons, healthy food and friendly service of Soul Food Cafe and despite the meh pattie I’ll definitely be returning.

• Soul Food Cafe, 273 Smith St, Fitzroy +61 3 9419 2949

Help me Doctor!: As me and my man are trying to eat drink and live as healthy as possible after years of ABS FAB nightlife (and daylife) we are eating as much alkaline food as possible. Can you tell me where I can find places that serve alkaline diet food or sell it? If you can’t find a single thing about it… :–) Then maybe a raw food restaurant? - Kimberley-Joan

Your prescription: Hi Kimberley-Joan, being a fairly greedy omnivore I have to confess that I had to google what an alkaline diet was. Having a look at the list of alkaline foods it seems to be an approximately vegan diet.

Here’s a list of restaurants that I’ve reviewed previously which are vegan/vegetarian. Vegetarian Network Victoria has an extensive list as well.

Otherwise  a health food/organic store will probably be able to sell alkaline diet food that you’re looking for.  My regular haunts are:

• Organic Wholefoods
• Friends of the Earth
• Organic stalls at Queen Victoria Market
• Melbourne University Food Co-op

Again Vegetarian Network Victoria has a list of great places to shop for vegan, vegetarian and organic goods.

As for raw food, try Le Cru (137 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park +61 3 9699 1144), as far as I can tell the only raw food restaurant in Melbourne. Here’s the review from The Age’s Epicure.

Happy health eating! – Jetsetting Joyce

I’ve previously blogged about the fantastic range of dried goods and produce available at Friends of the Earth, but last week was the first time I sampled some of the vegan/vegetarian food served in the laidback cafe.

During the week you can get a mixed salad plate which has a bit of everything heaped on it, much like the selection offered at The Tofu Shop International in Richmond. However, on Sundays they do a pie and salad plate for $9.50 where you get to choose a hot-out-of-the-oven vegan pie – on my visit, a choice between a shiitake pie, curry pie, thai style pie and mexican pie – plus a heap of mixed salad as a side accompaniment.

After much discussion with the staff about which was the best pie, I settled on the shiitake pie – basically because it was described as ‘very meaty’ and because I’m a fan of mushrooms.

I defy anyone, vegetarian or carnivorous, to not be impressed by this pie.

The outstanding pastry, presumably made without eggs and butter, was light and flaky to the point of wispiness on the top. The filling contained mashed potato and what looked like hunks of braised beef – I’m never seen shiitake turned into mock meat before! It wasn’t overly ‘mushroomy’ in aroma and I actually considered taking it home to RM to see whether he could distinguish the ingredients, as he is a meat-eater and generally dislikes a dish comprising only mushrooms.

As for the salads, they were good but didn’t blow me away in the same way as the pie. They all tasted fresh and healthy, which is what I was aiming for.

I accompanied my meal with a pot of Byron Bay soy chai ($3.50) which I found to be a little watery as I like my chai thickly fragrant. It wasn’t bad, just not rave-worthy.

Unlike the pie! I cannot emphasise enough – go and check out Friends of the Earth on a Sunday. With the sun streaming through the windows, a friendly vibe and healthy food, it’s a great place to relax on a weekend.

For more healthy eats in the area (but not on Sundays) try Las Vegan.

• Friends of the Earth Melbourne, 312 Smith St, Collingwood VIC 3066‎  +61 3 9417 4382‎

I’d been meaning to visit Las Vegan Bakery & Cafe ever since they were awarded 2009 Victorian Vegetarian Restaurant of the Year by Vegetarian Network Victoria. I’m not sure how many other restaurants were in contention, but it’s a pretty impressive title nonetheless.

Las Vegan is a small little colourful cafe filled with the kind of paraphernalia you’d expect to see in a low-key vegan cafe – mismatched furniture, smiling Buddha statues, indoor plants and loads of eco-warrior pamphlets.

As its name suggests, everything in the cafe is free of meat and dairy, so don’t be fooled by the Thai ‘chicken’ burger, their most popular dish. I decided to go for their house specialty, the Nirvana lentil burger ($9). This comprised a giant tower of house-made sesame burger buns smeared with vegan mayonnaise and salsa, fresh lettuce, tomato and cucumber and a filling patty of lentils, barley, biodynamic rice and roasted ground nuts.  It was tasty and fresh, although I’m not sure why they bothered accompanying it with a few pitiful shreds of lettuce – if you’re going to give me salad, do it properly please.

You can wash down your meal with the all-you-can-drink soy-chai tea, a bargain at $3.50, although I didn’t try it this time.

Just note that the cafe is open later on Thursday and Friday nights but not on weekends, which is a shame because I’m sure many of Collingwood/Fitzroy’s city-desk-job residents would enjoy chilling out with some healthy food at Las Vegan.

• Las Vegan Bakery & Cafe, 22 Smith St, Collingwood +61 3 9415 9001

If you overdosed on chocolate after the Easter Bunny’s visit, now might be a good time to head over to The Tofu Shop International.

This Bridge Road casual dining spot has been in business for around 25 years, before tofu/vegetarianism became trendy, so it must be doing something right. It’s a pretty pared back approach – the options are to takeaway or grab a stool and dig into a changing selection of vegetarian dishes of East Asian, Indian and Western descent, all made fresh on the premises using seasonal ingredients.

For $8.95 I got a large filling tub of ‘a bit of everything’ on top of some brown rice and topped with some chilli paste. My mixed-platter-in-a-tub included roasted pumpkin, tofu, broccoli, beans and potatoes. It was flavoursome and delicious and it certainly goes against the belief that healthy food has to be bland and boring.

The friendly girl behind the counter said that next time I must come back for their house-made tofu icecream. I’ve also been reading lots of positive reports about their soyvlaki, so I’m definitely returning The Tofu Shop International.

The Tofu Shop International, 78 Bridge Rd, Richmond +61 3 9429 6204

You want HOT? You got HOT!

At hippy Trippy Taco, you can get XXX HOT. Just pour some of the XXXtra HOT chilli sauce that’s provided at each table on top of your quesadilla, taco, taquito, burrito or nachos. It delivers nose-sniffling, mouth-numbing heat and is the perfect antidote for the drooping summer swelter.

Trippy Taco is a chilled out and kitsch Mexican cantina (think somberos, cacti etc) that serves up vegetarian, even gluten and dairy free, Mexican classics for late breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can take your food away or tuck your legs into one of the tiny school-desk sized tables and enjoy large plates of cheap, tasty and filling food washed down with a Mexican beer, tequila, house wine or BYO wine for $5 corkage.

In the interests of research and greedy appetites, two of us tried three dishes. The Original Trippy Taco was two fresh house made corn tortillas sagging with cheese, black beans, a salad of shredded lettuce, carrot, beetroot, sultanas and seeds and topped with salsa, avocado and a squeeze of fresh lime ($9). I thought the tortillas were a little too thick but as a result the dish was very filling.  I preferred the drier texture of the taquitos, which were three rolled-up crispy corn tortillas containing the same black bean filling and served with a side of guacamole, salsa, cheese, salad and lime ($9).

Our pick was the fat two-hander, the Tofu Asada Burrito – a large flour tortilla filled with cheese, spicy chargrilled tofu, salad, salsa, avocado and lime ($9). The chargrilled tofu turned the salsa into an almost smoky barbecue-like sauce and heating the burrito on the grill gaves one side of the tortilla a satisfying crispiness. Our only improvement would be to grill the whole package on both sides for extra crunch.

I had originally intended to dig into the sweets as well – the sweet corn tamale with icecream, banana and maple syrup ($9) or chocolate nutella taquitos ($8.50) would have been my picks. However, let me tell you now that two people do NOT need to be eating three plates of food at Trippy Taco. While all the dishes were delicious and spicy (we opted to douse everything with hot sauce), one item is more than enough for one person. Trust me, you’ll go home with a satisfied tummy and numb lips, all for under $10.

For other reviews of Trippy Taco, check out Tummyrumbles and Where’s the Beef?. In the area and you want more heat? Try Thai food at Mamanee or Korean fare at Goshen.

• Trippy Taco, 48 Smith St, Collingwood +61 3 9415 7711

RM ordered an Indian-spiced lentil burger but counterbalanced any unwanted health benefits with a side of chips and a Mountain Goat beer (“Look Joyce, it’s organic!”).  I ordered the Singapore noodles with tofu and veges, mostly because I was intrigued that it contained ‘mystical’ chilli sauce. Both dishes came out in the gigantic proportions that the Vegie Bar is famous for and our bill came to a budget friendly $22.40 thanks to our Entertainment Book’s 25% off discount. A very satisfying and wallet-friendly meal – it’s been too long, old friend.

• Vegie Bar, 380 Brunswick St, Fitzroy +61 3 9417 6935